Germany's Energy Transition

"Germany's Energy Transition will surely become required reading for anyone questioning how nations can achieve their ambitious commitments to decarbonize their economies after the 2015 Paris Accords. The lessons learned from the world's leading national energy transition underway today, and the like prospects for transitions in the U.S., Japan, and China, are cogently presented. The book is unusually accessible to the informed lay audience, while equally valuable to students of comparative politics and energy policy." (Dan Mazmanian, Professor of Public Policy, University of Southern California, USA) "A tour de force written by some of the world's top energy transition experts. With its global perspective, the book puts Germany's efforts into an international context, offering crucial insights even to already knowledgeable readers. There's something interesting here for everyone." (Craig Morris, Director, Petite Planete, Germany) "Controversial and often misunderstood, the Energiewende harbors a compelling vision: that even a heavily industrialized economy like Germany can thrive without relying on fossil fuels and nuclear power for its energy needs. This book sheds light on the complex societal consensus underlying the energy transition, and highlights the conditions of modernization against entrenched interests and path-dependent institutions. Its accessible style and comparative outlook offer valuable insights for all those looking to learn from the German experience." (Michael Mehling, Executive Director, MIT Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, USA)

This book analyzes Germany's path-breaking Energiewende, the country's transition from an energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels to a sustainable energy system based on renewables.This book analyzes Germany's path-breaking Energiewende, the country's transition from an energy system based on fossil and nuclear fuels to a sustainable energy system based on renewables. The authors explain Germany's commitment to a renewable energy transition on multiple levels of governance, from the local to the European, focusing on the sources of institutional change that made the transition possible. They then place the German case in international context through comparative case studies of energy transitions in the USA, China, and Japan. These chapters highlight the multifaceted challenges, and the enormous potential, in different paths to a sustainable energy future. Taken together, they tell the story of one of the most important political, economic, and social undertakings of our time.