16920

German Energy Policy and (Geo) Politics

Daniel Louis Nethery

Comments

Workload and assessment: During the semester you will be required to read around 20 pages each week. You will qualify for 5 ECTS points if your attendance is satisfactory, you engage with the course materials, and you pass the examination at the end of the semester. Is this course for me? This course is open to all students. There are no prerequisites. Subject: In March 2023 residents of Berlin had the opportunity to vote in a so-called climate referendum. Its proponents claimed that a yes-vote would require the Berlin city–state government to achieve a socially-just transition to climate neutrality by the year 2030. Although supported by a majority of voters, the referendum attracted too few yes-votes to achieve the necessary quorum. The failure of the climate referendum came at the end of a winter of heating restrictions and at the start of a federal parliamentary session marked by controversy over the heating law which took effect on 1 January this year. Program: We will take the proposal put to Berlin voters as a starting point for an analysis of German energy policy and (geo)politics. We will assess the influence of (geo)political, technological, environmental and other social factors on the development of the German energy mix since the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951. We will trace the rise and fall of nuclear power before and after German reunification; the consequences of the oil shock and the persistence of oil despite the emergence of biofuels; the construction of natural gas pipelines, including Nord Stream; and the marked divergence of solar and wind capacity in the north and south of the country. Among other questions we will ask: Should the German federal government have responded to widespread anti-nuclear sentiment by phasing out nuclear power ahead of coal? Are biofuels a sustainable substitute for oil? And is the shift to renewable energy in Berlin constrained by the technology or, as supporters of the climate referendum claimed, by a lack of political will? close

16 Class schedule

Regular appointments

Mon, 12:00 - 14:00 16 Class schedule

Mon, 2024-10-14 12:00 - 14:00

Lecturers:
Daniel Louis Nethery