The Vision of 100% Renewable Energy (1)

This short series of blogs will be interesting to all participants of Gaba's event "The Vision of 100% Renewable Energy - commemorating Hermann Scheer" - and to those who are sad to have missed it.

I just finished reading Hermann's last book, "Der Energethische Imparativ". It is a fabulous analysis of how to transform the energy system - not in scientific theory, but in political practice. In the following blogs I will give a short summary of his ideas along with a changing focus on different chapters and a few own thoughts - as an appetizer for the book, not as replacement.

His main theses are:

1. Switching to Renewable Energy is as unavoidable as natural law

2. "Old Energy" changed strategy: from impeding to slowing down, from confrontation to becoming meek and mild.

3. One way of trying to slow change down forever are gigantic projects - good for PR, never going to happen, putting old energy back into the driver seat.

4. There is no win-win in moving to Renewable Energy. It can only be achieved if we face the conflict.

5. Accelerating the change to Renewable Energy requires a good understanding of the underlying system. The best measures increase the number of players and address a multitude of motives instead of just one. All other measures distract us and should not be pursued.

6. Germany can get 70% Renewable electricity until 2020, 100% until 2030. The measures are all known and proven. But the government is owned by big old energy.

7. And, those measures will be applicable in other countries to a large degree.

In the following blocks I will go into further detail for all of those theses - and share Hermann's sharp analysis and some astonishing facts.