The Energiewende in a nutshell 10 Q & A on the German energy transition BACKGROUND The Energiewende in a nutshell IMPRINT BACKGROUND The Energiewende in a nutshell 10 Q & A on the German energy transition STUDY BY: Agora Energiewende Anna-Louisa-Karsch-Straße 2 10178 Berlin | Germany P +49 (0)30 700 14 35-000 F +49 (0)30 700 14 35-129 www.agora-energiewende.org
[email protected] Dimitri Pescia
[email protected] Renewable Energy Institute 8F, DLX Building, 1-13-1 Nishi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0003 Emi Ichiyanagi
[email protected] Layout: UKEX GRAPHIC, Germany Please cite as: 109/01-B-2017/EN Agora Energiewende (2017): The Energiewende Publication: March 2017 in a nutshell Introduction Energy systems worldwide are in a state of trans- around the globe, from Chile and Morocco to the United formation. With the adoption of the Paris Climate Arab Emirates and Denmark. Thus, many of the devel- Agreement in December 2015, the foundation for opments we currently see in Germany, and in other international climate policy has fundamentally vanguard countries, are highly relevant for the rest of changed. The decision to limit global warming to be the world. well below to 2 °C can only be achieved if energy sys- tems are completely decarbonized over the long term. While the German approach is not unique worldwide, Accordingly, the European Union has adopted ambi- the speed and scope of the Energiewende are excep- tious goals to move toward a low-carbon economy tional, and have attracted wide attention and debate and fully integrated energy markets.