Electricity Rebels (Stromrebellen)
Stromrebellen, literally electricity rebels, have driven the Energiewende in Germany. They have fomented a veritable energy revolution. These Jeffersonian rebels can serve as a model for the rest of us. Their attitude is, “Renewable energy is ours. We will develop it ourselves. And we will make money doing it.” Revolutionary, indeed.
Feldheim: The energy self-sufficient village
By
Annika Leister
If your German is not up to the article on Feldheim here’s the gist in English. Feldheim is reaping the …
We the Power: How community energy can free people and help the planet
By
Emanuela Barbiroglio
Born and raised in the German city of Schönau, Sebastian Sladek learned the meaning of the word “community” quite soon. Words like “energy”, “power” and “rebellion” immediately followed. . . They were taking over the Schönau power grid and founding their own as a civil society. In 1994 Elektrizitätswerke Schönau (EWS) was founded: finally a green-electricity supplier.
Copenhagen’s Legendary Wind Park Middelgrunden at a Crossroads
By
Paul Hockenos
The world’s largest wind farm two decades ago may not survive as a co-operative. At least this is what the Danish energy industry says. The co-op’s founders remain defiant – and optimistic.
Tvindkraft: The Giant That Shook the World Turns 42
By
Paul Gipe
Guinness Book of Records is considering a new category–world’s longest running or oldest megawatt-scale wind turbine. The question was thrown at me by Britta Jensen, one of the operators of Tvindkraft in northwest Jutland. She wanted to know if they qualified.
‘We are the Energiewende’: German villages go 100% renewable
By
Pavol Szalai
Neuerkirch and Külz are two small villages in Western Germany – of 300 and 500 souls respectively. And yet, they feel a part of something bigger that goes even beyond the country’s energy transition, the ‘Energiewende’.
Bürger-Windpark Lübke-Koog 25-Year Anniversary–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
Hans-Detlef Feddersen sent me a copy of a little picture book celebrating the 25th anniversary of Bürger-Windpark Lübke-Koog. He included a DVD video of interviews with the founders of the community-owned wind farm, the first of its kind in Germany and model for the thousands of projects to come.
Störfall mit Charme—The Story of the Schönau Electricity Revolt–A Review
By
Paul Gipe
The title, Störfall mit Charme, is a playful thumbing of the nose in German at the critics of a movement by citizens in a small village in the deepest reaches of Germany’s Schwarzwald or Black Forest to dump nuclear power and build a renewable energy future.
Dueling Wind Ties in Woodstock
By
Paul Gipe
The 29 June was the “wind day” for York University’s International Renewable Energy Academy. As the featured speaker to start the day I donned one of my favorite wind tie.
Energiewende MOOC (Massive Open Online Course)
By
Craig Morris, Iass Potsdam
28 youtube.com videos on the Energiewende with an emphasis on the Electricity Rebels who sparked a renewable energy revolution in Germany.
From swords to solar, a German town takes control of its energy
By
Audrea Lim
The wind turbine could be the icon for the Saerbeck “Climate Community,” a champion of energy democracy that was twice awarded the European Energy Award, and received the German Sustainability Prize in 2013.
