Project description

The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety has undertaken a new initiative entitled “future extension of renewable energy sources with emphasis on the states” (RE states). The project, which was conducted as part of the Ministry’s program for “promotion of strategies for further development of renewable energies,” was planned and proposed by the Environmental Policy Research Center (ffu). The goal of the study was to evaluate the role that the states should play in expanding renewable energy use in Germany. The project was divided in nine working packages.
The first working package briefly presented and compared the key distinguishing characteristics of each state. Working package 2 analysed the conditions for and potential use of renewable energy in the states. The next working package (WP 3) examined and compared regional levels of renewable energy use. Drawing on the findings of the first three working packages, working package 4  classified the states and examined the possibilities for integration based on each state’s usage of renewable energy. In working package 5, the legislative and administrative power of the states were analysed in all aspects of renewable energy law. This portion of the study was mainly carried out by Prof. Klinski from the Berlin School of Economics (Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft Berlin). Working package 6 contained renewable energy policy analysis, featuring case studies from three states. The next working package (WP 7) discussed state level renewable energy and climate politics, as well as each state’s renewable energy goals. The two main focal points of the research project were the analysis of obstacles to renewable energy growth (WP 8) and the examination of instruments and strategies that could be employed by the states to expand renewable energy use (WP 9). Finally, conclusions from the study were presented in working package 10, and recommendations were made on how to further develop renewable energy sources, with a particular focus on state options.
Some master theses in environmental management and politics have been integrated into the research project.

Publications

Mez, Lutz; Schneider, Sven; Reiche Danyel et. al. (2008): Zukünftiger Ausbau erneuerbarer Energieträger unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Bundesländer. Forschungsbericht
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