WASHINGTON — With virtually no oil or natural gas resources of its own, Germany relies on Russia for 20 percent of its oil and one-third of its gas imports. But with Russia displaying a willingness to use oil as a political weapon, Germany is placing new emphasis on achieving energy independence – especially by developing alternative energy sources. As part of his series on the politics of oil, VOA’s Brian Padden reports how German efforts to reduce pollution have led to new ways to produce energy. Wind turbines dot the landscape in rural Germany. In some regions, wind energy produces up to 20 percent of the electricity used in German power grids. Engineer Hendrich Ziese says how much a single turbine can produce depends on the weather. ‘When we have good days, we can [produce] 20,000 kilowatts per hour,’ Ziese said. ‘On bad days we make nothing.’ Germany began investing heavily in alternative energy to meet the targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 global environmental agreement to reduce greenhouse gases. Germany has achieved a 19 percent reduction in CO2 emissions, in part by […]