The German Energiewende under attack: Is there an irrational Sonderweg?
Abstract
The German energy transition repeatedly faces harsh critiques questioning its economic and environmental merit. This article defends the Energiewende and argues that Germany has chosen a rational and particularly forceful approach to securing sustainable energy supply. Though current expenditures are high, the long-run benefits of transforming the energy system to a renewables-based system are likely to outweigh present investment costs. Furthermore, support policies for renewables are not redundant - as some critics claim - but complement other policy instruments, such as the emissions trading scheme. The article also addresses the motives behind the discrediting attacks on the German energy policy regime. Defense actions by beneficiaries of the former energy market structure are only to be expected, but the attacks from liberal economists are astonishingly fierce. --Download Info
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Paper provided by Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS) in its series UFZ Discussion Papers with number 15/2012.Length:
Date of creation: 2012
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:zbw:ufzdps:152012
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Web page: http://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=1445
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Related research
Keywords: energy supply; energy transition; externalities; Germany; renewable energy sources; support policies; sustainability;Find related papers by JEL classification:
- D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
- H54 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Infrastructures
- Q42 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Alternative Energy Sources
- Q48 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - Government Policy
- Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
- Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2012-10-13 (All new papers)
- NEP-ENE-2012-10-13 (Energy Economics)
- NEP-ENV-2012-10-13 (Environmental Economics)
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Lehmann, Paul & Gawel, Erik, 2013.
"Why should support schemes for renewable electricity complement the EU emissions trading scheme?,"
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- Lehmann, Paul & Gawel, Erik, 2011. "Why should support schemes for renewable electricity complement the EU emissions trading scheme?," UFZ Discussion Papers 5/2011, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ), Division of Social Sciences (ÖKUS).
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"Interaction of carbon reduction and green energy promotion in a small fossil-fuel importing economy,"
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131-09, Universität Siegen, Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik und Wirtschaftsrecht.
- Rüdiger Pethig & Christian Wittlich, 2009. "Interaction of Carbon Reduction and Green Energy Promotion in a Small Fossil-Fuel Importing Economy," CESifo Working Paper Series 2749, CESifo Group Munich.
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"Environmental and Technology Policies for Climate Mitigation,"
Discussion Papers
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- Fischer, Carolyn & Newell, Richard G., 2008. "Environmental and technology policies for climate mitigation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 142-162, March.
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