Countries around the world have different approaches when it comes to developing energy policies. Energy policies are typically based on key factors such as culture, infrastructure, and the current state of the economy. The energy policies of Germany, China, and India, in particular, provide unique energy case studies, as well as strong lessons for the world.
In 2023, Germany, China, and India were within the top 11 global energy consumers, and they have all experienced both successes and unique setbacks when it comes to developing and enforcing energy policies. This blog will explore the energy policies in these countries and their ongoing challenges.
What are Energy Policies?
Energy policies are government-created standards that guide a country’s energy production, use, and consumption. These policies directly impact environmental sustainability, economic growth, and public health.
Germany’s Energy Policies and the “Energy Turnaround”
“Energiewende,” which translates to “energy turnaround,” refers to the ongoing energy transition in Germany. Energiewende’s objective is to create a more efficient energy system that primarily relies on renewable energy sources and to become a “low-carbon, nuclear free economy” by the middle of the century.
As part of the Energiewende, Germany developed the Energy Concept in 2010, which aimed to have renewables account for 35 percent of the country’s gross electricity consumption by 2020. Germany was able to surpass this goal, with 37 percent renewable consumption in 2018 and 44 percent in 2019. Additionally, renewable resources, such as wind power, have become the second-largest source of electricity generation in Germany, relieving the country’s reliance on nuclear and natural gas. Despite the progress that Germany’s energy policies have made, the high cost of these transitions has been a wide debate throughout the country.
Energiewende’s Critics
Critics of the Energiewende have said it is “an expensive, poorly coordinated overreach.” They argue that eliminating nuclear energy and fossil fuels will be immensely expensive and will damage Germany’s status as an industry powerhouse. Transforming the energy system for a decarbonized economy requires increased infrastructure and large investments in new power generation technologies. These vast investments include obtaining several hundred gigawatts of wind energy and dispatchable renewable energy technologies. Peter Altamaier, German politician and former Federal Minister for Economic and Energy Affairs, claimed that “the costs of the Energiewende and of the transformation of our energy supply could add up to around one trillion euros by the end of the 2030s.” Altamaier mentioned the importance of enforcing policies that lower the costs of the Energiewende, while other sources claim that the cost of climate mitigation is significantly lower than the cost of an unstable climate. To achieve the energy turnaround, Germany will need to balance the cost of achieving a more efficient energy system with sustaining a thriving economy.
China’s Energy Policy Aims for Carbon Neutrality
China is the second-most populated country and has the world’s second-largest economy, making its transition to greener energy policies paramount to the world. The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that the pace of China’s emission reductions can dictate whether the world fails or succeeds in preventing global warming.
The government of China has aimed to achieve carbon neutrality by implementing policies to further reduce the country’s carbon emission levels. In 2021, the National People’s Congress China created their 14th five-year energy plan and long-term goals for 2035. Goals included reducing carbon emission levels by 18 percent and reducing energy use by 13.5 percent between 2021 and 2025. Some of China’s key energy strategies in the plan included investing in technological infrastructure that supports the transition to cleaner energy and continuing positive behavioral changes resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, like more remote work and reclaiming urban streets for green space and pedestrians.
Is Carbon Neutrality in China Realistic?
Despite these efforts, there has been mixed reviews on whether China’s five-year energy plan for moving towards carbon neutrality was successful. In the most recent gathering of China’s National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, experts and advisors claimed that the country fell short of its energy goals. Data and analyses show that China still needs to reduce its energy intensity by 6 percent and reduce its carbon intensity by 7% to reach its 2026 targets. Experts, such as global policy advisors, energy analysts, and directors of key climate entities in China, point to these results as an indication that China isn’t serious about carbon control, and still prioritizes economic growth over environmental prosperity.
Although the country has been behind on its goals, not all hope is lost for China’s energy future. China is adopting new climate and energy policies and strategies for 2025. These initiatives include: increasing programmes for local governments to achieve peak carbon emissions, including more industries in the national carbon market, and launching low-carbon upgrade trials in coal-fired power plants. Reports from the IEA claim that faster progress before 2030 is in fact possible for China, saying that “China has the technical capabilities, economic means and policy experience to accomplish a faster clean energy transition to 2030.” China’s continued efforts to achieve carbon neutrality is essential for the world’s battle against climate change.
India’s Energy Policy Focuses on Clean Air
A large portion of India’s energy policies focus on air pollution, both outdoor and indoor.
To tackle outdoor air pollution, the government adopted the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) in 2019. The goal of the NCAP is to make “comprehensive mitigation actions for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution.” Under this movement alone, Indian cities were able to reduce fine particulate matter pollution by an average of 27%. Fine particulate matter are tiny particles that are emitted from sources such as fires, construction sites, unpaved roads, and other pollutants. When these harmful chemicals are inhaled, they can lead to severe health concerns by going deep into your lungs and traveling into your bloodstream. Additionally, these pollutants are severely detrimental to the environment. Several cities, such as Moradabad, Kalaburagi, and Meerut, were able to achieve fine particulate matter reduction levels as high as 50-70%. However, several other cities in the more northern regions of India, such as Gurugram, Faridabad, and Sri Ganganagar still suffer from high levels of fine particulate matter. Despite the limited progress, the continuous enforcement of NCAP is expected to help improve this issue. Since many of the sources of fine particulate matter also emit greenhouse gases, tackling these reductions has a significant impact on India’s ability to combat climate change.
Tackling Indoor Air Pollution
There is also work to decrease indoor air pollution through India’s energy policies that promote the transition to clean cooking. Clean cooking involves cooking with cleaner sources, such as liquified petroleum gas, rather than solid biomass fuel. Indoor air pollution primarily affects women and children, with more than 100,000 children in India dying due to respiratory infections caused by biomass fuel. To encourage cleaner cooking methods, the Clean Cooking Energy Roadmap was developed with the goal of eliminating all cooking practices that cause household air pollution in India by 2025.
Poorer areas of India, however, are struggling to transition to cleaner cooking due to limited accessibility and lower income. These areas face significant challenges in accessing government subsidies for new gas connections and often lack the access to public utilities needed to make the transition. To combat this inequity, the Indian government created “Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana,” a plan to make clean cooking fuel, such as liquid-petroleum gas, accessible to rural and isolated households where traditional cooking fuels are prevalent. India must continue expanding policies that combat both energy-related outdoor and indoor pollution to areas with less resources to continue its path to energy sustainability.
Students Can Explore Global Energy Policies
These countries show that the world would benefit from tackling energy issues at the national level. Your students can explore what energy-related policies the U.S. has in place with this energy policy lesson. Students conduct research on an energy policy of their choice: oil exploration; fracking; energy subsidies; transportation funding. Then they use evidence to outline both sides of the issue and ultimately state their position in order to make a recommendation for the future. This is a great classroom activity on energy policies for high school learners.
Energy Lessons for the World
Germany, China, and India’s energy policies offer lessons we can learn to move toward a more sustainable energy future. Germany created the Energiewende to achieve a more sustainable energy system, but faces the challenge of achieving it on a cost that is affordable to its prospering economy. China, being the largest energy consumer in the world, put forth strong efforts to reduce its carbon emission levels and energy intensity. However, China needs to increase the pace of its efforts to keep up with its climate vulnerabilities. India has made great progress in employing cleaner cooking methods and reducing health and environmentally debilitating pollution, but must make these practices more accessible to rural and isolated parts of the country.
Image credits: Wind turbines in Germany (Tony Webster from Portland, Oregon, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons); Plaza with factory smokestack in the background (Silk Factory-6.JPG by Andrew 鐘 is licensed under CC BY 2.0); Women cooking (School kitchen, Rajasthan by Michael Foley is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)