Dr. Hermann Scheer (†) - Founder of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE)

Hermann Scheer was the founding father and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE) since its creation in 2001 up until his death in 2010. He has been calling for the foundation of an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) for years, which was finally established in 2009.

Hermann Scheer was a politician and member of the Social Democratic Party Germany (SPD). He was a member of the German Bundestag (parliament) since 1980, Founder and President of EUROSOLAR (European Association for Renewable Energy) and General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy (WCRE). In 1999, Scheer was awarded the Right Livelihood Award “for his indefatigable work for the promotion of solar energy worldwide”. Hermann Scheer was also an author of a number of books (Link), a policy innovator and global leader in the field of renewable energy. He received a number of prizes and held a Ph.D. in economics and social sciences.

Scheer believed that the continuation of current patterns of energy supply and use would be environmentally, socially, economically, and politically damaging, with renewable energy being the only realistic alternative. He had concluded that it is technically and environmentally feasible to harness enough solar radiation to achieve a total replacement of the foclear (fossil/nuclear) energy system by a global renewable energy economy. The main obstacles to such a change are political, not technical or economic.

Hermann Scheer played a unique role in inspiring the public and decision-makers in many countries about the possibilities of a global transition to a solar-energy based economy. He insisted that this was not a distant dream but a realistic and urgently needed possibility today, which will overcome global economic disparities and the ongoing ecological crisis.

For more information please visit Hermann Scheer´s Website and the Website of the Hermann Scheer Foundation.