Energy Policy and its Rewards

Germany embarked on an ambitious project to invest in all kinds of renewable energy. Next to direct subsidies of research, guaranteed prices for electricity from wind energy and solar energy were established. The guaranteed prices were set to decrease every year to first make renewable energy competitive, but also to create pressure to improve their efficiency. This worked incredibly well.

One payoff of such foresight? Export earnings. According to the Financial Times Deutschland, Germany companies is selling renewable energy technology worth €8 billion this year, an amount that is expected to double within three years. "Twenty years ahead of other countries", is the headline of the article. 74% of sales in the wind energy industry is for export, up from 58% in 2003.