German Education and Research Minister Annette Schavan recently presented Germany's new energy concept and the research investments that will support it in an editorial that appeared in the renowned international weekly journal Science.
"The 'Energiekonzept' (Energy Concept) foresees an end to the country's dependence on fossil fuels and defines key milestones to achieve by 2050, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent (compared to 1990 levels), the modernization and insulation of buildings, and a decrease in electricity consumption by 25 percent," Schavan states in the editorial, published in the October 15 edition of Science.
"By spring 2011, the German government will present a detailed new Energy Research Program that outlines important research tasks to support these new goals," she added.
"Renewable energies will play the major role in restructuring Germany's energy supply. These sources already generate about 16 percent of Germany's energy, including wind and hydropower, biomass, geothermal, and photovoltaic power," said Schavan.
Germany's global leadership in Green Tech innovations was based on major ongoing investments in research and the dissemination of technology, Schavan moreover underscored.
"In 2010 alone, the German government will spend approximately 1 billion euros on energy and climate research," she said.
A new 40-year Energy Concept for Germany was presented by Chancellor Angela Merkel on September 6 in Berlin. She hailed it as "a revolution in the field of energy supply" that would create the most efficient and environmentally sound energy system worldwide in Germany.
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