German bishop on energy mission
This Catholic bishop from Germany is on a special mission which he says was also closest to Christ’s heart – stewardship of creation. And to keep life going, all of us need to save the earth from a climatic catastrophe, he believes.
Now on a visit to Kerala, Dr GebhardFurst on Monday led a class for Catholic bishops of the state on solar energy here. He also came with a working model which he said was put to practice at his Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese where all institutions under the church were fitted with solar panels.
Since 2000, the bishop installed 215 solar panel systems across his diocese and thereby cut down 2,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually. “All our needs are met by solar energy in the morning hours and we also sell whatever remaining power to the general grid. The money we get this way is used to buy power from the general grid for the evening use,” he said.
According to him, 25 per cent of Germany’s power requirement now is met through alternative energy sources. This was just five per cent 10 years ago. Asked about the high cost of solar panels, he said the government in Germany supported sourcing of alternative energy through subsidies.
The Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese has tie-up with 150 catholic dioceses in India on various community development initiatives and from now on promotion of solar energy would also be part of this cooperation. The bishop helped the cathedral church of Malankara Catholic church at Moovattupuzha and Vimalagiri School, also at Moovattupuzha, to go solar the other day.
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