Hermann Scheer
| Hermann Scheer | |
|---|---|
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| Hermann Scheer (2008) | |
| Member of Parliament for Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag (Parliament) |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 29 April 1944 |
| Died | October 14, 2010 |
| Political party | Social Democrat |
| Occupation | a Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag (Parliament) President of Eurosolar (The European Association for Renewable Energy) |
Hermann Scheer (April 29, 1944 – October 14, 2010) was a Social Democrat member of the German Bundestag (Parliament), President of Eurosolar (The European Association for Renewable Energy) and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy.[1] In 1999, Scheer was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for his "indefatigable work for the promotion of solar energy worldwide".[2]
Scheer believed that the continuation of current patterns of energy supply and use will be environmentally damaging, with renewable energy being the only realistic alternative. Scheer had concluded that it is technically and environmentally feasible to harness enough solar radiation to achieve a total replacement of the foclear (fossil/nuclear) energy system by a global renewable energy economy. The main obstacle to such a change is seen to be political, not technical or economic.[2] In 1999 he was one of the initiators of the German feed-in tariffs that were the major source of the rise of renewable energies in Germany during the following years.
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Life [edit]
Scheer was born in Wehrheim, and became a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 1965. As a student, while majoring in economics and law, he was active in student politics at the University of Heidelberg, and participated in the German student movement of the 1960s. In 1979, he graduated from the Free University of Berlin as a doctor of political science.
He became a member of the Bundestag in 1980, representing Baden-Württemberg; in 1993, he also became a member of the federal steering committee (Bundesvorstand) of the Social Democratic Party. Scheer had a solid track record as an anti-establishment figure within his own party.
He called the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia a war crime.[3]
In his election districts, he always had to rely on a suitable placement on the party list to receive his mandates. He never had an executive post in government. In the preelection shadow cabinet of Andrea Ypsilanti, candidate for prime minister of Hesse in 2008, Scheer was pegged unsuccessfully as minister for development, environment and economics. The final list long after the election mentioned him as secretary of a downsized ministry of economics[clarification needed][4] Scheer announced ambitious energy policy plans. The announcement of Scheer boosted the Ypsilanti campaign in the beginning but enhanced innerparty doubts about a non realistic approach in Hesses political and economic surroundings which made him fail finally.[4] Scheer assumed Ypsilantis policies would result in a big big triumph of his party at the federal elections 2009.[5]
His book Energy Autonomy was instrumental in the making of the film Die 4. Revolution – Energy Autonomy in which he stresses the revolution in capitalist ownership of our energy supply.[6]
Death [edit]
Fourteen days before his death he was seen live on German television[7] making a statement in the Bundestag about a highly explosive ("hochbrisant") 60 billion euro breach of contract ("Vertragsbruch") by Germany's privately owned nuclear power corporations.[8] He suddenly died in a hospital in Berlin from heart failure[9] after an unspecified short and severe illness.[10]
Books [edit]
- The Energy Imperative: 100 Percent Renewable Now, 2011, Routledge.
- Energy Autonomy, The Economic, Social and Technological Case for Renewable Energy, 2006, Earthscan, ISBN 184473556
- A Solar Manifesto, 2005, Earthscan, ISBN 1-902916-51-4
- The Solar Economy, Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future, 2004, Earthscan, ISBN 1-84407-075-1
See also [edit]
- Eurosolar
- Renewable energy commercialization
- International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
- Rolf Disch
- Anti-nuclear movement in Germany
- Michael Sladek
- World Future Council
- Hans-Josef Fell
- Die 4. Revolution – Energy Autonomy
References [edit]
- ^ Book Review: Energy Autonomy. The economic, social and technological case for renewable energy
- ^ a b Right Livelihood Award
- ^ Der Stern (german) Kriegsverbrechen
- ^ a b Spiegel Online 03. November 2008, 09:25, Hermann Scheer Ypsilantis Windmacher (Scheer- Ypsilantis Windmaker). Carsten Volkery
- ^ [1] 29.10.2008 Focus (German magazine), Scheer prophezeit SPD-Triumph, Wegen Andrea Ypsilantis angepeilter Kooperation mit der Linkspartei in Hessen sorgen sich viele Genossen um das Image der SPD. Nicht so ihr designierter Wirtschaftsminister Hermann Scheer. Er sieht positive Folgen für die Bundes-Partei
- ^ Der Spiegel (german) "2006 Idea"
- ^ Phoenix TV
- ^ official Bundestag transcript
- ^ Der Spiegel
- ^ Der Stern
External links [edit]
- People associated with solar power
- People from Hesse-Nassau
- Social Democratic Party of Germany politicians
- Members of the Bundestag
- Non-fiction environmental writers
- Right Livelihood Award laureates
- 1944 births
- 2010 deaths
- People associated with renewable energy
- Renewable-energy economy
- Recipients of the Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
