`Green` energy boom in Germany

Great export numbers and thousands of new jobs — Germany is expecting a ‘green’ economic boom sparked by its renewable energy sector.

As early as 2020, sales from wind and solar energy companies will surpass those of automobile and machinery companies, right now among the largest industry sectors in Germany, according to a study from international consulting firm Roland Berger.
‘The `green` sector is turning into a leading sector in Germany,’ Torsten Henzelmann, a senior official at Roland Berger, told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung weekly. ‘It really is a job motor. In 2020, the renewable energy and environment technology sector will employ more people than the machinery or car sector. Today already, companies complain that they can`t find enough qualified personnel.’

The study, commissioned by the German Environment Ministry, polled officials at 1,500 German renewable energy and environment technology firms. It won`t be published until June at a European Union environment summit, but Roland Berger spokesman Stefan Schuessler provided United Press International with an excerpt Friday.

The world market for environmentally friendly products has a volume of roughly $1.3 billion, and that will double by 2020, the study said. The main drivers of this growth will be renewable energy generation and energy-efficiency technologies, thus handing Germany great chances for additional economic development.

Already, the country`s renewable energy sector is among the most innovative and successful worldwide. Nordex, Repower, Enercon (all wind energy), SolarWorld and Conenergy (solar energy) — renewable companies based in Germany — dominate the world market. Every third solar panel and every second wind rotor is made in Germany, and German turbines and generators used in hydro energy generation are among the most popular worldwide.

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