Even The AC In This City Is Eco-Friendly

On the Western edge of the Black Forest in Germany is a city called Freiberg.  The farmers that live here in Germany’s sunniest area protested and prevented nuclear power plants from being built in 1975.  They refused to have nuclear power plants along the beautiful Rhine River, and instead solved their own energy demands.

The farmers of Freiberg decided to try and harness clean energy from sun, wind and water.  Citizens worked out a deal with the government where they feed the power grid with their solar panels for about 45 cents a kilowatt hour, and can buy the energy back for only 20 cents.  Energy is greener and electric bills are lower.

158 soccer fans even paid for solar panels at the local stadium, and the stadium has been renamed to the Badenova Solar Soccer Stadium.  These solar panels generate hot water for their showers and Jacuzzis, but most of the energy is sold back to the grid.  The town is so dedicated to being green that developers that don’t include green aspects in their projects, don’t get their permits quickly.  The town center is a car-free zone.  There are 380 miles of bike lanes and public transportation options like rail and bus.  6.5 million passengers ride the metro rail line. 

Several hotels are “zero-emissions” meaning they use no more energy than they create with their solar panels and windmills.  No pre-packaged foods, no toxic phosphate cleaning products, dual flush toilets, even the ac is green.

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