‘Walking the Walk’: a Snapshot of Germany's Energiewende
| Date | 01 May 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/1758-5899.12026 |
| Published date | 01 May 2013 |
‘Walking the Walk’: a Snapshot of Germany’s
Energiewende
Dr Norbert R€
ottgen
Member of the German Bundestag, Former Federal Minister for
the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
The world’s fourth-largest economy is currently undergo-
ing a profound transformation. The German Advisory
Council on Global Change (WBGU) even calls this an out-
right revolution. In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear
accident on 11 March 2011, the German government fur-
ther accelerated the so-called Energiewende, which can be
defined as the strategic move to alternative energy
sources such as wind, photovoltaic, biomass and hydro-
power. Its goals are highly ambitious: a gradual phasing
out of nuclear power by 2022 and at the same time an
increase of renewables’share in national electricity pro-
duction, targeting 35 per cent in 2020 and 80 per cent in
2050 (renewables energy roadmap). While doing so,
Germany also aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
by 40 per cent (2020) and 80–95 per cent (2050) compared
with 1990. As if this was not enough, overall energy
efficiency is also to be raised inter alia through building
modernisation (often referred to as the ‘sleeping giant’)
and new mobility concepts such as electric vehicles. To
this end, primary energy consumption is to be reduced by
50 per cent by 2050. Even though, at first glance, the Ener-
giewende appears to be primarily a domestic issue, clearly
it has the potential to change forever the way industria-
lised countries think about energy. If Germany is success-
ful, and I am optimistic that it will be, the country will
become a new role model for 21st-century low-carbon
growth and global competitiveness. So where does Ger-
many stand today on its path towards a renewables era?
Framing the debate
Listening to the domestic debates, for example on the
need for new transmission lines, the financing of smart
grids and the future of the Renewable Energy Law (Ern-
euerbare-Energien-Gesetz, EEG), one is always in danger
of missing the bigger picture of today’s political realities.
First of all, energy and climate issues have, at least to
some degree, slowly been fading into the background of
public attention. The recovery from the financial crisis
now trumps the political agenda in most countries.
Secondly, the past months and years have shown that
multilateral negotiations on a number of issues, including
on climate change and international trade policy, have
become increasingly complex. They require a degree of
patience and persistence that the wider public and some
policy makers lack sometimes. To be clear, the negotia-
tions lack neither interesting new ideas nor motivated
and responsible individuals. What is missing is convincing
political leadership to champion the cause of global pub-
lic goods. As a result, we can observe rising tensions
between key actors in the renewables sector. The EU’s
antidumping probe into solar panel imports from China
is just one recent example. Of course, these tensions
could also be interpreted as a sign of successful marketi-
sation, with more and more policy makers and business
people now looking at the potential benefits of green
growth strategies such as future market shares and cor-
porate profits, investment in research and development
in key technologies, and employment creation. The Paris-
based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st
Century (REN21) estimates that in 2011 global investment
in renewables amounted to a record US$257 billion.
In September 2011, I had the pleasure of joining a
panel discussion with Jeremy Rifkin. Among other things,
we talked about his concept of a third industrial revolu-
tion based on the convergence of energy and communi-
cation networks. Rifkin argued that the avant garde of
low-carbon societies is characterised by decentralised
power (lateral power), the democratisation of energy and
social networks. His vision proved refreshingly optimistic,
emphasising humans’intrinsic motivation to collaborate
and share. Along with others, Germany has been at the
forefront of developing a business case for alternative
energy sources. Despite the criticism and eventual set-
backs, the wider German public continues to view the
Energiewende as a sound investment in the country’s
environmental, political and economic future.
Managing different speeds of transformation
Many national and international observers are question-
ing Germany’s ability to turn away from nuclear power
©2013 University of Durham and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Global Policy (2013) 4:2 doi: 10.1111/1758-5899.12026
Global Policy Volume 4 . Issue 2 . May 2013
220
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