Contested deep geothermal energy in Germany-The emergence of an environmental protest movement

Geothermal Energy is regarded an important element of many future scenarios of 100% renewable energy. Besides biomass, hydrodams and wave plants, geothermal can provide a steady base load of energy. While the technology received little attention compared to wind or solar for most of its history, this has significantly changed in Germany in recent years. Since an earthquake attributed to geothermal development in Swiss Basel in 2006, a risk discourse evolved in German language media reports. Subsequently local protest groups have been founded that establish a new environmental protest movement. According to the theory of vested interests (Kousis, 1993; Schnaiberg, 1993) and socially constructed risk perceptions (Douglas and Wildavsky, 1982) the future development of deep geothermal technologies will continue to be accompanied by strong conflicts of acceptance, that are likely to slow down its dissemination significantly.