Germany’s Energy Transition - How citizens power created clean power

Germany’s Energy Transition - How Citizens' Power Created Clean Power

Prof. Christoph Stefes, U. of Colorado, Denver & Ecologic Institute

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German citizens have successfully pushed their government to plot an energy path away from fossil fuels and nuclear.
While this so-called Energy Transition or Energiewende is not perfect it shows that an industrialized nation can create a low carbon energy infrastructure using wind and distributed solar. What made it possible was political will and net metering laws that pay citizens fairly for the power they produce on their rooftops.

About the speaker:
CU Denver’s political science professor Christoph Stefes takes students on a semester abroad to Berlin to learn directly about the sustainability and the Energiewende. He also works with Ecologic Institute (http://ecologic.eu) which for 20 years has advanced sustainability solutions and is guiding foreign delegations who study Germany's energy model as worth adopting.

The event is free but we welcome donations to cover the reception.

Co-sponsored with the JUC Green Task Force and Golden Earth Days.

Contact: Martin Voelker 303-215-1110 - mv@martinvoelker.com

Stay after the presentation for food, beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks during our networking reception!

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More info: National Geographic featured the Energiewende in their Nov 2015 Special Issue on climate change: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/climate-change/special-issue/#howtofixit

The German government offers English language resources (http://www.germany.info/Vertretung/usa/en/07-Econ-Energy-Innovation/01-Energy-Climate-Env/01/Energiewende-EnergyTransformation.html) about the Energiewende, as does the Ecologic Institute (http://ecologic.eu).

Prof. Stefes' program: Sustainability in Berlin - CU Denver Semester Abroad (http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/internationalprograms/oia/globaleducation/programs/semesterprograms/berlin/Documents/Berlin-Flyer-2015.pdf)
It's open to students of other universities as well, deadline for the Fall 2016 program is May 1st - please share.

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Note: This month's presentation will go ahead as scheduled. Roads will be clear again on Thursday, March 24, see: Reigning in Carbon: The Clean Power Plan - 3/24, 7p (http://www.meetup.com/J-CRES/events/229260259/)