As of: May 2011

BMU Brochure: Innovation Through Research

2010 Annual Report on Research Funding in the Renewable Energies Sector

Our future energy supply needs to be environmentally sound, reliable and affordable in equal measure. Working towards this is one of the most important societal challenges of our time. Following the dramatic events in Japan, which clearly showed the potential risk of nuclear fission, we will make every effort to phase out this technology earlier than planned. The images from Japan leave no doubt about the necessity of switching our energy supply to renewable sources.

Our future energy mix needs to centre on using energy sources that exist naturally – wind and solar energy, geothermal and bioenergy. With the Federal Government’s Energy Concept of autumn 2010 we have set up a long-term overall strategy designed to guide Germany towards harnessing renewable sources of energy effectively and using them efficiently. At the same time, our energy strategy will help us achieve our goal of significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions so that we can meet our climate targets and halt climate change. We envisage Germany leading the field in terms of energy efficiency and innovative ideas. We expect the share of renewable energy in energy consumption to be 18 % in 2020 and to rise steadily to 60 % by 2050. It is our goal that by 2020, 35 % of electricity shall come from renewable energy sources, rising to 80 % by 2050.