Elke Bruns

Cross-sectoral Interventions, Events and Processes

Renewable energies in Germany developed within an overall framework of cross-sectoral influencing factors and events. These issues essentially refer to the EU level and the German federal level. The energy and environmental crises, which triggered a change of mindset in society, were among the most important processes that affected the development of renewable energy in Germany. Also, the innovation process was – and still is – closely linked to international climate protection research and policy. The climate protection process and its institutionalization at international and EU level interacted with national problem awareness and respective processes. After the change of German government in 1998, climate protection – and from 2002 also renewable energy policy – was institutionalized with the Federal Environment Ministry. This significantly pushed the process at the national level. Specifications at EU level for the liberalization of the electricity market ultimately led to the energy sector opening up, national reforms being initiated in the energy sector and renewable energy being granted access to the electricity sector. In addition, the feed-in laws for renewable energies were accompanied by a large number of further legal adjustments.

Cross-Sectional Comparison

The innovation biographies of renewable energies allow us to draw conclusions about the particular course of each individual process as well as about the respective influencing factors. The analysis shows that each innovation process is individual, but that, at the same time, certain phase types occur in all processes examined. Despite such typical phases in innovation biographies, each process pursues its own dynamic and has its own distinctive features. On the other hand, the constellations revealed that the innovation processes are complex and that they are affected by a high degree of interaction and interdependency between the influencing factors. Renewable energies developed as a result of the interplay between technical, socio-economic and environmental driving forces. The processes can only be explained as resulting from the interaction of a variety of factors within the particular context of action. Governance plays a key role, but it cannot be isolated from other factors.

Innovation Conditions in the Case of Solar Power Generation

The development of photovoltaics since the mid-1970s is divided into six phases. The beginning of the period examined was characterized by the two oil price crises of the 1970s and an awareness of limits to growth. After helping the technology’s introduction on the market by means of a broad-scale support program, the municipalities bridged the subsequent critical phase in the development by guaranteeing cost-covering compensation for photovoltaic electricity. The 100,000 Roofs Program was crucial for the photovoltaics breakthrough. The Renewable Energy Sources Act ultimately created long-term security for investment, which led to a boom in the development. Innovative activities in the field of photovoltaics usually rank as high-tech technologies. In addition, photovoltaics is split up into several different technology lines that run in parallel. It is this complexity that sets photovoltaics apart from wind power technology, for example. An additional key factor is the high expectations that commercial and political entities have for this technology, despite photovoltaic electricity generation still being very expensive.

Erneuerbare Energien für Wärme – heiß oder nur lauwarm?

Die Energiewende ist bisher vor allem eine Stromwende. Allerdings setzen Haushalte uber 80% ihres Energiebedarfs fur Raumheizung und warmes Wasser ein. Diese Energie stammt uberwiegend aus Gas, Ol und Kohle. Das grose CO2- Minderungspotenzial des Warmesektors ist seit langer Zeit bekannt, lasst sich jedoch offenbar nur schwer mobilisieren: Erneuerbare Energien haben gegenwartig einen Anteil von rund 10,4% am Gesamtwarmebedarf in Deutschland – bis zum Jahr 2020 soll der Anteil auf 14% gesteigert werden. Dieses Ziel wird mit den gesetzten Impulsen voraussichtlich nicht erreicht (BMU 2012; Augsten 2013).

Conditions for Innovation in Geothermal Power Generation

The innovation process of generating electricity from deep geothermal heat is still in its early stages – the current phase is one of preliminary research. The state of this technology today is comparable to that of photovoltaics in the 1970s. The number of actors engaged in this field is small, comprising primarily of non-university research institutes, drilling technology companies, as well as municipalities, municipal utilities, power companies and district heating companies. It is mainly research actors, dedicated individuals and research funding that act as a motor for advancing the relevant pilot and demonstration plants.

Insights into the Drivers of Innovation

The innovation biographies show that public policy making cannot “create” innovations – they do, however, play an important role in shaping the overall conditions for innovation. The course for the development of renewable energies was set at the international, European, and national levels, as well as at regional and local levels. In order to meet the objectives, policies and measures have to be geared toward different tasks and problems in each individual phase of the innovation process.

Innovation Framework for Generating Biogas and Electricity from Biogas

In the pioneering phase of the development, biogas generation was associated with low-tech applications. The technology was regarded as a marginal topic in the German research landscape of the 1970s and 1980s, drawing attention only from a small circle of scientists from agricultural research institutes, nonuniversity research institutions and a few universities. So far the innovation process has undergone six phases. Transition from the pioneering phase to the inception phase was initiated by the Electricity Feed-in Act of 1990. The adoption of the Renewable Energy Sources Act in 2000 spurred on the innovation process. Its revision in 2004 allowed for a great increase in the number of plants constructed, which ultimately led to the sector’s boom phase. After 2006 the process of biomass innovation exhibited a changing dynamic.