More evidence of popular support for Energiewende

A survey taken last month and published in the week before Germany's parliamentary elections over the weekend provides even more evidence that the Germans stand behind their energy transition, though they do believe many things can be improved.

Now that the parliamentary elections are over, perhaps international press coverage of the Energiewende can calm down a bit. Over the past few weeks, we have been assailed by articles claiming that German citizens cannot withstand the energy transition any longer.

Unfortunately, none of them mentioned any of the recent surveys clearly revealing ongoing support for the Energiewende. In addition to the two that I have already mentioned, another one was published last week. These are the only three I know about, and all of them showed clear popular support for the project and its goals – along with some criticism about implementation.

The most recent poll found that a whopping 93 percent of those surveyed believe that further growth of renewables is "important" for "exceptionally important."

The survey asked Germans whether the renewables surcharge, which is expected to increase by 15-20 percent next year, is already too big. Only five percent said it was too low, while 50 percent said it was appropriate, 42 percent said it was too high, and three percent did not have an opinion.

AEE

Popular support for the energy transition remains quite high across party lines. When asked whether feed-in tariffs for renewables should be done away with, roughly 3/4 of members of all parties rejected the idea, with only the Greens showing clearly greater resistance.

AEE

It is worth noting that this survey was conducted for renewables lobby group AEE, but the other two were not. (Craig Morris)