NGlobal Magazin 01-2010

Niedersachsen Global www.nglobal.de 50 Initiatives Innovation  Driver  Niedersachsen’s new Minister for Economics,  Labour and Transport, Jörg Bode, has a clear  vision of what the future strength of the federal  state is based on. 7 - 9 April 2010, Turin Italy Focussing solar energy and biomass, the 3-day trip will be headed by Hans-Heinrich Sander, Niedersachsen Minister for Environment and Climate Protection. Co-Organized by NGlobal and AHP Group. 9 - 21 May 2010, Santiago de Chile, Barranquilla Chile and Columbia The delegation trip for the German mining- technology-suppliers is organized by the Business Association for Latin America (LAV) in cooperation with the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) and Chambers of Commerce in Chile and Colombia. 2 - 11 June 2010, Shanghai, Beijing, Shandong Expo 2010 and China At the Expo in Shanghai, Niedersachsen’s com- panies will be showing cutting edge technology and cultural gems. In addition a delegation of Niedersachsen, headed by the Prime Minister Christian Wulff will visit China. 24 - 28 May 2010, Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir Turkey The delegation trip is headed by Jörg Bode, Minister for Economics, Labour and Transport of Niedersachsen and Deputy Prime Minister. 3 - 6 May 2010 Chicago The federal state of Niedersachsen will be present this year at the BIO International Convention in Chicago, the largest global event for the biotechnol- ogy industry, which attracts the leading names in biotech and offers key networking and partnering opportunities. Interview with Jörg Bode, Minister for Economics, Labour and Transport of Niedersachsen by Hans Gäng Mr. Bode, the focus themes at Hannover Messe 2010 are sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources—how would you rate Niedersachsen against the international competition? Niedersachsen already plays a strong role in German energy provision, and it will grow even stronger as we develop our offshore wind power capacity. By 2020 our state will be meeting a quarter of its entire energy demand from renewable sources and making a decisive contribution to Germany’s climate protection tar- gets. Niedersachsen already leads on wind power supply in Germany, delivering 25 percent of all the wind power in the national grid. This deliberate and consistent expansion of renewable energy also makes our state a highly attractive business location and is already stimulating new inward investment and start-ups. On bio- mass, too, we’re in the vanguard—a quarter of all the electricity from biomass in Germany comes from Niedersachsen. With all this, we’ll be setting out our stall at Hannover Messe as a cutting edge energy state; at the shared stand in hall 27 alone there are 26 exhibitors presenting ‘Energy from Niedersachsen’ this year. How will Niedersachsen’s economic structure be affected by these ‘greentech’ energies? Niedersachsen has a broad energy mix. Along with fossil fuel reserves —oil and natural gas—we can count on wind power on land and sea and the most various forms of biomass use. Over 40 percent of all the wind turbines built in Germany are made by Niedersachsen companies; the energy sector is a strong driver of in-