Renewable energy has been used by man since prehistory, i.e. making use of the energy that is supplied by wind or running water. During the past years, the modern technologies which now comprise renewables have gained more importance for several reasons.
Driving forces behind this change are the globalization of the electricity and natural gas markets, the increasing importance of environmental and climate protection as well as the growing energy demand from emerging nations with decreasing non-renewable resources at the same time. Crude oil prices at record levels show us the necessity to reconsider worldwide energy policies at this stage. In this context, renewables become more and more important.
The use of renewable energy has been steadily increasing during the past years. A survey conducted by the German Aerospace Center ("DLR") shows that the proportion of renewables of the overall electricity supply in Germany can be expanded to 45 percent by the year 2030 and to 77 percent by 2050. The total contribution of renewables according to energy sources by the year 2050 as per key scenario 2006 can be looked up HERE.
