What Can We Learn from Two Decades of Media Coverage? An Analysis of Public Perceptions of Policy Goal Attainment of the German Renewable Energy Act

Abstract

Renewable energy technologies have been recognised as a cornerstone in the transition towards low emission energy systems. The German renewable energy act is considered a pioneering support policy whose example was followed by many countries. Relying on recently developed text classification models, we assess 6,645 articles from five Germany-wide newspapers between 2000 and 2017. We analyse how the attainment of the policy goals of environmental sustainability, limiting energy costs, energy security and energy industry performance is covered. We show that once the policy was enacted, industry optimism dominated the agenda. Since 2012, the renewable energy act is increasingly associated with its costs. At the same time, German energy policy was re-framed as the grand societal challenge of the Energiewende that experiences high public approval. If the pattern of shifting policy goal emphasis is faced by adoption policies in general, then public acceptance of long-term transitions might be endangered. We conclude that policies could be designed in a way that new innovative technologies such as batteries or power-to-gas and the optimism created by new technologies rub off onto old renewables to maintain broad public support.