Are renewable energy sources really sufficient to completely supply a highly industrialised country such as Germany? Question in response: Can coal, natural gas, oil and uranium still guarantee our energy supply in 30 or 40 years? Can fossil energy sources alone secure the energy requirements of the growing world population?

 

The inexhaustible, natural potential of renewable energy cannot be "used up". It only has to be used correctly. Whether wind, solar energy, water power, bioenergy or geothermal energy: The supply available exceeds current world energy consumption many times over. Full supply through renewable energy sources can be achieved through sensible combination of their diverse potential: 

- According to a pilot study of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment solar heating can cover at least an eighth of the German heat requirements.

- If photovoltaic systems were installed on 10 % of all roof and facade surfaces as well as the sealed municipal areas in Germany, the whole current German electricity consumption could be completely covered with solar energy.

- Biomass from domestic energy crops, from wood or from residual materials (e.g. slurry and biowaste) can cover one quarter of the total German energy requirement by 2025. This would utilise one quarter of the agricultural area at the most.

- Doubling the installed output of wind turbines on land and new offshore turbines equates to a quarter of the German electricity consumption.

- The long-term realisable potential of geothermal energy in Germany is sufficient to cover half of electricity consumption and heat requirements.

- Electricity generated from water power can be increased by at least one quarter in the long term.

 

100 % renewable energy is possible

Complete changeover to renewable energy is technically feasible – without a gap in supply. Numerous solar housing estates, bioenergy villages, many municipal works, 100% regions and the dynamics in Germany, Spain and Denmark are demonstrating how to do this. Faster development of renewable energy is gradually replacing old coal-fired and atomic power stations. Savings through energy efficiency are making old power stations even more quickly dispensable and new build power stations superfluous.

 

Sunlight alone supplies 2,850 times the worldwide energy requirements.

 

Annual world energy consumption Solar energy:

2850-fold

Geothermal energy:

5-fold

Water power:

3-fold

Bioenergy:

20-fold

Wind energy:

200-fold

 

The annual world energy consumption is theoretically covered 2,850-fold by the natural supply of solar energy – 200-fold alone by wind energy supply.

This potential can also be used in Germany. Only the solar radiation, which reaches Germany, contains around 80 times our energy consumption.

 

Sources:        FVS, DLR