The research from the Fraunhofer organisation of applied science showed that renewable energy overtook coal as Germany’s main source of energy for the first time last year, accounting for just over 40 percent of electricity production.
The output of solar, wind, biomass and hydroelectric generation units rose 4.3 percent last year to produce 219 terawatt hours (TWh) of electricity. That was out of a total national power production of 542 TWh derived from both green and fossil fuels, of which coal burning accounted for 38 percent.