On renewables and public transport

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Phil Hart writes at theoildrum.com:

The Germans today have serious penetration of solar and wind, and a grid at capacity in some corners as a result. I get the sense they are well aware of the challenges they have set themselves and will commit everything that we admire about what it is to be German towards finding the limits of what is possible with renewables.

Seeing a problem and saying „That’s not possible anyway“ is easy. But it’s an attitude of ambitiously throwing money and brains at problems to find and push limits is what got us from living in caves to what we have today. I think in terms of renewable energies Europe in general and Germany in particular are leading the way – and that’s great. But it’s not only renewables:

Something I appreciated outside the conference venue was Vienna’s fantastic public transport. The underground, surface trains and trams were frequent and very efficient at moving us around town. I’ve never seen so few cars in a major city, even in peak hour, nor did I ever feel like I could have got around quicker or easier in one.

As of now I don’t see I reason why I should personally own a car. Bikes, public transport incl. rail traffic, rental cars and car sharing seem perfectly fine, although there’s room for improvement when it comes to reducing transaction costs (German).