This title appears in the Scientific Report :
2015
Please use the identifier:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.04.027 in citations.
The German Energiewende – History and status quo
The German Energiewende – History and status quo
Industrialized nations rely heavily on fossil fuels as an economic factor. Energy systems therefore play a special part in realizing visions of future sustainable societies. In Germany, successive governments have specified their ideas on sustainable development and the related energy system. Detail...
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Personal Name(s): | Hake, Jürgen-Fr. |
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Fischer, Wolfgang / Venghaus, Sandra (Corresponding author) / Weckenbrock, Christoph | |
Contributing Institute: |
Systemforschung und Technologische Entwicklung; IEK-STE |
Published in: | Energy, 92 (2015) 3, S. 532–546 |
Imprint: |
Amsterdam [u.a.]
Elsevier Science
2015
|
DOI: |
10.1016/j.energy.2015.04.027 |
Document Type: |
Journal Article |
Research Program: |
Assessment of Energy Systems – Addressing Issues of Energy Efficiency and Energy Security |
Publikationsportal JuSER |
Industrialized nations rely heavily on fossil fuels as an economic factor. Energy systems therefore play a special part in realizing visions of future sustainable societies. In Germany, successive governments have specified their ideas on sustainable development and the related energy system. Detailed objectives make the vision of the Energiewende – the transformation of the energy sector – more concrete. Many Germans hope that the country sets a positive example for other nations whose energy systems also heavily rely on fossil fuels. A glance at the historical dimensions of this transformation shows that the origins of German energy objectives lie more than thirty years in the past. The realization of these goals has not been free from tensions and conflicts. This article aims at explaining Germany's pioneering role in the promotion of an energy system largely built on renewable energy sources by disclosing the drivers that have successively led to the Energiewende. To reveal these drivers, the historical emergence of energy politics in Germany was analyzed especially with respect to path dependencies and discourses (and their underlying power relations) as well as exogenous events that have enabled significant shifts in the political energy strategy of Germany. |