Welcome to the Energiewende – Documentary to Celebrate Renewables
Craig Morris, a US born energy blogger, has been living in Germany for over 10 years. Right when he got here, his fire for renewable energies was ignited. The Energiewende, the transition from fossil fuels to renewables energies, has always been a big topic in Germany. For Craig “living with the Energiewende” (title of a documentary by German filmmaker Frank Farenski) sounded like “living with cancer”. Instead, he felt, this revolution needed to be celebrated. This is why the editor of Renewables International decided to make his own documentary – a loveletter to the Energiewende.
It’s about emotions, not technical vocabulary
The filmmaker wanted to convey the feeling and the lifestyle of building a clean energy future rather than to focus on technical terms and difficult explanations: “The German Energiewende is about energy democracy. It is a switch to renewables and lower consumption, but unlike so many other countries Germany is also shifting ownership from corporations to citizens and small businesses. That’s the story that needs to be told, and we don’t need the word “megawatts” to tell it.”
Many people don’t know how grid integration works or how electricity is transported through the low-voltage distribution network – and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But what people do know is how it feels to be one’s one boss, to be independent from rising electricity prices and to produce the electricity they consume.
“The movie is jarring for energy experts because it does without words that laypeople have to look up; everything said is understandable to practically everyone you know (including teenagers).”
This is why Craig lets his two children and his exchange student from India tell the story.
A 50-minute documentary in small bits and pieces
Over the next weeks, Craig will add a number of movie chapters to his blog Welcome to the Energiewende as they are published. So you don’t have to watch the whole documentary as one but you can take a couple minutes during the day to learn about another aspect of the energy transition, reaching from its origins in the 1970s to a future outlook. The movie takes you from villages that are 100% powered by renewables, to nuclear power plants and open-face coalfields.
Welcome to the Energiewende is different
If you are expecting just another Hollywood production, you will be disappointed, because this documentary is different from anything you have seen. It is a personal and emotional account of “living with the Energiewende”. Craig and his children make interviews, they sing, they dance and they laugh – because for them the Energiewende is worth celebrating.
Further information
More on the documentary on Renewables International
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