green revolution in germany

I've just been to a BZE discussion group. The main points I took away were:

1. There are 370,000 people employed in the renewable energy industry in Germany. Where are the green jobs I hear many people here on HC constantly ask? There are the green jobs.

2. Wind farms are all over Germany and there is not a vast amount of people complaining about headaches. Why not? Community groups request the wind farm developments and are actively involved and even earn income from them. Plus Germany has pro-wind development legislation as opposed to anti-wind legislation in Vic and NSW.

3. Germany is phasing out their nuclear power. As the speaker pointed out tonight, people have not forgotten Chernobyl. There are still places in Germany affected by the radiation fallout from Chernobyl which mean you cannot eat certain food types. Plus, in the most developed and reliable nation on the planet, they STILL have not solved the problem of nuclear waste.

4. Fossil fuel power stations are being priced out of the market in Germany, due to feed in tariffs and the European ETS. This has the benefit of reducing emissions, all through a price on carbon rather than a centralised direct action policy (which will be unceremoniously axed as soon as Abbott gets a sniff of power).

5. Baseload power does not seem to be an issue - the more inflexible technologies like coal must at times sell their power for a negative wholesale price because they cannot shut down. I realise this issue is more complex than a one-liner but you need to realise the Geman grid is not collapsing due to renewables - if you listened to most people here you would be convinced that is what should happen.

6. Germany is a net exporter of energy.

http://beyondzeroemissions.org/events/discussion/630-8pm-monday-3-october-100-renewables-dr-harry-lehmann