Germany Smashes Solar Power World Record

Germany’s solar power plants produced a record 22 gigawatts of energy one day in 2012, equivalent to the output of 20 nuclear plants. The country is already a world-leader in solar power and hopes to be free of nuclear energy by 2022.

The director of the Institute of the Renewable Energy Industry (IWR) in Muenster, northeast Germany, said the solar power delivered to the national grid on Saturday met 50 per cent of the nation’s energy quota.

“Never before anywhere has a country produced as much photovoltaic electricity. Germany came close to the 20 gigawatt (GW) mark a few times in recent weeks. But this was the first time we made it over,” Norbert Allnoch told Reuters news agency.

The German government decided to turn its back on nuclear energy last year after the Fukushima disaster and plans to be nuclear-free by 2022. Critics have rounded on the initiative, skeptical that renewable sources can meet the nation’s growing energy needs.

“This shows Germany is capable of meeting a large share of its electricity needs with solar power. It also shows Germany can do with fewer coal-burning power plants, gas-burning plants and nuclear plants,” stressed Allmoch.

Merkel’s government has invested large amounts of money in restructuring the nation’s energy infrastructure and weaning it off atomic energy. It has almost as much solar power energy units as the rest of the world combined and currently generates four per cent of its annual energy needs from the Sun.

Utilities and consumer groups have complained that increased use of solar energy will push up the price of electricity in Germany.

German tax payers currently shell out around $5 billion annually for solar energy, an Environmental Ministry report says. Chancellor Merkel has tried to slash prices but has been blocked by the German parliament.

Panels with photovoltaic cells of German company Bosch Solar Engery are pictured during the inauguration of the company’s new plant in Arndstadt near Erfurt, eastern Germany. (AFP Photo / Johannes Eisele)

Stumbling blocks on the path to ‘a greener future’
Germany is also planning to ratchet up its use of other renewable forms of energy in an attempt to compensate for its nuclear shortfall.

The government will capitalize on wind, solar and bio-mass as well as increased use of coal power stations to produce its power.

However, in spite of increased investment, Bundesnetzagentur, the country’s new energy regulator, has predicted widespread power cuts as the power grid is put under extra pressure this winter.

Bundesnetzagentur has said Germany will have an energy capacity gap of approximately 10 Gigawatts, equivalent to the output of 15 power stations.

In addition, critics have voiced fears that increased use of unreliable energy resources such as wind power and solar energy will put a lot of strain on the national grid because of fluctuations in output, making it very unstable.

Although Germany faces significant hurdles in its race towards a nuclear-free future, it still remains a world-leader in renewable energies.

source: RT

5 Reasons Why Uruguay’s President Is Cooler Than Your President

The tiny South American country of Uruguay has been making international news lately due to their latest history-making legalization of marijuana.  What hasn’t been reported is all the other amazing stuff Uruguay’s president has been quietly doing to help his people while in office.

While other world leaders take advantage of their position of power to enrich their friends and enjoy the perks of the job, President Jose Mujica has been on a one-man mission to tackle the problems of his people. How refreshing.

This article was originally posted on: I Acknowledge
1. His “retirement plan” includes adopting 30 to 40 impoverished children

Many presidents spend their retirement years giving expensive lectures and dedicating buildings to themselves. After serving his term, President Mujica has announced that he plans on taking poor kids off the street and letting them live at his home.

“I have the goal of getting together 30 or 40 poor kids and bringing them to live with me,” he said Friday night at a business diner, according to the El Observador newspaper. [source]

2. He donates almost his entire presidential salary to social programs

Mujica has no interest in becoming wealthy while in office. He’d much rather see his money go towards the people he serves. That is why, since taking office in 2010, he has donated nearly 90% of his salary to social programs. Deferring a paycheck has earned him the title as “the poorest president in the world.” A distinction he pays little attention to.

El presidente explained he receives $12,500 a month but keeps only $1,250. The public servant told the newspaper, “I do fine with that amount; I have to do fine because there are many Uruguayans who live with much less.” [source]

That self-induced low pay means he makes around $15,000 a year. For reference, President Obama brings in around $400,000 a year. If ever there was a leader who could say he knows what it is like to get by on less, it’s Mujica.

3. He refuses to live in the Presidential Mansion, instead living with his wife at their family farm

Customarily, the Uruguayan president is entitled to a luxurious mansion provided by the state, but Mujica insists on remaining at his family farm, where he keeps his two most prized possessions: his three-legged dog named Manuela and his old Volkswagen Beetle.

Turning down the invitation to live at a luxurious grace and favour residence owned by the state, he instead continues to reside at his ramshackle farm situated a few miles away from the country’s capital city of Montevideo.

The only sign the country’s leader is at home are the pair of police officers who stand guard at the end of his heavily tractor-rutted dirt track. [source]

4. He insists on treating drug users with compassion not criminalization

Many countries, including the United States, treat drug users as criminals but Mujica has tried a different approach. He realized that greatest damage being done was not by an ordinary person smoking a joint, but the drug dealers who profit on the fact that drugs are illegal and have offered the service on the black market – oftentimes bringing with it, violence and exploitation.

Speaking about his reasoning behind legalizing marijuana, Mujica said:

“We’ve given this market as a gift to the drug traffickers,” the 78-year-old Jose Mujica said, “and that is more destructive socially than the drug itself, because it rots the whole of society.”

His plan was to give the drugs over to the people and take it out of the hands of the drug dealers. To this end, he has proposed not just legalizing the use of marijuana (as other countries have done), but go further. He has legalized every aspect of what was once the drug trade. Citizens are allowed to grow, distribute, and smoke the plant without fear of being labeled a criminal. He also plans to offer the drug at state-run dispensaries for as little as $1 a gram, further undercutting the illegal drug trade in the country.

5. He brought the legalization of gay marriage to Uruguay

Uruguayans celebrate after gay marriage law is signed.

While many countries continue to adopt gay marriage rights only slowly (and some have even regressed), Uruguay spent this summer becoming the 2nd country in South America to legalize gay marriage (and only the 12th in the world). Uruguay, a largely Catholic country, would not be considered an obvious choice to lead the way in gay rights, but under Mujica and his liberal allies in government, the country managed to pass the law with hardly a fuss. Since then Uruguayan gay couples have been flocking to government offices to get marriage licenses.