germany

In a backwards move indicative of the world’s fitful transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy, a wind farm in western Germany is being dismantled in order to make way for the expansion of an open-pit coal mine. The expansion of the lignite mine underscores Europe’s energy crisis, as energy security has sometimes taken precedence […]

Responding to both the climate crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany unveiled a major package Wednesday to speed its transition to renewable energy.  The goal of the new plan is for Germany to get at least 80 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030 and achieve almost 100 percent renewable energy by […]

By Gero Rueter Fabian Karthaus grew up with solar energy. “My father built the first photovoltaic system on the barn roof and you could see that it worked,” he says. Today, the farmer is 33 and owns two large solar power systems himself. Berries now grow underneath one of them. Five years ago, Karthaus took […]

More than 100 people are dead and about 1,300 still missing in the wake of extreme rain and flooding western Europe. The torrential rainfall — as much as two months’ worth in two days, amounts not seen in the summer for at least a century — unleashed flooding that stacked cars like children’s toys and […]

By Douglas Broom There were 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads at the end of 2020 as registrations soared by 41% in just one year. But when it comes to hauling heavy loads, most of the world’s trucks still run on diesel. But that’s starting to change with the introduction in Germany of […]

In Germany, hope is growing for wild bees and insects. Surprisingly, it’s taking root in the country’s large urban cities, thanks to wildflower meadows being planted precisely to reverse precipitous declines in insect populations. Insects around the world are in danger. A 2020 study published in Science estimated that global bug populations are down 25 […]

By Elliot Douglas The coronavirus pandemic has altered economic priorities for governments around the world. But as wildfires tear up the west coast of the United States and Europe reels after one of its hottest summers on record, tackling climate change remains at the forefront of economic policy. The German Economics Minister Peter Altmaier made […]

By Wolfgang Dick Despite the lush, verdant nature that surrounds the German town of Ulrichstein, residents here — and in the region — suffer from acute water shortages. Ulrichstein Mayor Edwin Schneider, meanwhile, is deeply concerned by his town’s dire water shortage. “I never thought we would be affected like this,” he told DW, even […]