Country is on a path to achieving the hard task in renewables while flunking the simple one in coal
To stand in the Black Forest in the south-west of Germany and watch 100m-diameter wind turbines turning on wooded ridges is to see the Energiewende in action. Germany’s effort to produce up to 95 per cent of its energy needs with renewables such as wind and solar by 2050 is under way. It is partly working.

The good part is on display in Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous state that is home to companies such as Mercedes-Benz, Robert Bosch and SAP. Here, a new Mittelstand of small and medium-sized enterprises has sprung up around renewables that last year accounted for 26 per cent of Germany’s power generation. Nearly half of this was produced by farmers and co-operatives that operate wind and solar farms.

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