Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseGermany is a high-income country (HIC) in central Europe, with about 84 million people. It is the biggest economy in Europe and a major manufacturer of cars, machinery and chemicals, so it needs a lot of energy. Germany has some coal but almost no oil and little gas of its own, so it is an energy deficit country that must import much of its fuel.
Key terms:
The energy mix of electricity in Germany has changed fast. In 2024, about 63% of public net electricity generation came from renewable sources, a record (Fraunhofer ISE). Wind was the biggest single source at about a third of the total. Solar was about 14%, with smaller shares from biomass and hydroelectric power.
| Source | Share of electricity, 2024 (about) | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Wind | 33% | Biggest single source. Onshore in the north, offshore in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. |
| Solar | 14% | Strong in the sunnier south, such as Bavaria, and on rooftops. |
| Biomass and hydro | about 14% | Biomass from crops and waste, hydro mainly in the Alps and the south. |
| Lignite | about one sixth | Falling, but still the largest fossil fuel in electricity. |
| Hard coal | about 6% | Falling sharply. |
| Natural gas | about 11% | Used for heating, industry and back-up power. |
| Nuclear | 0% | Last stations closed 15 April 2023. |
Remember that this is electricity only. Germany's total energy, including heating and transport, still has a larger share of oil and gas, so the renewable share of all energy is lower than 63%.
Environmental: huge open-cast mines in the Rhineland (Garzweiler, Hambach) and Lusatia destroy farmland, forest and villages, and lignite power stations produce high carbon dioxide emissions. Economic: thousands of jobs and cheap home-grown fuel. Social: villages are moved, and protests such as those at Hambach Forest divide opinion.
Environmental: low carbon, but turbines change landscapes and affect birds. Economic: new jobs and cheaper wind and solar over time, but a need for new power lines to carry wind power from the north to industry in the south. Social: many households and farmers own solar panels or shares in wind farms.
Russia supplied about 55% of Germany's gas imports in 2021. When Russia cut supplies in 2022, gas and electricity prices rose sharply, hitting households and factories. This showed the energy security risk of relying on one supplier.
Nuclear gave low carbon electricity and no coal smoke. Ending it removed the risk of accidents and the need for waste storage in future, but some people argue that it forced Germany to burn more coal for a while.
Impacts also happen at several scales. Local: mining villages and wind farm neighbours. National: high electricity prices for households, among the highest in Europe, and a falling carbon dioxide total. Global: Germany's emissions affect the climate, and its early support for solar helped make panels cheaper worldwide.
A strategy is the plan or law. A technique is the method used to carry it out.
| Strategy | Techniques | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Energiewende and the Renewable Energy Sources Act | Feed-in tariffs for 20 years, later auctions for wind and solar projects, subsidies for rooftop solar | Made Germany a world leader in solar and wind and cut costs | Costs passed on to bills, and wind power is intermittent |
| Nuclear phase-out | Closing stations in stages, finishing April 2023 | No nuclear accident or waste risk in future | Lost a low carbon source, so coal and gas were used for longer |
| Coal phase-out | End of coal power by 2038 at the latest, payments to mining companies and regions, retraining workers | Cuts carbon dioxide, protects mining regions from sudden job loss | Slow, and expensive for taxpayers |
| Replacing Russian gas | Floating LNG terminals such as Wilhelmshaven, new suppliers, filling gas stores, saving gas | Fast, and secured supply in the 2022-23 winter | LNG is costly and still a fossil fuel |
| Efficiency | Building insulation grants, efficient appliances, industry efficiency targets | Cheap and sustainable, as it needs no extra fuel | Older buildings are expensive to upgrade |
| Grid upgrades and storage | High-voltage lines from north to south, battery storage, a smart grid | Delivers wind power to where it is needed | Slow to build, and local people may object |
Sustainable energy meets today's needs without harming the environment or future generations. Germany's progress on renewables and falling coal use is sustainable. However, bills are high, gas and lignite are still used, and Germany still imports much of its fuel. A balanced judgement: the Energiewende is a successful long-term plan that has cut carbon dioxide emissions, but the speed of change, costs to households, and the 2022 gas crisis show that a fast transition needs strong backup, storage and grid investment.
Saying that Germany still uses nuclear power (it ended in April 2023). Mixing up the share of electricity (about 63% renewable in 2024) with the share of all energy. Listing facts without a place name or a figure. Describing the Energiewende without saying what it actually did, such as feed-in tariffs. Forgetting to give a judgement.
Table 1 shows made-up data for Country Q's electricity in two years.
| Source | Year 1 (% of electricity) | Year 2 (% of electricity) |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | 40 | 25 |
| Wind and solar | 15 | 35 |
| Other | 45 | 40 |
(a) State the change in the share of wind and solar between Year 1 and Year 2. [1]
(b) Describe one impact of coal mining on the environment in a named country you have studied. [2]
(c) Explain why a country may want to end its use of nuclear power. [3]
(d) Using a named country you have studied, evaluate the strategies used to manage its energy supplies. [6]
(a) It increased by 20 percentage points (from 15% to 35%). (1)
(b) In Germany, open-cast lignite mining in the Rhineland destroys farmland and forest (1) and leaves very large holes in the landscape, and burning lignite produces high carbon dioxide emissions. (1)
(c) There is a risk of a serious accident, as at Fukushima (1), radioactive waste has to be stored safely for a very long time (1), and decommissioning is expensive, so a country may prefer to use renewables (1).
(d) Level 3 (5-6 marks): In Germany, the Energiewende is the main strategy. The Renewable Energy Sources Act used feed-in tariffs to make wind and solar profitable, and by 2024 about 63% of electricity came from renewables, which is a strength because it cuts carbon dioxide. The nuclear phase-out ended in April 2023, which removes accident risk, but it meant that coal and gas were used for longer. The coal phase-out by 2038 at the latest protects mining regions with payments and retraining, but is slow. After Russian gas was cut in 2022, Germany built LNG terminals at Wilhelmshaven, which secured supply quickly but is expensive and still fossil fuel. Efficiency measures such as insulation are cheap and sustainable. Overall, Germany's approach is largely sustainable because renewables and efficiency are growing, but households face high prices and gas and lignite are still used, so the transition is not yet complete.
Who benefits? Owners of solar panels and wind farms, new energy companies and future generations gain most. Households pay high bills, and mining regions such as the Rhineland and Lusatia lose jobs, which is why the coal phase-out includes payments and retraining.
For a named example, put in at least three place names or figures, such as Garzweiler, Wilhelmshaven or 2023, and end with a judgement that says how sustainable the approach is.