Below are personal impressions of Duane Bogenschneider as we traveled through
the German countryside. We traveled primarily in the northern and eastern part
of Germany.
I was impressed with all the yellow farm fields. I learned that these
were rape fields. It appeared to me that two thirds of the fields in
northern and eastern Germany had rape. I learned that the European Union
is subsidizing farmers to grow rape to promote renewable fuels. Rape is
used to produce biodiesel. To promote sales, biodiesel in Germany has been
exempt from standard fuel duty.
Rape oil is the only raw material currently used in Europe for the production
of biodiesel. It is extracted from the plant seeds in oil mills and then
processed into biodiesel in manufacturing plants (chemical name: rape methyl
ester). Rape seeds have a 40 to 50% oil content. Between 1300 and 1700 litres of
biodiesel can be produced from an average yield of three to four tons or rape
seed per hectare under cultivation. The biodiesel is sold either as pure fuel or
blended with conventional fuel.
About two thirds of the rape acreage is used for biodiesel production. Rape
is also used for industrial oils and greases, as well as for food and animal
feed. Currently about 11% of farm acreage in Germany is devoted to growing
rape, and it is projected to meet over 5% of total fuel consumption by 2010.
I was also impressed with the large number of wind farms. The presence
of wind turbines was almost ubiquitous in northern and eastern Germany.
The flat land and the winds from the Baltic Sea produce an excellent environment
for energy production through wind.
Germany is the world champion in wind energy technology. No other country
generates so much wind energy and no other country has more technological
know-how in this area than Germany. More than 18,000 wind turbines are spinning
in the German federal area. German wind energy systems are an export hit. The
country benefits from this: Wind energy provides over 64,000 people with jobs in
this country. With this figure, wind energy has overtaken coal mining as a major
employer.
The environment has also greatly benefited from this development: In 2005,
German wind generators produced over 26 billion kilowatt-hours of wind
power. Coal power stations would have blown about 21 million tons of CO2
into the air over the same period. The wind turbines also helped to avoid the
emission of thousands of tons of sulphur and nitrogen compounds last year. Wind
energy makes a substantial contribution to maintaining our international
commitments to climate protection.
Wind power currently produces about six percent of Germany‘s total
power. All of the renewable energy sources together – such as sun, wind
and biomass – already cover about ten percent of the total electricity used. By
2020, it should be up to 25 percent.
I was less favorably impressed with the amount of graffiti on
buildings and monuments in the cities we visited.
I was impressed with the excellent progress that has been made in building
and restoring roads in former East Germany. Some of the smaller
roads still suffer from some disrepair, but many freeways have been constructed.
Many new buildings are rising next to or replacing the grey drab
buildings of the communist era.
Many of the potential tourist sites in former East Germany are under
reconstruction, and they will soon be ready to absorb the large number of
tourists that are projected. As American tourists, we were rare in many of
the areas in which we traveled. I am sure this will change in the upcoming
years. Currently there are many tourists from the former West Germany visiting
these areas, but very few Americans.
It was sad to see the high unemployment rates in the cities and rural
areas of former East Germany. Many of the young people are migrating to the
western urban areas for employment.
Click on the picture to enlarge it.
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Rape field
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Rape field
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Rape field
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Another rape field
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Wind turbines
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More wind turbines
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Dairy cattle in field
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Barley field
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Old GDR (East German) watch tower by highway. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Cobblestone highway. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Interesting roadside sign. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Note highway patches. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Narrow bridge. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Field of red poppies. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Laying a cobblestone walkway. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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Old train station. Photo courtesy of the Marshalls.
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