Disregard analysts, says Scheer

"In 1927, Harry Warner famously said 'Who wants to hear actors talk?'"

"In 1982, IBM declared '100 million dollars is way too much to pay for Microsoft.'"

Offering these and more than a dozen other historical examples of punditry gone awry, German renewable energy superstar Hermann Scheer cautioned an audience in Brussels that the forecasts of analysts and others on the future of clean technologies are not necessarily reliable.

"Scientists look into the past to forecast a dynamic future in order to avoid damaging their career. Therefore we need other methods to estimate development. Vested interests and wrong calculations are also to blame for bad forecasts, disinformations caused by a bad mind and a wrong understanding of technology and its meanings," said Scheer, whose native language is German.

Scheer, a politician, was quick to note politicians were especially prone to not understanding clean technologies, or their implications.

"A friend of mine recently accompanied a European energy commissioner to a PV [photovoltaic solar] factory. They were presented in the production area, when the commissioner asked, 'what are you doing with all the heated water from your panels?'"

Scheer has been a member of the German Parliament since 1980. He was the driving force behind a revolutionary one page law on renewable energy back in 1990, called the “Act on Feeding in Electricity.”

That, and his work on the German National Renewable Energy Act propelled Germany to become the world’s leading solar market, and the world leader in production of wind energy. He is the originator of what the industry has come to know as Germany's feed-in tariff, which was based on free access to the grid, guaranteed fixed prices, and the obligation for utilities to purchase.

Scheer was also instrumental in Germany's ambitious 100,000 solar roofs initiative, which became inspiration for other similar efforts in other parts of the world, including the million solar roofs initiative in California.

At the time, Scheer said, nobody thought Germany could do it.

"Soon after we proposed our plan, Greenpeace counter-proposed a 50,000 roof initiative. They didn't think 100,000 was realistic. Parliament asked me, 'why should we be more radical than Greenpeace?' I explained the reasons and I succeeded. And the target was achieved within 3 years, not the planned 4 years."

Scheer was recognized as Europe's Cleantech Pioneer of The Year at the Cleantech Group's Cleantech Forum XVII in Brussels.

"As early as 1998, when many of us were still trying to learn how to spell renewable energy, Dr. Scheer was organizing solar and biomass conferences and receiving awards," said Cleantech Group Chairman and Managing Partner Nicholas Parker in his introduction of Scheer.

Today, in addition to his ongoing duties as a German lawmaker, Scheer is president of the non-profit European Renewable Energy Association EUROSOLAR, which he founded in 1988. He’s also General Chairman of the non-profit World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) which he founded in 2001.

Also recognized with an award at the Brussels Cleantech Forum was Virgin Group, named European Cleantech Corporation of The Year. CEO Stephen Murphy accepted the award at a gala dinner at the Brussels Stock Exchange.

DuraCar, a Netherlands company with a new, all-electric delivery van named the QUICC, was voted Most Promising Technology of the event by investor attendees. DuraCar's QUICC van was exhibited alongside the first European display of Tesla's all-electric roadster at the Cleantech Forum in Brussels.