Germany has subsided $222 billion of renewable energy development. An impressive 33% of their power is from renewables. However, some Germans are paying much more for power while others get subsidies. Plus, emissions haven’t dropped much, primarily because Germany panicked after Fukushima, killed nuclear and brought back coal and because their businesses are booming with not much apparent regulation and planning for transportation emission.
The Green Party started in New Zealand. However Germany is where it really got going. Green roots go deep there. Greens have actual positions as powerful politicians in Germany and are part of the ruling coalition. Other members of the coalition oppose the current energy plans.
But that progress has been undone somewhat by the government’s decision to accelerate its phase out of nuclear power after the 2011 disaster in Fukushima, Japan. That has made the country more reliant on its sizable fleet of coal-fired power stations, which account for the bulk of emissions from electricity generation.
The country has yet to address the transport industry, where emissions have increased as the economy boomed and more cars and trucks hit the road. Unlike Britain and France, Germany has not set a date to end the sale of diesel and gasoline cars.