German university town's green plans raise a storm

Late Friday, the civic authorities of the town of some 80,000 people led by a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens approved the controversial law aimed at battling climate change and spiralling energy prices.

Scheduled to come into force on October 1, the law stipulates that all new houses or those whose roofs or heating systems are being renovated will have to install solar panels.

The fine for those defying the law was set at 1,000 euros (1,562 dollars), sharply lower than the 15,000-euro figure mooted initially.

The law stipulates that the panels have to measure one square metre (10 square feet) for every 20 square metres of surface area.

But the plan has raised the hackles of the opposition.

"We are facing a green dictatorship but nobody dares to say anything," said opposition politican Hermann Uchtmann.

"It's not by force that one gets people to comply," said Haus und Grund, an association of property owners.

The town's Green mayor, Franz Kahle, said it would cost 5,000 euros for the panels to be installed, which according to him, would be offset by savings over 15 years.

But Der Spiegel magazine underlined that the mayor was a tenant, and had nothing to lose and everything to gain through zero costs for heating and hot water while not being obliged to pay for the work.

Klaus Vajen, a solar energy expert and academic at the university of Kassel, solidly backed the plan.

"At times one has to arm twist consumers for their own good," he said.

Another expert echoed him.

"Public authorities sometimes have to lead the way," Claudia Kempert of the DIW economic research institute, told AFP.

"I hope that many other towns will follow suit."

Two-thirds of the population of Marburg, a quaint medieval university town, are students or academics.

The German cabinet recently adopted new measures aimed at cutting carbon dioxide emissions by more than a third by 2020.

They include laws aimed at lowering electricity consumption, in particular in private homes, and proposes calculating tolls for vehicles according to their emission levels.

It stipulates that from 2009, all new and renovated buildings will have to comply with stricter energy efficiency standards and provides for the introduction of easy-to-use private electricity meters.

The government's overall goal with the new laws is to reduce Germany's carbon dioxide emission levels by 40 percent by 2020 compared to 1990 levels -- double the minimum percentage cut agreed by the 27 European Union member states last year.

The right-wing government of the state of Baden-Wurtemberg already requires new houses to meet 20 percent of their heating through renewable energies, and the measures will be tightened from 2010.

© 2008 AFP

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German university town's green plans raise a storm

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