Green energy is good. Finally, people around the world begin to realize that the climate change is a serious problem for mankind. Driving with a car harms the environment – more efficient cars (or electric vehicles) are the new SUVs. On the other hand, a lot of energy is consumed in private households. In Germany, energy-efficient remodeling is rewarded with cheap credits. Often, solar power is used to heat water and generate electricity. More and more wind parks are built which also draw their energy from the sun, indirectly.
Unfortunately, renewable energy source create problems for the conventional power grids. In a power grid, demand and supply of electricity must match at all times. If a consumer draws power from it, the exact amount of power needs to be fed back into the power grid as fast as possible. There is almost no reservoir for electrical power (except for pump storage hydro power plants, but the capacity is limited). Since renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power cannot be planned additional power capacities need to be in place in order to compensate for the lack of power.