Scheer, Hermann 1944-

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Scheer, Hermann 1944-

PERSONAL:

Born April 29, 1944. Education: Attended Officers School of the German Federal Army, 1964-66; Free University (Berlin, Germany), Ph.D., 1972.

ADDRESSES:

Office—German Bundestag, Platz der Republik 1, D-11011 Berlin, Germany. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany, assistant professor, 1972-76; German Nuclear Research Center, systems analyst, 1976-1980; member of the German parliament, 1980—; European Association for Renewable Energy (EUROSOLAR), president, 1988—; World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE), general chairman, 2002—. Military service: Served in the German Federal Army, 1964-66; attained the rank of lieutenant.

AWARDS, HONORS:

World Solar Prize, Second World Conference on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion, 1998; Alternative Nobel Prize, 1999, for worldwide commitment to renewable energy; World Prize on Bio-Energy, First World Conference on Biomass, 2000; named Hero for the Green Century by Time magazine, 2002; Global Leadership Award, American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), 2004; World Wind Energy Award, World Wind Energy Conference, 2004; honor doctorate from the Technical University of Varna (Bulgaria).

WRITINGS:

(With Martin Greiffenhagen) Die gegenreform: zur frage d. reformierbarkeit von staat u. gesellschaft, Rowohlt (Reinbek, Germany), 1975.

(With others) SPD, staatspartei oder reformpartei?, Piper (Munich, Germany), 1976.

Parteien kontra bürger? die zukunft d. parteiendemokratie, Piper (Munich, Germany), 1979.

Worum geht es? sozialdemokratische standpunkte zur wahl '80, Seeliger (Munich, Germany), 1980.

Mittendrin: bericht zur lage von sozialdemokratie und republik, Bund-Verlag (Cologne, Germany), 1982.

Die Befreiung von der bombe: weltfrieden, Europäischer weg und die zukunft der deutschen, Bund-Verlag (Cologne, Germany), 1986.

Sonnen-strategie: politik ohne alternative, Piper (Munich, Germany), 1993, translation published as A Solar Manifesto: The Need for a Total Solar Energy Supply—and How to Achieve It, James & James (London, England), 1994, 2nd edition, 2001.

(Editor, with others) Solar Energy in Architecture and Urban Planning: Third European Conference on Architecture; Proceedings of an International Conference, Florence, Italy, 17-21 May 1993, H.S. Stephens (Felmersham, Bedford, England), 1993.

Zurück zur politik: die archimedische wende gegen den zerfall der demokratie, Piper (Munich, Germany), 1995.

(Editor, with others) Sixteenth European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference: Proceedings of the International Conference Held in Glasgow, United Kingdom, 1-5 May 2000, James & James (London, England), 2000.

(With Carl Amery) Klimawechsel: von der fossilen zur solaren kultur: ein gespräch mit Christiane Grefe, A. Kunstmann (Munich, Germany), 2001.

Solare Weltwirtschaft, 5th edition, 2002, translation published as The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future, Earthscan (Sterling, VA), 2002.

Die politiker, A. Kunstmann (Munich, Germany), 2003.

Energy Autonomy: The Economic, Social and Technological Case for Renewable Energy, Earthscan (Sterling, VA), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Renewable energy advocate Hermann Scheer has received many prestigious awards and honors for his work in this field. They include the World Solar Prize from the Second World Conference on Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conversion in 1998; the Alternative Nobel Prize, 1999, for worldwide commitment to renewable energy; the World Prize on Bio-Energy from the First World Conference on Biomass, 2000; a Global Leadership Award from the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), 2004; and the World Wind Energy Award, World Wind Energy Conference, 2004. Scheer was also named Hero for the Green Century by Time magazine in 2002.

Scheer studied sociology, economics, political science and public law at the University of Heidelberg and at the Free University of Berlin from 1967 to 1972, receiving his doctorate from the latter. He worked as an assistant professor and systems analyst before be- ing elected to the German parliament in 1980, and he has been reelected to many terms since that time. As a parliamentarian, he served as chairman of the Arms Control and Disarmament Committee from 1990 to 1993, and chairman of the Committee on Agriculture from 1994 to 1997. He was also named a delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Scheer has served as president of the European Association for Renewable Energy (EUROSOLAR) since 1988, as general chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy since 2002. He notes on his Web site: "The revolutionary German National Renewable Energy Act (Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG) provides the major boost for the renewable energy technology industries sector, generating more than 150,000 new jobs and triggering annual renewable energy growth rates of thirty percent. Based on these exemplary results Brazil and China have recently adopted this policy as concept, adapting it to their own requirements."

Scheer has written a number of volumes that address energy policy, including Solare Weltwirtschaft, published in English as The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future.

Reviewing the volume in Modern Power Systems, Jug A. Wollensky wrote: "Scheer is scathing about the length of global supply chains and he maintains that, ‘while nuclear and fossil fuel energy supplies can be managed more effectively, they can never be truly productive.’ Conventional efficiency calculations neglect those chains, he accuses, and, in the case of electricity, consider only the input/output efficiency of the generation process, ignoring losses along the chain and ‘during the construction of drilling rigs, ports, pipelines and power stations.’"

Scheer calls for government intervention in reducing world dependence on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, a move he feels will spark a new industrial revolution. A Futurist reviewer commented that Scheer also notes "the entrenched interests" that oppose the switch to renewable energy. Geographical contributor Mayer Hillman described the book as "comprehensive in its coverage."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, February, 2003, J.C. Comer, review of The Solar Economy: Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Global Future, p. 1012; October, 2007, J.C. Comer, review of Energy Autonomy: The Economic, Social and Technological Case for Renewable Energy, p. 315.

Ecologist, February, 2007, Mark Anslow, review of Energy Autonomy, p. 58.

Energy Policy, February, 2004, Claus Huber, review of The Solar Economy, p. 437.

Futurist, May 1, 2007, review of Energy Autonomy, p. 60.

Geographical, October, 2004, Mayer Hillman, review of The Solar Economy, p. 83.

Modern Power Systems, April, 2004, Jug A. Wollensky, review of The Solar Economy, p. 75.

SciTech Book News, June 2003, review of The Solar Economy, p. 175.