Germany just set a new record in solar energy production,
creating 14.7 terawatt-hours of electricity over the first six
months of 2012. Solar energy covered between 10 and 50 percent
of the country’s peak hour demand on average every day. Nice
work, Germany! Meanwhile, elsewhere in Europe (and also in
Germany): Demand for coal, the dirtiest fuel for making
electricity, grew 3.3 percent last year in Europe while sales of
less-polluting natural gas fell 2.1 percent, the steepest drop
since 2009, according to a BP Plc report. Oh man, Europe, what
happened? We thought you were cool. But even with some European
Union member nations implementing efforts to increase the cost
of carbon pollution, coal is still less expensive than the
alternatives. And Europe has its enablers: Cheaper coal was made
possible partly by a 49 percent jump in first-quarter imports
from the U.S., Energy Information Administration data show. The
fracking boom in the U.S. has led to a big drop in coal use,
meaning that we’re now free to expo