• Germans will have to dig deeper into their pockets to enjoy their beloved beer in the next few months as barley is increasingly displaced in the country's fields by heavily subsidized crops used for biofuels.

• Germany accounts for 55 percent of global solar electricity production and is the world's market leader. One of the main benefactors of the solar boom is eastern Germany, which has long been under an economic shadow.

• Scientists in Potsdam have embarked on a unique European project to store greenhouse gases under the ground. It is the latest effort in combating climate change, but critics question the project's aims.

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