ich bin ein berliner.
Berlin breaks new ground in the field of renewable energies. The capital region ranks among Germany’s leading locations for clean tech. One of the city’s key advantages: An impressive number of companies and institutes from the field of environmental technology work in close proximity to one another. At high-tech locations such as the Adlershof Science and Technology Park and the up-and-coming Clean Tech Business Park Berlin-Marzahn, in particular, producers, researchers and suppliers collaborate on the development of new and efficient solutions for environmentally friendly energy production, storage and use. The region’s spectrum of expertise is also exceptionally broad in the field of clean technologies.
Berlin boasts the fastest growing solar industry in Europe. More than one in every three German solar modules is made in the capital city. The region is also home to important solar and energy associations like the Berlin Solar Network. It’s not surprising that a number of leading companies, such as Solon, Inventux and Evergreen Solar, have set up operations in Berlin-Brandenburg. First Solar has built Germany’s largest thin-film solar factory in the capital region, and Conergy has created one of the world’s most modern integrated silicon-wafer-cell production facilities. At the Helmholtz Centre for Materials and Energy (HZB), scientists are working on the next generation of thin-film solar cells.
Energy efficiency, next to alternative drive systems, wind energy and bio energy, is yet another key clean-tech topic in the capital. Berlin is now positioning mitself as a model CHP city and holds a leading position nationwide in terms of the generation of electricity and heat via combined heat and power. The capital is also a leader in the field of electromobility. Berlin-Potsdam is one of eight model regions in Germany for electromobility and provides support for sustainable joint projects initiated by the region’s automobile and energy industries. The Berlin Electromobility Agency (eMO), which was founded in 2010, is set to consolidate the expertise of regional business partners, highlights the topic’s importance in the capital region and helps make Berlin a “clean-tech metropolis.”
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