Power to the Germans

It’s not hard to see why many of the top technology and energy firms have agreed to invest in Germany’s 208 million dollar project E-Energy. Currently, E-Energy is testing whether homes are able to sustain their energy needs in six regions in Germany. Each home attempts to be conservative in energy consumption, produces its own energy (solar or from a mini power station) and, according to a German law passed over 20 years ago, may sell any excess energy to the power grid. If applied nationwide, this effort has the potential to conserve 10-terawatt hours of energy per year—the annual amount of energy consumed by roughly 2.5 million homes. U.S. states California, Hawaii and Vermont have followed suit and passed laws that will pay residents for the green energy generated in their homes. Legislative action of this sort raises awareness of individual energy use and returns an element of control to energy consumers. Incorporating the efforts and goals of projects like E-Energy into various other technological industries are instrumental in creating a new green energy market. E-Energy and the like offer supportive and profitable moves toward renewable energy.