Considering that in Germany transportation causes around a third of annual CO2 emissions, energy transition policies have a higher political priority. For instance, the country´s gas reduction goal is more ambitious than the one of the European Union, as Germany aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 per cent within 2020, by 55 per cent within 2030 and up to 95 per cent by 2050, compared to 1990 levels.
In 2000, the German government issued the “Erneuerbare Energien Gesetz” (EEG) a series of German laws that provide a feed-in tariff scheme that guarantees top prices for electricity generated or put into the grid. However, the EEG will expire in 2020, and after that, system owners will produce electricity for lower prices, almost for free. This poses a serious challenge, but it also creates room for new ideas to tackle the problem.