Fukushima and German Energy Policy 2005–2015/2016

Abstract

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011 led to some drastic reactions in Germany, in particular an immediate shut-downof older nuclear power plants. This event is therefore often seen as a turning point, or a major accelerator for the German Energiewende. We investigate the short term effects, but also put the event into a longer, 10-year perspective. This shows that hardly any trend in the energy policy was strongly affected by policy decisions of 2011. Major trends are the increase of renewable electricity sources, the phase out of nuclear, a slight increase in energy efficiency, while total energy consumption and also greenhouse gas emissions remained stable in the decade 2005-2015/16. We also provide some tentative explanations for these developments.