The German Energiewende

20 | The German Energiewende
The global energy transition
“The Energiewende may
work in Germany – but what
about countries that don’t have
such a strong economy?”
© dpa/epa Business Wire
The Energiewende is not a luxury, but rather a project that fosters sustainable and profitable
development by driving innovation, boosting growth and prosperity, and creating jobs in future
growth sectors. It is therefore unsurprising that virtually every country around the world
would, in principle, like to make its energy system more sustainable.
Virtually every country wants to develop renewable energy
Countries with renewables policies and targets
More than one support mechanism
Feed-in-tariff/premium payment
Minimum quotas for renewables
Auctions
Net metering – electricity consumption
is offset against feed-in from small,
often private photovoltaic systems
Financial incentives
No policies or no data
The prices of innovative renewables technologies, such as wind and solar, have fallen sharply
worldwide in recent years. Investments in research and development at an early stage, as well
as funding to help renewable energy gain a foothold in the market in various industrialised
countries, particularly in Germany, had a significant impact on the drop in prices.
Thanks to the decline in investment costs and to lower operating costs, renewable energies
are now competitive without subsidies in some parts of the world. For example, in North
and South America wind farms and large solar parks supply electricity more cheaply than
new fossil fuel power plants do. Countries such as China, Brazil, South Africa and India are
leaders in the development of renewable energies. However, this expansion is sometimes
hindered by the fact that countries subsidise fossil fuels in order to keep consumer prices
low. At around 325 billion dollars per year, these subsidies are more than twice as high as
funding for renewable energies. If these subsidies were used instead for programmes to
improve energy efficiency, three times as much funding would be available.
2005
Emissions trading starts in Europe.
All EU member states participate in
the scheme.
2007
The EU adopts a 2020 climate and energy package with
binding targets for the development of renewable
energies, climate protection and energy efficiency.
2007
Louis Palmer begins a journey around the
world in the Solartaxi, a car powered entirely
by solar energy. His trip takes 18 months.