Essen is Germany’s version of Pittsburgh. Coal processing plants provided fuel for the electrical plants and steel mills from before WW II until the 60s and darkened the skies for miles. That was then. Like PBH of today, the skies above Essen are blue – at least when the sun shines – although the view from the roof didn't look too promising.
When it comes to renewable energy, Germany has a green culture. (As opposed to the “greed” culture of US “big” coal, oil and gas companies.) Germany has more solar panels than any country in the world. They vie with windmills nearly everywhere you go – on rooftops, along highway medians and acres of fields.
From coal to culture
Even once polluting factories have been recycled. Essen’s Zollverein Coal Mine and Industrial Complex is part of a much larger World Heritage Site in the industrial Ruhr Valley. The rust-red buildings that once housed coal processing machines today are home to a hotel/casino and a natural history museum. Photo displays and artifacts showing the history and culture of the mining community in Westphalia are juxtaposed with now quiet machines.
