energiewende means the German energy transition, a change in national energy policy in favor of renewable sources and energy efficiency. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.
Why “energiewende” is a great word
ENERGIEWENDE — [Noun] The German energy transition, a comprehensive national policy shift toward renewable energy sources and increased energy efficiency. Borrowed from German Energiewende, a compound of Energie ("energy") and Wende ("turn, turning point, transition"). The term originated in the early 1980s. Unlike "energy policy," a broad, generic term for government strategy, or "decarbonization," a narrower focus on reducing emissions, Energiewende denotes a holistic, legislated project of societal transformation. It is the quiet hum of a wind farm on the North Sea coast, the stark geometry of solar panels on a Bavarian barn roof, and the collective exhale of a nation switching off its last nuclear plant—a deliberate turning toward a different idea of permanence.
noun
- The German energy transition, a change in national energy policy in favor of renewable sources and energy efficiency.“The Energiewende is thus partly in conflict with the German national plan for a change of the entire energy system issued in 2010.”