WWWforEurope Lecture Series: Chancen und Herausforderungen einer Energiewende – Das Beispiel Deutschlands

Germany's energy policy is a battleground of feuding politicians, lobbyists, ecologists and assorted others. They are involved in a debate fuelled by the media. Its ingredients are well-known: power and influence, sinecures needing to be defended or redistributed – and of course money. Germany is heavily subsidising the renewables, while at the same time emissions are on the rise. Coal is extremely cheap and is used when the renewables fail to deliver. The problem is in the low prices of emissions trading: the scheme fails to make coal-generated electricity more expensive than electricity generated from gas.