Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
German government policy to favor direct inancial subsidies to support
desirable economic development. In these early days, the Kohl administra-
tion was well-entrenched and had established a political culture that was
supportive of proactive government intervention.
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he 100 MW program
that was established in 1989 to kick of commercial development of wind
power exempliies the early proclivity toward supporting industry devel-
opment through inancial infusion.
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Moreover, the German government
provided generous funding for basic R&D of demonstration technologies
such as the ill-fated Growian project. Finally, in early years the govern-
ment also provided support for favorable loans to project developers.
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As the government began to undertake austerity measures to reduce
the size of the public debt, the government's approach to supporting wind
power difusion has increasingly favored a “users pay” strategy. Currently,
part of the inancial support for wind power development is provided
through a green tax levied on electricity consumers, while additional inan-
cial support for wind power development is provided by passing costs on to
end-consumers in the form of rate hikes.
5.7 THE CULMINATION OF INFLUENCES
Political advocacy of wind power and civic support for wind power have
enjoyed a symbiotic relationship. As outlined earlier, civic support for wind
power has been unequivocal enough to enable bold wind power develop-
ment policies. On the other hand, the government has been careful not to
abuse public support by neglecting emergent community concerns.
In fact, a number of mechanisms were evident during the evolution of
wind power in Germany that suggests the government speciically designed
policies to entrench public support. For example, the government spon-
sored a number of investment schemes to promote community investment
in wind parks, which the government refers to as citizens wind farms.
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In
order to be responsive to the concerns of community members that are not
inancially invested in wind farms, the government has been quick to develop
and reine siting standards to address speciic concerns. For example, an
environmental impact assessment is required for all larger wind farms (with
more than 20 turbines that are over 50 m in height) in order to allay con-
cerns over the impact of such large projects on biodiversity and community
aesthetics.
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his is not to say that smaller projects are not vetted to ensure
community approval. In fact the opposite is true. Siting standards are often
set at the municipal level, which allows local authorities to ensure that proj-
ects conform to community expectations and norms. Finally, it should be
