Research Question:
Does natural gas have a future as a low-carbon fuel in the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy?
Research Summary:
As there is a heightened importance of shifting towards renewable energy resources in Germany, prominently known as Energiewende, there is a lot of controversy about the path of transition. (Steinbacher, 2018). In order to achieve the goals of Energiewende, “a model of how we’ll get power in the future” (Kunzig, 2015), some researchers may suggest a low-carbon transitional bridge fuel to get from fossil fuels to renewable energy (Bridge, et al., 2018). Through this idea of a low-carbon bridge fuel, the responses of people in favor of this have been differing. In response to this, I would like to research the differing views between Germans and Americans if whether a bridge fuel, such as natural gas has a future and why.
Both the United States and Germany have been implementing bridge fuels as part of their renewable energy plan. Germany proposed a plan to phase out of nuclear energy as an energy source after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 (Renn, 2016). Instead, the German government decided to open the Nord Stream pipeline as a way to receive natural gas from Russia (B. Gillessen, 2019). In addition, the United States also has relied massively on natural gas after fracking was developed in the 1940s (Bridge, et al., 2018).
Link:
https://forms.gle/BA6bwkdXo11BMAw9A
References:
Gillessen, H. H.-F.-J. (2019). Natural gas as a bridge to sustainability: Infrastructure expansion regarding energy security and system transition. Applied Energy.
Bridge, G., Barr, S., Bouzarovski, S., Bradshaw, M., Brown, E., Bulkeley, H., & Walker, G. (2018). Energy and Society.Abington, Oxon: Routledge.
Kunzig, R. (2015). Germany Could Be a Model for How We’ll Get Power in the Future. National Geographic.
Renn, O. (2016). Coal, nuclear and renewable energy policies in Germany: From the 1950s to the “Energiewende”. Energy Policy, 224-232.
Steinbacher, K. (2018). Exporting the Energiewende . Berlin: Springer VS, Wiesbaden.