03 | Energy Transition

In this episode we are looking at theories about technological innovation to better understand the currently ongoing transition of our energy system. We discuss relevant components of the new energy system, political drivers and barriers, and hypothesize about what our energy system might look like in the future. ReferencesAG Energiebilanzen e.V. (2025). Energy consumption in Germany in 2024. Available at: https://ag-energiebilanzen.de/wp-content/uploads/AGEB_Jahresbericht2024_20250815_en.pdfMeyer, T. (2024) Strom. Über Nostalgie, Zukunft und warum der Markt längst entschieden hat. ISBN: 9 783 769 351224Innovation CurvesRogers, E.M. (2003) Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition. Free Press, New York.Howaldt, J., Kopp, R., Schwarz, M. (2025). Diffusion of Innovation. In: Schulz-Schaeffer, I., Windeler, A., Blättel-Mink, B. (eds) Handbook of Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25143-6_33-1Foster, R.N. (1986) Innovation. Die technologische Offensive. 1st edition. Gabler Verlag Wiesbaden.Multi-Level PerspectiveGeels, Frank. (2024). The Multi-Level Perspective on Sustainability Transitions: Background, overview, and current research topics. 10.33774/coe-2024-c15gb. Learning curves (incl. Graphic)Roser, M. (2023) Learning curves: What does it mean for a technology to follow Wright's Law? Published online at OurWorldinData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20251125-173858/learning-curve.html'Current state of the energy transitionBrucksch, J., Figgener, J., Hecht, C., Sauer, D.W. (2026) Germany adds 6.57 GWh of battery storage capacity in 2025, total capacity hits 24 GWh. https://www.ess-news.com/2026/01/09/germany-adds-6-57-gwh-of-battery-storage-capacity-in-2025-total-capacity-hits-24-gwh/Deshaies, M. (2026). The German Energiewende: A Green Deal Template or Planned Failure?. In: Henrekson, M., Sandström, C., Stenkula, M. (eds) A Green Entrepreneurial State?. International Studies in Entrepreneurship, vol 49. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-15512-2_7IIGCC (2025). Policy Briefing: EU CO2 emission performance standards for new passenger cars and vans. https://www.iigcc.org/insights/policy-briefing-eu-co2-emission-performance-standards-for-new-passenger-cars-and-vans?utm_source=chatgpt.comSchill, W.-P., Aichner, N. & Roth, A. (2026) Favorable conditions allow accelearting the renewable energy transition. DIW Weekly Report 3|2026. https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.994726.de/dwr-26-03.pdf