Renewable Energy Sources Act.

The purpose of this Act is to facilitate a sustainable development of energy supply in the interest of managing global warming and protecting the environment and to achieve a substantial increase in the percentage contribution made by renewable energy sources to power supply in order at least to double the share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption by the year 2010, in keeping with the objectives defined by the European Union and by the Federal Republic of Germany. This Act deals with the purchase of, and the compensation to be paid for, electricity generated exclusively from hydrodynamic power, wind energy, solar radiation energy, geothermal energy, gas from sanitary landfills, sewage treatment plants, mines, or biomass within the territorial scope of this Act or within Germany's exclusive economic zone, by utility companies which operate grids for public power supply (grid operators). The Federal Ministry for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety shall be authorised to lay down rules- in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry as well as the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology - by adopting an ordinance, which shall be subject to approval by the German Bundestag. Said ordinance shall specify what substances and technical processes used in connection with biomass fall within the scope of application of this Act; in addition, the ordinance shall lay down the relevant environmental standards.