“Having learned to use Premium Solver during my MBA back in 2003 on a more theoretical level, I was a little disappointed of not having real-life opportunities in my job initially after the MBA. It was in 2010 when I started to work at the Institute of Green Technology & Rural Development [i.green]. In my very first project, Premium Solver was the central tool to do research. The project analyzes the shifts of income in the agricultural sector of the state of North-Rhine Westphalia through the implementation of the Renewable Energies Sources Act. We set up a typical farm model with resources and constraints, namely arable land, animal population, crop cultivation, work force availability, market prices for feed and farming products etc. and included the regulatory framework of the Renewable Energies Sources Act. The number of variables and constraints became so large that a standard solver would not suffice – no problem, however, for the Premium Solver. We could calculate which direction of production a farmer would choose given the current regulatory framework, and, more importantly, which parameters influenced his decisions the most. The results will be used to assist policy makers to amend the mentioned law, as this planned on a regulatory 3-year basis, to avoid false developments on the way towards a 100% renewable energy supply In Germany.”