Abstract
Germany has developed an ambitious strategy to increase the share of renewable sources in its energy matrix and to enable the transition to a green industrial paradigm. Known as Energiewende, the policy implied profound structural transformations in the energy system. Participation of the residents and of small entrepreneurs stands out among its particularities. The state leads the transitional project by mediating the divergent interests among social and economic agents. The challenge is to maintain social consensus despite unequal costs. Individual consumers, farmers and some industries faced high electricity prices while energy-intensive industries were exempt, a disparity that attracts much criticism. The project involves dismantling nuclear power plants, which leads to increasing use of coal or natural gas. Another challenge is to keep investments on track. This article presents the topic from its historical development and shows that German energy strategy surpasses moral and economic concerns. Beyond economics and energy security, it is a broader plan to place the country in the vanguard transition to green capitalism.
Highlights
Will an industrialized country that consumes a substantial amount of energy and still has pretty high emissions manage to achieve the ambitious goals without jeopardizing the security of supply, triggering a massive increase in energy prices and, above all, scaring off power-intensive branches of industry? (DEUTSCHE BANK, 2012, p. 2)
At some point in one Deutsche Bank report, these questions arise about the viability of the German energy policy called Energiewende
At the heart of the issue lies the effectiveness of the German strategy to achieve high rates of electricity from renewable sources and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while eliminating the use of nuclear energy
Summary
Will an industrialized country that consumes a substantial amount of energy and still has pretty high emissions manage to achieve the ambitious goals without jeopardizing the security of supply, triggering a massive increase in energy prices and, above all, scaring off power-intensive branches of industry? (DEUTSCHE BANK, 2012, p. 2). At some point in one Deutsche Bank report, these questions arise about the viability of the German energy policy called Energiewende. At the heart of the issue lies the effectiveness of the German strategy to achieve high rates of electricity from renewable sources and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while eliminating the use of nuclear energy. The article summarizes its historical and regulatory points, and indicates some possible effects for Germany’s foreign energy policy. It highlights the role of the state as a transformative agent towards a new model of industrialization in the 21st Century. The Energiewende has ambitious goals and implies structural and regulatory transformations in the way that energy is generated, subsidized, distributed and remunerated
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