Publikationen der Abteilung Energie, Verkehr, Umwelt

Energy Transition Calls for High Investment

Achieving the objectives of the German governments 2010 Energy Concept and the accelerated phase-out of nuclear energy will require significant investment in restructuring energy supply. In particular, this includes investment in installations for the use of renewable energy sources in the power and heating sector, as well as in the infrastructure, such as power grids. In addition, substantial investment ...

Automobility in Flux: More Women and Older Drivers at the Wheel

Having barely registered an increase at the beginning of the new millennium, during the economic upturn after 2009, there was significant growth in the mileage by registered motor vehicles in Germany, both in the case of utility vehicles and automobiles. Overall, in 2011, automobiles covered a higher mileage than ever before. Despite more efficient engines, this resulted in fuel consumption stagnating ...

Germany Must Invest More in Its Future

Shortly before the parliamentary election in 2013, Germany is riding on a wave of euphoria: hardly any other euro country has weathered the financial and debt crisis so well. Since 2009, GDP has grown by over eight percent and 1.2 million new jobs have been created. Public finances were consolidated and, in 2012, there was a fiscal surplus of 0.2 percent of GDP. An impressive financial position indeed ...

Spreading the Risk: Nine Questions to Claudia Kemfert and Dorothea Schäfer

Financing the Energy Transition in Times of Financial Market Instability

One of the most pressing public priorities in Germany at present is how to organize the energy transition. However, the cost of stabilizing the financial sector as well as the fiscal pact and the debt brake mean that the government has limited financial resources. Consequently, the availability of private capital, whether in the form of equity or debt, is becoming a decisive factor in the success of ...

We Should Not Overshoot the Target: Six Questions to Jochen Diekmann

The Proposed Adjustment of Germany's Renewable Energy Law: A Critical Assessment

Support through the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) has led, in the past few years, to an unexpectedly wide expansion of systems for generating solar power (photovoltaics) because the system prices for photovoltaic (PV) systems have fallen at a faster rate than the solar power feed-in tariffs guaranteed by the law. This has also contributed to a substantial increase in the EEG surcharge to ...

Economic Opportunities and Structural Effects of Sustainable Energy Supply

Renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency are not only crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative impacts of conventional energy supply; they also hold enormous economic opportunity. Significant and dynamically growing sectors have emerged in the area of renewable energy over the last several years. In 2010, 26.6 billion euros were invested in Germany alone in renewable ...

The Lights Won't Go Out: Interview with Claudia Kemfert

The Moratorium on Nuclear Energy: No Power Shortages Expected

With the moratorium on nuclear energy, the German federal government passed a resolution to shut down seven nuclear power plants for a period of three months. According to the calculations of DIW Berlin (German Institute for Economic Research), sufficient electricity is being produced despite the nuclear plants' removal from the grid. Electricity prices are only likely to increase slightly. The moratorium ...