Philip Ulrich

Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Increase in Germany

The positive impacts of an increasing share of renewable energy (RE) on the mitigation of climate change as well as on the decrease of the dependence of energy imports are indisputable. Currently, more than 350,000 people work in the respective industries in Germany. The contribution explains the calculation of gross employment comprising direct and indirect jobs in the facility production, operation, and maintenance and fuel production. The number of jobs in the field has more than doubled from 2004, when the first calculation has been done. However, also increasing are the additional costs of heat and electricity generation from most renewable energy sources (RES). For a stable economic development, the overall balance of positive and negative effects under different possible future development pathways of fossil fuel prices, global climate policies and global trade is of interest. To account for all effects in a consistent framework, a macroeconometric model is employed. Economic development is measured via the comparison of economic indicators such as GDP and employment from different simulation runs. Overall net positive effects can be seen for instance as higher employment in one simulation run compared with the other.