Going Renewable

The juice coming out of electrical sockets in the central German city of Kassel in the state of Hesse couldn't get any greener. As of Tuesday, Oct. 30, only electricity generated from renewable sources is surging through the power lines.

The Kassel Municipal Ultility Department said this week that power supply for the entire city of 200,000 inhabitants had been switched over to hydropower from Scandinavian countries. Power is now supplied by Vattenfall.

Kassel Mayor Bertram Hilgen said the switch would make the city a "trendsetter in environmental protection and renewable energy use."

Prompting demand for renewables

The utilities company made the change on its own initiative and without increasing the price of power for customers, Helbig said.

"The reduction of CO2 emissions after the switch will have a positive effect on the global environment," Helbig said. "If other cities followed suit, it would result in an enormous demand for renewable energies."

The utilities department was able to avoid higher prices for the green power due to the size of their order and a long-term contract of five years.

Around 97,000 households in Kassel are affected by the change. Up until this week, power generated by nuclear and coal plants supplied the city.