During the week of May 26 – June 1, 2013, a delegation of eight energy policy advisors from Capitol Hill and around Washington, D.C., participated on the EU Low Carbon Economy Tour to Berlin, Stuttgart, rural Baden-Württemberg and Hessen, and Brussels, to gain firsthand insight into the transition to renewable energy production in Germany and to learn about the role of the European institutions in promoting a low carbon economy across the European Union.
In Germany the thematic focus was on the economics of the energy transition and its bottom-up development, which reflects its support from the general public and its acceptance across the political spectrum. The tour began in Berlin with briefings from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology. The government representatives outlined the history and current state of play of the German energy transition, but focused primarily on scenarios Germany is pursuing to ensure the continued development of renewable energy production, the expansion and integration of the grid system, and policies for increasing energy efficiency, especially in electricity conversion and the energy consumption of buildings. Energy efficiency was revisited throughout the tour as an area whose potential as a cost-saving measure has yet to be fully realized in both the United States and Europe.
See full Press Release: http://www.boell.de/climate-transatlantic/index-380.html
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