Energy transition gathers momentum
Six months ago, the team from the Press Office began publishing a dossier and started to look at the issue of “Energy for the future”. There followed a series of interviews, guest commentaries and scientific recommendations. But what remains of all this? Primarily the impression that, at best, we have examined a few grains of sand in the desert – because the energy transition is a massive undertaking. Should be worried by this? Or even scared? No. On the contrary. The philosopher Karl Popper put it in a nutshell: “All life is problem solving”. And that applies to the energy transition as well. Where are we now?
The starting point
There isn’t one single energy transition: there are umpteen “transitions”. We’re currently somewhere between realising the problem and implementing solutions, in the middle of a transitional phase towards a carbon-free energy mix. What marks out this phase is that worldwide there are considerable differences in the concepts, the sectors and the financial, technical and political conditions. One constant in the global discussion is the demand for a reconciliation of economic progress with (more) environmentally friendly energy policies. As is stated in the coalition agreement drawn up recently by the two parties forming the new German government: “We want to continue to be an industrialised country and to become climate neutral.”
The situation in Germany
There are as many opinions on this as there are research institutes and parties. Germany aims to be climate neutral by 2045 – which is likely to be a close-run thing. The Norwegian classification society Det Norske Veritas is, however, optimistic: Germany, it says, is making “great progress in reshaping its energy landscape” and will be reducing its CO2 emissions by 95 percent since 1990. Critics object, however, that the speed of this transition is not (by any means) sufficient.
The global view
In 193 countries there are 193 different concepts, targets and indicators. In the global Energy Transition Index Sweden, Norway and Switzerland occupy the top places, with Germany in 16th position. The reason for this is that Germany still has a relatively high share of coal-based electricity (currently around 26 percent), while the UK for example has reduced its dependency on coal from 65 percent (1990) to nine percent. Across the EU, CO2 emissions are to be reduced by 90 percent by 2040. But none of this is going to help the planet much as long as China and the USA – the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases – don’t rigorously develop renewable forms of energy. But although President Trump is no pioneer as far as the energy transition is concerned, and China regularly approves the construction of new coal-fired power plants, there are still grounds for optimism. The reason is that many federal states in the US are sticking to the path of an energy transition, and China is building almost twice as many solar and wind energy capacity as the rest of the world together. After all, in 2024 renewables were already meeting 40 percent of global electricity demand.
Science and industry
Energy economist Veronika Grimm is convinced that, simply as a result of economic considerations, climate protection will continue to receive priority attention worldwide. “Every country wants to be among the leaders as far as innovative, environment-friendly technologies are concerned,” she says. Christian Bruch, the CEO of Siemens Energy, calls for much higher levels of investment. “The transformation process is much more expensive than previously thought,” he says. It certainly makes sense, he adds, to build new gas-fired power plants fast which can produce electricity using green hydrogen. This is what the German government is planning, and Veronika Grimm supports this. Battery storage alone, she says, cannot compensate for 14 days without sun or wind.
The appeal
Science should not dictate to people how they should live, says philosopher Prof. Michael Quante from the University of Münster, but should create the conditions for rational debate. “We mustn’t shift personal and political responsibility back and forth,” he argues. “When we have a global problem, every single person has a fundamental responsibility.”
Author: Norbert Robers
This article is from the University newspaper wissen|leben No. 5, 16 July 2025.