In Germany there is no real consensus at all, we are not that different from Americans.
Of course today the majority of the population stands behind renewables, because their benefits are obvious and all the critics stand corrected.

But there is also a fake PR-Consensus broadcasted by certain media outlets, conservative politicans and huge energy corporations. In reality the later two work hard and dirty to slow and stop the expansion for renewable energy sources. Politicans hinder the expansion restrictions and by creating uncertainty in the legal framework. Corporations use lobbyism to influence decision processes and use media outlets to launch anti-renewable energy campaigns…

Like reports on “Dirty Wind Turbines” due to rare-earth mining in China, not mentioning that the German market is dominated by a company called Enercon, that builds the worlds most efficent turbines which do not even use rare-earth materials.

The reason for renewables growing as fast as they are, is that there is a grass roots movement building all those windturbines, biomass plants and PV-Solar systems. It’s a movement that’s all about doing what is right and to (re)gain more self-determination / stick it to the corporations. 
Germany was lucky enough to have a few good politicans who managed to give the people the opportunity… those politicans (famously Hermann Scheer) had a deep understanding of economics & were concious enough about the real problems of the 21st century, that they understood that a shift to renewable energy sources is an economic opportunity and a path to prosperity. If people build their own renewable energy sources there is far less space for Nimbyism, because a windturbine that generates profits for the locals, is by definition not ugly