Solar industry sales slump: down 74.2% from 2011 to 2014.
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WIESBADEN: In 2014, companies in Germany achieved a turnover of 3.7 billion euros with goods and services from the solar industry. Compared to 2011, the last economically strong year, this corresponds to an overall decline in turnover of 74.2% or 10.6 billion euros. The crisis in the solar industry in Germany was already apparent in previous years: turnover totalled 9.5 billion in 2012 and 5.1 billion in 2013. The declining economic importance of the solar industry in Germany is primarily due to negative developments in the photovoltaic industry. Between 2011 and 2014, sales of photovoltaic systems and components fell by 75.5 % from 13.3 to 3.3 billion euros. Turnover also fell sharply in the solar thermal sector - from 1.0 billion euros in 2011 to 0.4 billion euros in 2014. Detailed results can be found in the specialist series "Turnover in environmental protection goods and services, 2014". Further information on the survey can be found in the environmental economics section.
The German Solar Energy Society DGS has commented on the developments in a pointed manner: www.dgs.de/index.php?id=3364&type=0#13585 (5th article in the newsletter of 22 July 2016)
Source: Press release destatis.de
According to the head of the EIB (European Investment Bank), Werner Hoyer, it is realistic to invest one trillion euros for climate protection within 10 years. In an interview with Der Spiegel, Hoyer said: "If we want to achieve our climate protection goals, we're no longer talking about billions, but trillions of euros" and "We can handle that." EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had named the climate protection target when she took office. Hoyer assumes that 1 trillion euro EU climate protection measures will trigger investments totalling 4 trillion euro.
Hoyer wants to mobilise additional money on the capital markets. "If we want to finance climate projects worth an average of 100 billion euros per year and the leverage that our investments trigger is around three, then the EIB would have to raise 30 to 35 billion euros per year," the bank boss told Der Spiegel. Already today, 28 per cent of the EIB's loans flow into projects that serve climate protection: "I want it to become 50 per cent in the future".
The EU target of investing 100 billion per year in climate protection was announced by the new head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen at the 25th Climate Conference COP25 in Madrid. The EU is to become climate neutral by 2050. The EU's first climate protection law will be presented in March 2020.
On 5 November 1977 27 people, including lawyers from the anti-nuclear movement, members of various environmental movements and critical natural scientists, but also economists and representatives of the Protestant Church, founded the Öko-Institut in Freiburg. The aim was to provide the public with independent scientific advice and well-founded expert opinions.
Today, more than 165 employees at the Freiburg, Darmstadt and Berlin sites work across disciplines in the fields of energy and climate protection; immission and radiation protection; agriculture and biodiversity; sustainability in consumption, mobility, resource management and companies; nuclear technology and plant safety, chemicals management and technology assessment as well as law, policy and governance.
2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the Öko-Institut. The independent scientific institute, which works extensively on sustainability issues and plays an active role in shaping environmental policy, is celebrating its anniversary under the motto "We wish for something!"
Höfken: "We are continuing to expand our successful solar offensive".
"Solar energy is a fundamental pillar of the energy transition. In order to further support this and to achieve our goal - a complete power supply from renewable energies by 2030 - we are further expanding our successful solar offensive: In addition to expanding the solar storage programme, which is in high demand, we are currently developing a solar register for Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition, we will also promote solar carports, balcony plug-in modules, wall boxes or agro-PV projects in the future," announced Environment and Energy Minister Ulrike Höfken during the event under the motto "Solar Offensive Rhineland-Palatinate: Investments for Climate and Economy" as part of the series "Wednesdays at the MUEEF" in Mainz today. Together with guests from the solar industry, nature conservation and citizen energy, she discussed the opportunities of solar energy for the state, for example through the economic factor of the Solar Offensive or cooperative PV projects.
Rhineland-Palatinate is investing an additional 14 million euros alone in climate-friendly solar energy from the Corona-related second supplementary budget. Because energy from the sun not only protects the climate, but also stimulates the economy and generates added value and jobs in Rhineland-Palatinate, Höfken continued.
Solar storage programme: more than 3,250 applications submitted
Solar storage enables solar energy to be used even when it is cloudy or dark. "In order to cover more of their own needs from renewable energy sources, we support private households, schools, municipal properties, charitable institutions and companies in investing in a solar storage system in addition to a PV system. With success: more than 3,250 applications have already been received by the Energy Agency. And with the additional funds we can support many more projects", explained the Minister. The trades in particular benefit enormously from these investments: 1,000 new PV roof systems with solar storage bring around 19 million euros of investment to Rhineland-Palatinate, Höfken concluded.
Background:
By 2030, the electricity supply in the state is to be generated entirely from renewable energies. Every second kilowatt hour of electricity generated in Rhineland-Palatinate already consists of energy from wind, sun, biomass or water.
The solar offensive will contribute to further expanding the share of solar energy in the state. At the federal level, Rhineland-Palatinate is also campaigning within the offensive for the removal of obstacles and better legal requirements. For example, the Ministry of the Environment has lobbied in the Bundesrat for the abolition of the cap on installed PV capacity of 52 gigawatts without replacement.
In addition, the Solar Offensive includes the guideline on electric mobility in the state administration, an open space ordinance for the installation of PV systems on low-yield and species-poor grassland, as well as comprehensive advice and information from many partners.
NATURSTROM is expanding its largest local heating project to date in Markt Erlbach, Franconia. In future, the eco-energy supplier will supply more than 130 customers with sustainable and locally generated heat - not only households but also municipal buildings and a large commercial enterprise. On 2,400 m2 Bavaria's largest solar thermal plant is being built for this purpose.
In the current second construction phase, NATURSTROM is connecting more than 70 new heat consumers, including the largest customer, the honey bottler Breitsamer & Ulrich GmbH & Co. KG. The company is providing the land for an energy centre and Bavaria's largest solar thermal plant with an area of 2,400 m2 available.
"The current turbulence on the European energy markets shows that we in Germany absolutely have to make ourselves less dependent on imports of fossil fuels," says NATURSTROM CEO Dr Tim Meyer. "With the heating turnaround towards decentralised renewable energies, we are not only doing the climate a great favour, but also ourselves and our economy. The local heating supply in Markt Erlbach is a great example of how the changeover can succeed."
Since 2019, NATURSTROM has been supplying 40 consumers with ecological heat at long-term stable prices via a wood pellet heating centre. After completion of the second construction phase, the local heating network will be 6.4 kilometres long. In addition to numerous private households and the Breitsamer company, the heat consumers also include smaller businesses and municipal buildings such as the school, the indoor swimming pool and an event hall. "We are pleased that so many and such different players in Markt Erlbach want to be part of the local heat turnaround," says Meyer.
After connecting all consumers, the total heat demand in the network is around 5,350 megawatt hours (MWh) per year; by covering this demand from renewable sources, approx. 1,800 tonnes of CO2 saved. In addition to solar heat, NATURSTROM uses wood pellets from the region as fuel in the existing energy centre, and regional wood in the form of wood chips will also be used in the second energy centre once the second construction phase is completed. "With the raw material supply from the region, we can provide affordable and sustainable energy for our citizens in the long term. Especially for future generations, it is important to act decisively for climate protection," emphasises Markt Erlbach's First Mayor Dr Birgit Kreß.
The two energy centres and the local heating network are designed to be open to new technologies, so that modernisation and expansion to supply new consumers are possible.
The impetus for planning the local heating supply came from a renovation of the main street. The connection to the local heating network will mainly replace old, climate-damaging oil heating systems. Particularly due to the lack of gas supply infrastructure, more than 80 percent of the inhabitants in Markt Erlbach still used heating oil before the start of the first construction phase.
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