Renewable Energy
Political Promotion of Renewable Energy in the United States and Germany http://www.e- ir.info/2012/11/09/political- promotion- of- renewable- energy- in- the- united- states- and- germany/ March 9, 2013
By Jakob Hauter on November 9, 2012
The Polit ical Promot ion of Renewable Energy in t he Unit ed St at es and Germany: Mot ives and Consequences At a time when popular uprisings against oppressive regimes in North Africa let oil prices soar and stir a debate in developed nations about the ethics of resource trade with brutal dictators, and while melting reactor cores in Japan make the world hold its breath and rethink the possible risks and dangers of nuclear power, the question of where we will get our energy from in the future seems more pressing than ever before. Renewable energy sources provide a potentially attractive solution to this question. However, even until today, only a tiny fraction of the world’s energy supply is actually coming from these sources (IEA 2010). Is it possible to increase this small share by political means? What are the factors that could motivate governments to pursue policies promoting renewable energy sources? To what extent are those policies pursued in practice, and what results have they yielded so far? It is the purpose of this essay to investigate these questions. This will be done in four steps. First, a general rationale for the promotion of renewable energy sources will be developed as a conceptual basis. Second, policies promoting renewable energy sources across two national contexts will be outlined. Third, the outcomes of these policies will be compared and evaluated. Fourth, the findings of the case study analysis will be explained by differences in the composition of the general rationale in each national context. The United States and Germany have been chosen as case studies for this essay. Both countries are highly developed and belong to the most important economic and political actors in the world.
By Jakob Hauter on November 9, 2012
The Polit ical Promot ion of Renewable Energy in t he Unit ed St at es and Germany: Mot ives and Consequences At a time when popular uprisings against oppressive regimes in North Africa let oil prices soar and stir a debate in developed nations about the ethics of resource trade with brutal dictators, and while melting reactor cores in Japan make the world hold its breath and rethink the possible risks and dangers of nuclear power, the question of where we will get our energy from in the future seems more pressing than ever before. Renewable energy sources provide a potentially attractive solution to this question. However, even until today, only a tiny fraction of the world’s energy supply is actually coming from these sources (IEA 2010). Is it possible to increase this small share by political means? What are the factors that could motivate governments to pursue policies promoting renewable energy sources? To what extent are those policies pursued in practice, and what results have they yielded so far? It is the purpose of this essay to investigate these questions. This will be done in four steps. First, a general rationale for the promotion of renewable energy sources will be developed as a conceptual basis. Second, policies promoting renewable energy sources across two national contexts will be outlined. Third, the outcomes of these policies will be compared and evaluated. Fourth, the findings of the case study analysis will be explained by differences in the composition of the general rationale in each national context. The United States and Germany have been chosen as case studies for this essay. Both countries are highly developed and belong to the most important economic and political actors in the world.
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