Sustainable electricity for the future | Umweltbundesamt

Sustainable electricity supply calls for transition to a system using 100 percent renewable energy sources. Electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy sources is technically possible by 2050. In all ambitious expansion scenarios, electricity from wind and solar energy plays the central role. The costs of electricity generation from renewable sources have already fallen considerably – and this trend will continue. Since conventional electricity generation will become more expensive as time goes on, renewable energy will increasingly become a paying proposition. Environmentally harmful subsidies and failure to take account of external environmental costs arising from electricity generation from fossil fuels and nuclear power result in a massive distortion of competition to the disadvantage of renewable energy. The transformation of the energy system makes economic sense at national level. Assistance for renewable energy avoids environmental costs arising from harmful effects on health and the environment, creates jobs and increases regional value added. It also improves the country’s competitive position on the growing global markets for renewable energy technologies. Electricity supply based entirely on renewable energy sources is an intergeneration task and a global innovation project. Research and development, innovation assistance and instruments for promoting market diffusion are important to speed up the expansion of renewable energy and the reduction of costs in that sector.