Energiewende in Context of the Open Door Policy: How the Wave of Syrian Refugees Affects the Germany’s Energy Requirements
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German energy transition
Syrian Civil War
asylum seekers
inequality
Business
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The paper aims at analyzing the impact of immigration of Syrian asylum seekers on the German energy market. Germany has been a leader of the energy transition, and has been effectively shaping European Union’s environmental policies. The unprecedented influx of the newcomers following the chancellor Merkel’s political move to open the boarders challenges feasibility of this project. This study evaluates the challenge from the supply and demand side of the energy market. It does so through the thorough examination of available data, government documents and literature to analyze historical developments and current implementation of the energy transition, together with Syrian impact on the energy market. The paper argues that although Syrian asylum seekers constitute only a small fraction of the whole group of incomers to Germany, the analysis of their impact suggests that usage of coal in the energy mix should not be expected to fall soon.