One day, every home in Germany could produce its own energy with the help of a small generator in the basement.Independent green electricity provider Lichtblick wants to join forces with carmaker Volkswagen to produce so-called mini power plants. Consumers will be able to use them to generate electricity and warmth while saving energy and helping protect the environment. Report by Claudia Laszczak

• 12/2/09
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Our studio guest this week is Claudia Kemfert, manager of the department of Energy, Transport and Environment at the the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). DW-TV: Let's pull in Claudia Kemfert. She's head of Energy, Transport and Environment at the German Institute for Economic Research. Ms. Kemfert, what we've seen here, is this the answer to our energy problems? Should everyone make his or her house an energy plant? Claudia Kemfert: Well, it's one of the answers. It's especially efficient to produce electricity and heat in combination and for this I think it's a good opportunity to save energy and really to be independent from energy input. DW-TV:You say that every German needs to spend about a hundred and thirty euros a year to become CO2 neutral. Where does that money need to be spent? Claudia Kemfert: Well, this is the price on the stock exchange: 13 euros per tonne of CO2. You can donate this money, especially to a climate protection project, in developing countries for example. DW-TV: Is that more of a PR tactic to get people interested in reducing CO2 emissions? Claudia Kemfert: No, it's more than this, because on a global perspective it doesn't matter where you reduce emissions, it matters that you reduce emissions. For this it's OK just to donate some money in climate protection policies. DW-TV: Alright. Let's take a look at what the world's biggest economies are doing right now to go green. We've got a graphic we'd like to show you here and you can see China, South Korea, the United States, Germany, you can see how much they've actually spent as part of the economic stimulus packages that were passed in the last year and a half. It appears that the Chinese are upping the ante here when it comes to spending on green technology, but those numbers are tricky, aren't they? Claudia Kemfert: Well, they spent a lot of money, that's for sure. However, you have to see that they also spent on infrastructure investments, for example, like energy or rail infrastructure and that is something which we don't need to spend anymore. DW-TV: There is criticism here in Germany that the government here is pushing for growth in industries that produce too much CO2. Are we pushing the wrong areas of growth? Claudia Kemfert: No, not really. However, in the automobile industry, of course, we could do more. We need to produce climate-friendly technologies and also fuels and here I see some part of improvement. However, on the other sectors, for example, renewable energy, energy efficiency technology, we are already quite good. DW-TV: You know, you say we're already quite good here in Germany. If you compare Germany with the rest of Europe right now, where would you say the most improvement is needed? Claudia Kemfert: The most improvement is needed in the mobility sector for sure because we need alternative fuels, we need climate protection technologies and here the car manufacturers always try to avoid this. However, right now it's time to do the right things. DW-TV: OK. Claudia Kemfert, thank you very much. Stay with us. We're going to be talking with you again in a couple of minutes. (Interview: Brent Goff)

• 12/2/09
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Thomas Weber has been responsible for research and development at Daimler for the past 5 years. Whether the carmaker can stay afloat will be largely dependent on his work.Daimler is struggling with image problems. The company is trying to pull itself out of the red. Critics say Daimler took too long to respond to the trend towards environmentally friendly cars. Report by Mabel Gundlach

• 12/2/09
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The opening is around the corner. Christmas market organizer Peter Kittel has high hopes for a profitable season. Craftspeople from all over the region are busy putting up their stands and decorating them - with nativity figures and ironwork.Nobody's sure whether Princess Gloria of Thurn and Taxis will make it in time for the opening festivities. Peter Kittel is obviously nervous. Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider paid him another visit for MADE IN GERMANY.

• 12/2/09
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Tens of thousands of students in Germany have taken to the streets to demonstrate against what they consider worsening conditions at universities. They say they're expected to achieve more and more in less and less time.One of the places where there is unrest is the Braunschweig University of Technology. Mechanical engineering students are furious. The pressure on students has increased steadily in the past number of years, and not all of them can keep up with it. Sonja Schock takes a look at the situation.

• 11/25/09
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Martin is longtime chairman of the BJU, the Association of Young Entrepreneurs.DW-TV: Let's pull in Dirk Martin from the BJU, the Association of Young Entrepreneurs here in Germany. Would you hire someone with a Bachelors degree? Dirk Martin: Of course we would. It's a question of qualifications and personality. After six semesters you can have a qualification. DW-TV: Why do you think people in the busienss world are so concerned about this new system in Germany. There are a lot of managers, people hiring, who are actually afraid of a Bachelors degree. Dirk Martin: I cannot understand this. Because I know there are a lot of people who have a qualification after six semesters and we know this qualification from a special university here in Germany. So I think they have some problems because it is completely new, but in the end we need these qualifications, we need these people, and we can be very happy that they are ready earlier than they were with the old system. DW-TV: Is it a time question here? A lot of people have complained in the past five or ten years that German students study too long. You as a businessman - do you want people coming to you who have less time at the university under their belt? Dirk Martin: Yes, of course. Because we can't find the people we need for our company. We are software developers and we need software developers. If I get them one year earlier, it's easier for me, and that's the reason why we changed the system. DW-TV: Do you understand what students are saying right now in their complaints - that there's less time for them to do internships, work study programms...they say they're coming out of university with a degree but not a lot of practical experience. Dirk Martin: I'm not really sure if they can't do other internships. They can change the university across Europe because it's all the same standard. So they can make experience outside Germany. So they can come into the company with experience from foreign countries. So I think the criticism is not understandable. DW-TV: You're a young entrepreneur, you talk to other young entrepreneurs. What would young entrepreneuers like yourself like to see coming out of universities here in Germany that's not happening? Dirk Martin: I think they're now earlier in the market, and that's fine for us. Maybe we can reduce the volume of the studies, because there are a lot of things that are not interested in the market. DW-TV: Dirk Martin is with us from the German Association of Young Entrepreneurs. Dirk, why can't companies guarantee us that our personal information will remain private? Dirk Martin: I think the problem is that you have more complexity in the networks and also more complexity with the data. So it's very difficult to protect all the data for the person who has to work with this. DW-TV: There are a lot of companies who sell our data to other companies, marketing for instance. They're looking to make money and the marketing companies say they need this information. That is one place where our privacy can be breached. Dirk Martin: We have rules so we have to protect the data. And you have to manage the right process that you can be sure that nobody takes this data to a place where other people can do something bad with it. DW-TV: But how can you be sure - so far companies haven't been successful at securing this information and keeping it safe. Dirk Martin: Not all companies did a bad job - a lot of them did a very good job. But here you see you have to improve two things: The process and maybe the software which can secure the data. DW-TV: Are consumers party responsible for this by putting too much information on the Internet, such as Facebook? Dirk Martin: Yes that's also a problem. there's a lot of information outside in the network, so I think that they are in charge of this information but there are some companies that make deals with this data and they have to protect this data. DW-TV: Dirk Martin. Thanks very much for talking with us.

• 11/25/09
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"Data theft at AWD Financial Services"…“Germany's Postbank treats customer data negligently" …"Data scandal: Telekom passes on customer data for ad campaigns" …these headlines from the past weeks are enough to cast light on the current shape of customer data security in Germany.What do the companies say to the accusations? Our reporter Mabel Gundlach explores the question of whether the latest scandals are simply glitches or whether the system is at fault. She visits Deutsche Telecom and the German Association for Data Protection and Data Security in Bonn.

• 11/25/09
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Preparations for Regensburg's Christmas market are in full swing. Many decisions have to be made soon, and nothing more can go wrong when setting up the stalls.In the second episode in our series, "Selling Christmas in Regensburg -- A Region and its Traditions," we accompany businessman Peter Kittel. He's under a lot of pressure because he has to select a Christmas angel from between twenty young women who have applied for the job. In the meantime, a tree has been felled in the forest and is being taken into town. Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider were there.

• 11/25/09
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MADE IN GERMANY talks with Wolfgang Gerke about the spirit at the financial center of Frankfurt.DW-TV: What's your take on bankers' bonuses? Is it tasteless or actually justified? Wolfgang Gerke: No, it isn't justified. Worldwide something went wrong with the bonus payments. You got a very high bonus if you were someone who was making the most risky investments, and that was not the right way. The bonus system itself is a good incentive, but then we have to create a system which takes into consideration the risks too. That's the most important thing. You can't get your bonus every year. You have to wait three years, I would say. And then you can see if it really was a success or if you only put your bank at risk. DW-TV: Banks had to take a lot of stick lately, especially because of all this risk-taking mentality. So wouldn't be a good idea to improve one's image by cutting down on those bonuses? Wolfgang Gerke: It would be a very good idea, but I don't believe it's going to happen. There are so many different banks at the moment. Some German Landesbank wouldn't be able to pay bonuses and there are other banks, for example in the United States, Goldman Sachs, they are earning more and more money every day and they are the winner of the financial crisis. They are even earning money by the state placing bonds into the market. Therefore it's difficult to say that we need a system for all the banks, but I would ask for a system that if there are bonus payments and dividend payments, then you have to put reserves into your portfolio. The banks will not do that themselves so we need the G20 to decide on that. DW-TV: Obviously since the financial crisis hit, most banks all around the world were pretty much strapped for cash and now we hear about this renaissance of bonus payments. You just mentioned that there are several banks now making a profit again. Deutsche Bank is among those as well, which is somewhat surprising just one year, more or less, after Lehman Brothers collapsed. Does this mean that the crisis we've been talking about has been exaggerated or how is this possible? Wolfgang Gerke: No, no. It hasn't been exaggerated. This was a very very dangerous crisis and without the taxpayer it would have been dreadful. But, even the banks, earning so much money at the moment, are on the side of the winners because even if there is bank like Hypo Real Estate and the state is paying for that bank, then Deutsche Bank and other banks have less losses than they would have had. Therefore we must say that in the future every bank must be able to come through a crisis. Otherwise, one has to close the bank. Interview: Monica Jones

• 11/18/09
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The Regensburg Christmas market plays an important economic role in the region - a boon to the craftsmen, stall-holders and the city itself. It attracts tourists from all over the world, but primarily Americans. They love the traditional German atmosphere.Peter Kittel has been profiting from Christmas markets for the last eight years and he hopes that this year will be no different. A Report by Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider.

• 11/18/09
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Quality Grade A means a lot to William Verpoorten. He's the head of his family business, now in its fifth generation, and he uses only eggs produced by company hens for his egg liquor. And they produce some 1,3 million eggs a day. William Verpoorten is the man behind Germany's famous egg liquor: Verpoorten, based in Bonn.Report by Grit Hofmann.

• 11/18/09
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After the global economic crisis Frankfurt's bankers are once again in high spirits. Big hitters like Deutsche Bank are seeing net profits in the billions, while poor performances from worse-hit banks like Commerzbank - which was bailed out by the state - are simply ignored.Meanwhile, the battle against bonuses appears to have been lost. Report by Oliver Hoesch.

• 11/18/09
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The office furniture business tends to see a lot of highs and lows - as the Wilkhahn company, now 101 years old, can attest to. It's relied on some unorthodox ideas and methods to weather the crises and keep production in Germany.A report by Ute Walter.

• 11/18/09
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For many, Jena is still synonymous with the optical systems manufacturer Zeiss. But the city is also home to many internationally renowned research institutes. Over the last 2 decades, Jena has become a "city of science" and one of eastern Germany's economic success stories.In addition to Zeiss, many other high-tech companies, such as Jenoptik and Schott are based here. And the city's Friedrich Schiller University of Jena attracts students from around the globe. Our reporter Jürgen Schneider went to take a look around.

• 11/13/09
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Herzog-Stein is a labor market expert for the Hans Böckler Foundation.DW-TV: Let's pull in Alexander Herzog-Stein. He's a labor market expert from the Hans-Böckler Foundation. We just saw a great example of a success story on the labor market in the former East Germany. But the reality is, and I mean I hate to, you know, spoil the party here, but unemployment is higher in the East than in the West, wages are lower in the East than in the West. Will the East ever catch up? Alexander Herzog-Stein: You know, at the moment we have to have doubts. Growth is simply not sufficient to see a catch-up process in the East in the near future. DW-TV: Why is that? Alexander Herzog-Stein: I think the East, the eastern economy is still burdened by the mistakes which have been made in the re-unification process. DW-TV: Was the biggest mistake that the East Germans were promised that in a very short amount of time that they would be equal with West Germany? Alexander Herzog-Stein: I think the biggest mistake was that the task was taken too easy. You know, it was expected that we could do it without any problems and it is a big task and it takes time. I think, you know, that it's not a twenty years time span which was promised but we should have taken responsibility to see that it is a big task if we want to achieve that. That was not the case at the beginning. DW-TV: Is it realistic to expect that the East will ever be on par with the West? Alexander Herzog-Stein: I think we still should not give up this target. However, something has to change. We have to see higher growth rates in the future in the East to accomplish that and we also have to be realistic in the sense that it will not be completely equal. That's not the case everywhere in Germany. There are differences in the West as well and there will be differences in the East. DW-TV: Let's fast forward to the economic crisis that we're dealing with right now all over Germany. We want to show our viewers a graphic of unemployment and how unemployment has actually been falling in Germany. We've had a nice decline up until about the summer, the fall of last year, when the financial crisis hit. The United States, the UK, they've had huge jumps in unemployment. Germany has not. What are the Germans doing correctly? Alexander Herzog-Stein: You know, apart from the short-time work which has been a big success story and Germany has a lot of experience with that labor market tool, it is one thing which has been overlooked for a long time. This is what labor economists call internal flexibility. Germany is very flexible in adjusting the working time of workers in companies to the economic circumstances. DW-TV: That's a good point. But this short-time program, a lot of our viewers might not know what that is, that's when the government actually comes in and supplements the salaries for workers who are working fewer hours. That's very expensive for the taxpayer. Can Germany continue to keep funding that? Alexander Herzog-Stein: It is not a program which should go on forever, but in the short term, you know, in the business cycle downturn it's cheaper than laying off people. So there has to be a perspective in the future that growth will return and then it was overall a success story. DW-TV: The new German government is spending a lot of money now on a program for growth. Is that the right path? Alexander Herzog-Stein: I think the strategy is right, you know. To provide a strategy for growth. However, unfortunately, the tools, the measures proposed by the new government, I have doubts that they are the right measures to put us on a higher growth path. DW-TV: OK. Mr. Herzog-Stein, I wish we had time to talk more. Thank you very much for coming in to talk with us today.

• 11/13/09
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The economic crisis has also hit the German construction industry and led to massive layoffs. But one job has proved recession-proof: that of structural engineers. In fact, construction companies and urban planning agencies can't find enough of them.Given the downturn in the construction industry in recent years, few young people opted to study civil engineering. Now the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus wants to meet market needs by working closely with the construction industry. For many graduates and current students, that effort has already paid dividends. Report by Sonja Schock.

• 11/13/09
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Antje von Dewitz has her sights set high. The Executive Director of sporting goods maker VAUDE is profiting from the global boom in rock climbing and mountaineering. At just 36 years of age, she took over the top job at the family-owned business last spring. VAUDE is based in the Swabian town of Tettnang.The competition in the outdoor segment is fierce, with customers demanding both design and functionality. But Antje von Dewitz is confident she can meet these high expectations. She's turned VAUDE into a particularly family-friendly company: it has in-house childcare facilities and gives workers the opportunity to work part-time or from home. Report by Patrick Benning.

• 11/13/09
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Villeroy & Boch is one of Germany’s most traditional family businesses. Last year, the company based in Saarland celebrated its 260th anniversary.These days, the ceramics manufacturer sells its products in over 125 countries, and foreign sales make up 80 percent of turnover. We profile the company and meet up with Wendelin von Boch and Nicolas Luc Villeroy in the town of Mettlach. A report by Manuela Kasper-Claridge.

• 11/13/09
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In 1996, Germany's oldest machine tool manufacturer, the Chemnitz-based UNION, had little reason left for hope. But Union employees refused to accept that the company could go under and bought the firm themselves to save it.This required employees to raise funds then amounting to 1 million D-Marks. Several took second mortgages on their homes and others sold their cars. It was an enormous gamble, but it paid off in the end. Miltiades Arsenopoulos reports on the success story: Not only has UNION weathered the economic crisis, but turnover in previous years has risen to some 30 million euros.

• 11/13/09
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How do oil rigs get the supplies they need? Special ships make their way to the offshore rigs each day and deliver boring equipment and other necessary supplies. It's an undertaking that used to be impossible in rough seas, and for the businesses involved, that could threaten their production.For each day that work stops on the rig, oil companies can lose up to 30 million euros. To prevent this nightmare scenario, company Voith Turbo developed a smart-drive system. The new supply ships are fitted with propellers that help them stay on course in high waves and extreme winds. Hagen Tober tests one of the vessels in rough waters.

• 11/13/09
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Now it's official – Opel is to remain part of General Motors! The US car giant announced the decision not to sell Opel after all in a board statement. What does that mean for the four Opel plants in Germany?Employees at the Opel site in Bochum are fuming with rage. Their plant has been the target of cost saving measures for years -- does GM's decision now mean the end of all their hopes? With 5000 workers, Opel is Bochum's most important employer. Closing the plant would be disastrous for city coffers. Sonja Schock reports from the heart of Germany's Ruhr district, a region in transition -- from smoke stack to high-tech industries.

• 11/13/09
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The Hahnemühle papermaking company is aware of tradition and innovative at the same time. This year the firm is celebrating its 425th birthday.Hahnemühle is continually developing new technologies. A global market leader in the area of fine arts papers, the company's foreign sales have exceeded its domestic turnover in recent years. A report by Dagmar Zindel.

• 11/13/09
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Bremer is an automobile expert and managing director of IFA Market Research Bremer + Partner.DW-TV: Well for more on the fate of Opel I'm joined by Andreas Bremer from the Institute for Automobile Research in the western German town of Essen. Mr. Bremer, are you upset that GM wants to keep Opel? Andreas Bremer: Am I upset? No. Am I surprised? Yes. DW-TV: Was this a PR disaster for GM? Is that what it amounts to right now? Andreas Bremer: I really think that's probably the main problem, yes, because you have emotions that are just flaring high and people feel like they've been kept in the dark. And all of a sudden there's a surprise that nobody was counting on. DW-TV: All right. Let's try to move beyond the emotions for a moment and look at the numbers right now. We've got a graphic for our viewers, actually, showing the performance of Opel around the world. Sales of Opel cars have actually dropped by fifty percent in the last decade from 500 thousand in 1998 to around 258 thousand last year. What is the problem there? Has GM been a bad manager or has Opel simply ignored what the market wants? Andreas Bremer: It's probably a bit of both and a third factor: we have a shrinking market worldwide anyway. So it's not just an Opel problem, it's a worldwide problem for all manufacturers. And then I think that after eighty years Opel and GM weren't really getting along that well for the last, let's say, five years maybe, I don't know what time frame you want to put on that. And Opel, on the other hand, missed a lot of opportunities. They were the first ones to introduce SUVs in Europe and forgot about them, so by the time they became popular, guess who didn't have an SUV? DW-TV: Opel. Andreas Bremer: Right. DW-TV: Why not let Opel go bankrupt? I mean, there's too much overcapacity right now anyway. Why not let Opel go bankrupt and let the market regenerate itself? Wouldn't that actually be better for these unemployed workers in the long-term? Andreas Bremer: Well, long-term I don't know. I have no idea what the situation's going to be like in five years or six years. I don't think that anybody in the political arena will allow Opel to go bankrupt. DW-TV: Yeah, but why is that? Magna has said we will not close these plants down. GM has not come out and said that as well. The politicians, they can't really give us a guarantee what GM or Magna would do two years down the line, can they? Andreas Bremer: No, exactly, and I think GM plan's not going to differ much from the Magna plan on paper. The problem is emotions. People feel that they've been had, that GM wasn't telling the truth for quite a while, that they had this in the back of their heads all the time and they pulled it out and now we have to deal with it. DW-TV: This is a story that is changing every day now and I'm sure that probably in a couple of days or maybe even later today we'll have a decision on something there anyway. Mr. Bremer, thank you very much for talking with us.

• 11/13/09
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This week's studio guest will be talking with us on the subject Renewable Energy and Nuclear Power in Germany: Thomas Ilka, Energy Expert, German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK)DW-TV: Are the winds changing for renewable energy companies? Does green energy come out of your power sockets at home? Thomas Ilka: I don't know, because I don't have built-in energy mix at home. Out of my power sockets comes the cheapest I could afford because I have five kids and I have to look for where my money goes. DW-TV: Yeah, that's an expensive proposition there with 5 children. Can you understand though when a lot of people say that they don't want to go the green route with energy at home because it's simply more expensive than conventional energy sources. Thomas Ilka: What I appreciate is that you have the choice in Germany to do so. That's a good thing and people do have the choice and they make those choices. DW-TV: Let's talk a little bit about the choices here in Germany. We've got a graph that we want to show people about how the energy is mixed up here in Germany. The largest source remains the oldest source, coal, about 43 percent, followed by nuclear energy, and then way down on the list you see renewables and natural gas. Now, Politicians say they want to reverse those numbers and make renewable energies the MAIN source of electricity of energy here in Germany. We've got a new government in Germany and they've been very vague about a time plan for that. Is it possible to generate a time plan for making renewables the main source? Thomas Ilka: Well in energy policy, you count by decades and that's also true for the development of the energy mix. You have quoted the numbers and they show that renewables have their part but it needs a lot of time to push them to a more, a greater part in the energy mix. DW-TV: Is that why the German government is saying we want to keep nuclear power longer than was planned by the previous government? Thomas Ilka: This is sort of buying time to do so. So if I was a renewable supporter, I won't fear that. This makes the energy mix broader and gives more chances to the development. DW-TV: So you say nuclear power is not a threat to the development of renewables? Thomas Ilka: No. We need them all. I mean if you look at the discussion on the climate summit in Copenhagen which we will have in a few weeks time there are so many countries which rely on both, on nuclear and on renewables and of course on the third pillar on coal. As I said we need them all and to fulfil all these targets we are shooting at. DW-TV: The United States now is putting a lot of money and investments into wind, renewable energies. Is it going to take an economic giant like the United States to really push in the renewables before renewables can become self sufficient and no longer need government subsidies? Thomas Ilka: That is, of course, a good development to reduce the amount of subsidies you need and if the US goes more of the way Europe has done in the past, there can be a reliable market for that. DW-TV: Do you think that German companies, which have actually developed some of the green technology that we are seeing around the world are they banking on the US to go full green? Thomas Ilka: Yes, of course they do. The US is a big market and there's a lot of chances for German companies to take part in this development. DW-TV: Do you think the German government is planning on that too, let the Americans subsidize what we have already been subsidizing for a decade? Thomas Ilka: What we already do is helping German business to put a foot in the market in the US. That is what we do and that is a good way. Interview: Brent Geoff

• 10/29/09
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Since November 9th 1989, industry and commerce in Berlin's east has radically changed. The old docklands on the River Spree, that was once right on the border, is a fine example. It's now one of the biggest investment projects in the German capital. In the past, harbor master Harald Busch spent his days dragging sacks of goods into the warehouses.Now the area is home to leading international media firms and fashion labels. A report by Carmen Meyer.

• 10/29/09
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For the past seven years, two Swedish towns have been competing for the right to host a high-level nuclear waste storage facility. Strange but true. While most would consider it highly undesirable to have such a plant right on their doorstep, the municipalities of Oskarshamn and Östhammar saw it as an opportunity to ensure that public coffers be full for years to come.Now the company responsible for the nuclear waste, SKB, has made a decision - one of the towns will get the radioactive waste, the other will go empty-handed. A report by Hagen Tober.

• 10/29/09
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"Car2go" is the name of an ambitious mobility project currently underway in the southern German city of Ulm. The Stuttgart-based Daimler company is testing its car-sharing concept there.To the firm's surprise around 10 percent of the population in Ulm has joined the project, regularly using a fleet of 200 Smarts. A report by Joachim Eggers.

• 10/29/09
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Until now renewable energies were considered one of the great hopes of German industry. State subsidies also guaranteed healthy profits for solar energy firms. But a slump in sales along with fears that the new German government may not follow through on pledges to continue to invest in renewable energies have sent shock waves through the industry.MADE IN GERMANY paid a trip to the state of Brandenburg, where green energy has seen particularly generous support from the state, to get a sense of the mood there. A report by Elisabeth Pongratz.

• 10/29/09
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