By Roy L Hales

Germany’s renewables have set a new record. According to the  Fraunhofer institute, they produced about 81 TWh, or 31% of the nation’s electricity during the first half of 2014. Solar production is up 28%, wind 19% and biomass 7% over last year. Meanwhile, with the exception of nuclear energy, all conventional sources are produced less. The output from gas powered plants was half of what it had been in 2010 and brown coal powered plants are produced at a similar level to 2010-2012.