Environmental protection in Germany

Germany is probably the most avdvanced society in the world for environmental awareness.
Any visitor will immediately notice the solar panels on roofs everywhere and the many wind turbines dotting the landscape, which make the world's highest share of renewable energy (and also almost the highest electricity prices), despite a climate with neither excessive sunshine nor constant storm.
Another issue baffling foreigners in Germany is waste separation. Every household and most public places sport a bewildering array of collection bins for paper, glass (collected separately in three colours), metals, plastics, packagings, compostable plant matter, batteries, hazardous materials and sometimes more (or any subset of the above). Do inform yourself and follow the (compulsory) separation protocol of your area - since collection fees are pretty steep, you'd otherwise soon get into serious trouble with neighbours, property management and/or authorities. Garbage is a serious matter for Germans!
You'll also notice the high regard for nature and its protection in many other ways, including a thicket of regulatory requirements for everything from cars to construction, from conservation to heating, and many others.

From what I've learned thus far - this is a custom that developed as part of the German culture over more than 300 years ( if not rooted even more deeply as a perception to view the world).

Example - In contrast to many European countries, that cut down most of their natural forests during the Renaissance to exploit the new world and support a lavish expenditure in short term;  hundred's of German kings (independently) choose rather to protect the forests and forego many opportunities to colonization with wooden ship Armada's. You can also imagine the disdain/trauma when Roman soldiers entered their lands 2000 years ago, that saw wood as a mere expendable resource and destroyed 1000s of acres in their wake.

If anybody read business guru Tom Peter's book on teams and culture, it's inherent to German leadership thinking to constantly reduce wastage. Strangly this is very similiar to the Japanese Kaizen thinking. Many other parts of the world has a different perception on resources - even if it is something as simple as working hours for people. So this way of thinking  draws very wide circles in every day life.

Conservation starts long before a government decide to drop blue waste bins at residential homes - it has to turn naturally in peoples mind first.

As a result, it is possible (with "relative" stability) to sustain a long term goal over many political periods : http://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/node/981. Because it not cheap nor short term profit oriented.

Two things, first it seems most people think solar and wind are wonderful things, but in reality with current technologies these occupy a huge amount of space and have contributed to increases in CO2 emissions by causing coal plants to be on/off/on/off...

That aside, the biggest problem in Germany is the deeply anti-competitive 'umwelt' areas in all cities and soon to extend in a massive band across the ruhr. If the rules are properly implemented you are not allowed to drive in these without the appropriate sticker. You can't get the sticker without all the correct EU paperwork (it costs you even then) or a complete check by TUV which will cost a packet. So you can't drive into cities to work or deliver. This is ok if you are german with a german vehicle (apart from it being yet another tax) but if you are just working there or delivering goods using your own non-german vehicle it is a nightmare. Frankly I think the only reason they get away with it is that no one has taken the country to the eu to get it outlawed (and if they did I doubt it would work considering that germany just about rules the eu)

If the germans were environmentally aware they would replace the 24 hour a day timed traffic lights all over the country with sensor driven ones like the UK uses which don't leave you 20 minutes waiting for nothing but let you go asap. (sometime we should get around to having sensors and even more intelligence to change them before you are forced to stop).
Having said that, the UK could learn from the Germans and do away with the stupidity of roundabouts on major roads and road junctions ... the cause of the issues on the M25 and the ridiculous site of lorries stopping at Mildenhall when on a 200 mile + dual carriageway because some **** saved a few quid by leaving a roundabout in the way!

Basically lets cut the *** and realise there is either no real environmental problem (but a good excuse to raise extra tax), or there is one and no government - from germany to china - gives enough of a *** to actually do anything REAL about it.

Dhitchman: You seem to not know what you are talking about, but rant heavily against all environmental measures that inconvenience your daily life!
First, solar and wind energy do CLEARLY reduce CO2 emissions, and no coal-powered plant gets into on-off because of them - this is technically impossible (which is why peak demand power plants are always gas-fired, which do not produce extra CO2 in on-off mode).
Second, high particulate matter required the restrictions on vehicle entry in some cities. We do value our health enough to accept the need for a green sticker and a (fairly small) fee once in the life of a car (it does not expire). That your UK government doesn't can hardly be blamed on the Germans, or can it. In any case, you're not supposed to do business deliveries or live and work in Germany with a foreign car!
And third, it is a feature, not a bug, of German traffic policy to make car driving in cities less convenient (e.g. with long waiting times, etc.) in order to reduce traffic. You can always switch to the excellent public transport network!

So the French, Dutch, Italians, British are not supposed to deliver or do business in Germany? I am certain that was what the EU was about????

And yes it does sound a rant but if you look the CO2 emissions are NOT falling despite the massive cost of providing all this renewable energy. Simply it is because they are not consistent and can not provide either peak power or reliable base power. Following on from this those sources that can (coal, nuclear, gas) are being switched on and off and this is not efficient. For nuclear that inefficiency doesn't really matter, for coal and gas it means an increase in co2.

And deliberately slowing traffic to create jams, congestion and hopefully push people onto public transport shows a lack of common sense which is almost bewildering. Make public transport attractive and people will naturally use it (when it is cheap, reliable and convenient I use it). However, when it is late at night or early in the morning and you are heading off to an airport with no public transport, or taking children, prams, or doing large amounts of shopping with children, perhaps delivering goods or equipment then public transport is plainly just not suitable. If you slow all traffic down and have it all sitting in the centre of the city belching out fumes - including diesel particulates from buses, lorries, vans just because you think that the local kaufhof is suddenly going to decide to have all its staff bring the stock in on the bus in the morning you are plainly barking at the moon.