Where to Now?

Abstract

This article examines Germany’s efforts to transition to a less carbon intensive economy. It follows the origins of the ongoing Energiewende and the civil mentality that allowed Germany to become a leader in the transition to a cleaner future; while also critically analyzing the country’s capacity to in fact achieve those targets, looking closely at both the achievements and shortcomings of existing policies. To date, the focus has largely been on reforming electricity generation; however, as the Energiewende moves along focus must move beyond just sustainability to address other parts of energy policy including energy security and affordability. Beyond just generation attention must also move to sectors such as transportation and construction.

Global Liquefied Natural Gas Industry Expansion May Imperil Paris Agreement Temperature Targets

“…NG consumption for electricity generation in non-OECD countries will increase more than 60%, at 1.5% per year, compared to a rate of 0.9% per year in OECD countries [1]. Growth in global demand is driven by several factors including the closures of nuclear power plants in Europe and Asia that have further increased imports of NG to substitute for the loss of carbon-free power [10][11][12]. Growing NG demand from these two regions, coupled with the favorable economics of shale gas, has led to an expansion in global liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade [13][14][15] that is outpacing domestic growththe share of LNG in the global NG market increased from roughly 5.8 % in 2001 to over 10.7% in 2017 [16,17].…”