<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Especially since the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe (2011), Germany has expanded its renewably sourced energies. Nuclear power is to be phased out by 2022. What is central to federal policy is the expansion of wind-generated energy. Plans for new wind farms have, however, faced opposition. And the transportation of electricity from the windy north to the high-use south entails an expansion of the existing power grid, which also provokes conflict. The article scrutinises dominant patterns of discourse on these issues. Based on current discourse theory, the research sheds light on the argumentative power of citizens’ initiatives with respect to nature conservation, landscape, health and economics.</p></abstract>

Especially since the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe (2011), Germany has expanded its renewably sourced energies. Nuclear power is to be phased out by 2022. What is central to federal policy is the expansion of wind-generated energy. Plans for new wind farms have, however, faced opposition. And the transportation of electricity from the windy north to the high-use south entails an expansion of the existing power grid, which also provokes conflict. The article scrutinises dominant patterns of discourse on these issues. Based on current discourse theory, the research sheds light on the argumentative power of citizens’ initiatives with respect to nature conservation, landscape, health and economics.

Conflicts around Germany’s <italic>Energiewende</italic>: Discourse patterns of citizens’ initiatives

Quaestiones Geographicae

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Conflicts around Germany’s : Discourse patterns of citizens’ initiatives

Especially since the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe (2011), Germany has expanded its renewably sourced energies. Nuclear power is to be phased out by 2022. What...

Conflicts around Germany’s Energiewende: Discourse patterns of citizens’ initiatives

Published Online: Dec 21, 2017

Page range: 117 - 130

Received: Apr 19, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/quageo-2017-0040

Keywords
renewable energies, Germany, wind energy, power grid extension, citizens’ initiatives

© 2017 Florian Weber et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Conflicts around Germany’s Energiewende: Discourse patterns of citizens’ initiatives

Published Online: Dec 21, 2017

Page range: 117 - 130

Received: Apr 19, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/quageo-2017-0040

Keywordsrenewable energies, Germany, wind energy, power grid extension, citizens’ initiatives

© 2017 Florian Weber et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
renewable energies, Germany, wind energy, power grid extension, citizens’ initiatives