Yearbook Energy2020: Economy 4.0—Aspects of a Future Energy System

Abstract

The current debates on the transformation of our global electricity generation system and on climate protection in science, politics, business and society clearly show that the global energy system is facing a profound transformation. Not only global initiatives such as “Fridays for Future” demand compliance with the Paris climate protection agreement of the United Nations, but also the former American vice president and environmental activist Al Gore, e.g., in his films “An Inconvenient Truth (2006)” and “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)” for combating climate change. The breadth of the discussion is also evident in the encyclical “Laudato Si” by Pope Francis from 2015. “The climate is a common good of all for everyone. (… .) Humanity is called to be aware of the need to make changes in life, production and consumption in order to combat warming or at least the human causes and climate change is one of the most important current challenges for humanity” (Der Heilige Stuhl 2015, p. 23). Further evidence of this is the societal discussions on the exit from nuclear power and coal, the expansion of renewable energies and a CO₂ tax in Germany.