Switching to 100% renewable energy earned us EUR 1,000

Our bill for 2021 confirms it: we generate 2.5 times more PV electricity than we draw from the grid.

Our consumption from the grid has fallen from 5,000 kWh to 3,000 kWh, while the surplus PV electricity we feed in has risen from 6,700 kWh to over 8,000 kWh. In the annual bill for 2021, my daughter therefore gets more than 1,000 euros back from the electricity supplier.

All this without any sacrifice, without saving, without a speed limit – which never was, is or will be a solution in itself. Because no energy-saving measure can feed surplus energy back into the grid, let alone far more energy than is drawn from the grid. Energy-saving measures are a declaration of bankruptcy for a rapid energy transition.

At our daughter’s house we live the energy future successfully and efficiently, with a small PV system of about 14 kWp on the roof and a battery storage system, an electric car, and we use the power of the sun for heating, cooling, cooking and lighting. In addition, my daughter’s house is completely blackout-proof. She will hardly notice even a power cut lasting several weeks.

Only with a rapid energy transition to 100% renewables can even more than 10 billion people achieve a dignified life in the first place.

Disruptive developments

Disruptive innovations are often described as “destructive” because they replace old business models or technologies. The fact is that even with xx% savings, this old system will disappear to make way for a new, better system that is better by a factor of 100 = disruptive development.

An example: saving energy, keeping to speed limits, lowering the temperature in living spaces … all of this will disappear, because a much better system is already establishing itself: e-mobility, plus-energy buildings (with at least halved energy consumption) etc. The immediate switch to 100% renewable energy alone halves energy demand and makes us truly sustainable and fit for the future.

Simply by switching to renewables, without any sacrifice, we halve energy consumption. Through electrification (e-cars, heat pumps), final energy demand falls considerably further. Studies assume between 1,000 TWh (DIW) and around 2,000 TWh (ISE).

In Germany, primary energy consumption in 2018 was around 13,106 petajoules (PJ) (equivalent to 3,640 TWh).

There is no real energy transition without agriculture using agri-PV, because this is where the potential for food security AND energy lies.

• Potential of agriculture: 5,510 TWh
• Roofs and façades: 1,900 TWh

All data are comparable with Austria at a ratio of about 1:10.

Our agriculture and forestry alone are able to cover the entire energy demand cleanly for ever from wind, solar thermal, photovoltaics, biomass and hydropower. Climate-damaging coal, oil, natural gas and uranium can thus be replaced cleanly for ever. PV alone can cover the energy demand several times over.

“The goals of sustainable development cannot be achieved by merely optimising the existing structures. Rather, a radical restructuring of our entire infrastructure is needed; …”

Prof. Brian Cody

Energy Design

My video tip for disruptive thinking (German)

Contact details • Who am I?

“Austria’s first energy self-sufficient farm” since 2002, with talks and seminars

Address: Untere Dorfstrasse 23, 2004 Streitdorf Austria

Tel: +43 (0)2269 2317 Mobile: +43 (0)680 1113363 Email: w.loeser@aon.at | www.energiebauernhof.com (German)

Link to the book (German): Wolfgang Löser – Der Energierebell (out of print, used copies at Bookbot)

Link to the film: Enerkey – Who holds the key to the energy transition?

Think about it today: wind, solar and photovoltaics with POWER STORAGE, e-mobility and combined heat and power as balancing energy