Book Chapter

Economic Impacts of Renewable Energy Increase in Germany

Ulrich, Philip, Lehr, Ulrike

2017

Overview

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. Our analysis shows possible positive impacts of the expansion of renewable energy in Germany—and the conditions and policy implication for a positive development. The German example shows how a large domestic market leads to the development of a successful industry. However, these successes are vulnerable to abrupt policy changes, as experiences with the US industry or the Spanish market and lately the German PV industry show.

• Publisher: Springer International Publishing
• Subject: Economic effects / Macroeconomic modeling / Renewable energy
• ISBN: 9783319456584, 331945658X