“To see Germany’s latest cash crop, take a train across the flat plains between Hannover and Berlin or cruise the waters off the gusty North Sea coast. In both places, you can’t miss the rows of windmills marching to the horizon, quietly generating some 7% of the nation’s electricity needs- and powering an important new industry.

Thanks to smart regulation, Germany has become a global powerhouse in green energy, producing more electricity from wind than any other country. While the industry owes some of its success to German expertise in fields such as aerodynamics, the biggest boost has come from the government. The nation’s energy law guarantees operators of windmills and solar generators an above-market price for power for as long as 20 years. Other countries have similar policies, but few have applied them as consistently as Germany”. – Excerpt from http://businessweek.com/.

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Windmills

“For some industries, the prospect of $3.5 billion in federal subsidies now, and double that in three years, might be a powerful incentive. But not, apparently, for the oil industry, which is seeing crude oil prices soar to record highs. Despite collecting billions for blending small amounts of ethanol with gas, oil companies seem determined to fight the spread of E85, a fuel that is 85% ethanol and 15% gas. Congress has set a target of displacing 15% of projected annual gasoline use with alternative fuels by 2017”. – Excerpt from Businessweek Magazine.

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Ethanol