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4 - Brandenburg, Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 June 2025

James Goodman
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Gareth Bryant
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Linda Connor
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Devleena Ghosh
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Jonathan Paul Marshall
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Tom Morton
Affiliation:
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Katja Müller
Affiliation:
Merseburg University for Applied Sciences
Stuart Rosewarne
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Riikka Heikkinen
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Lisa Lumsden
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
Mareike Pampus
Affiliation:
Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg
Priya Pillai
Affiliation:
University of Technology Sydney
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Summary

The chapter centres on the expansion of wind power and the subsequent ‘solar rush’ in the German ‘energy state’ of Brandenburg, where the energy transition (or Energiewende) has been underway for more than two decades. We follow the unfolding process of renewable energy development and socio-ecological capture, paying particular attention to the changing scale of operations exemplified by a move to larger wind turbines and the current shift to large-scale solar farms. The chapter provides a rich account of the nexus between a well-established renewables sector and other forms of land use, such as leisure, aesthetics, agriculture, or forestry. The conflict between narratives of regional and local development, prompted, defined, and mobilised in the energy transition, is seen as opening new fields of engagement and disputation in the emerging ‘green’ economy.

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Type
Chapter
Information
Decarbonising Electricity
The Promise of Renewable Energy Regions
, pp. 134 - 170
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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