IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v6y2014i3p1129-1152d33497.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Comparison of Energy Transition Governance in Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom

Author

Listed:
  • Erik Laes

    (Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, Mol 2400, Belgium)

  • Leen Gorissen

    (Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, Mol 2400, Belgium
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

  • Frank Nevens

    (Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO), Boeretang 200, Mol 2400, Belgium
    These authors contributed equally to this work.)

Abstract

This paper reviews and analyzes the challenges of energy transition governance towards a low-carbon society as a political achievement. The main research question is how specific “transition governance approaches” (as advocated by transition theory) can be embedded/anchored in the policy-making logics and practices. We analyze three country cases, known for their path-breaking efforts in the area: Germany (due to its pioneering role in the development and diffusion of renewable energy technologies), the Netherlands (due to its pioneering role in launching the transition management framework), and the United Kingdom (due to its pioneering role in adopting a long-term legislative commitment to a low-carbon future). The paper identifies best governance practices and remaining challenges in the following areas: (i) connecting long-term visions with short- and mid-term action; (ii) innovation (technological as well as social); (iii) integration (of multiple objectives and policy areas and levels); (iv) societal engagement; and (v) learning/reflexivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Erik Laes & Leen Gorissen & Frank Nevens, 2014. "A Comparison of Energy Transition Governance in Germany, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(3), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:3:p:1129-1152:d:33497
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/3/1129/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/6/3/1129/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Unruh, Gregory C., 2000. "Understanding carbon lock-in," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 817-830, October.
    2. Annemarie van Zeijl-Rozema & Ron Cörvers & René Kemp & Pim Martens, 2008. "Governance for sustainable development: a framework," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(6), pages 410-421.
    3. James Meadowcroft, 2009. "What about the politics? Sustainable development, transition management, and long term energy transitions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 42(4), pages 323-340, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Panagiotis Fragkos & Francesco Dalla Longa & Eleftheria Zisarou & Bob van der Zwaan & Anastasis Giannousakis & Amir Fattahi, 2023. "Exploring Model-Based Decarbonization and Energy Efficiency Scenarios with PROMETHEUS and TIAM-ECN," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(18), pages 1-22, September.
    2. Daphne Ngar-yin Mah & Darren Man-wai Cheung, 2020. "Conceptualizing Niche–Regime Dynamics of Energy Transitions from a Political Economic Perspective: Insights from Community-Led Urban Solar in Seoul," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-28, June.
    3. Barton, John & Davies, Lloyd & Dooley, Ben & Foxon, Timothy J. & Galloway, Stuart & Hammond, Geoffrey P. & O’Grady, Áine & Robertson, Elizabeth & Thomson, Murray, 2018. "Transition pathways for a UK low-carbon electricity system: Comparing scenarios and technology implications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 2779-2790.
    4. Debbie Hopkins & Tim Schwanen, 2018. "Automated Mobility Transitions: Governing Processes in the UK," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-19, March.
    5. Millot, Ariane & Krook-Riekkola, Anna & Maïzi, Nadia, 2020. "Guiding the future energy transition to net-zero emissions: Lessons from exploring the differences between France and Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    6. Leonard Goke & Jens Weibezahn & Christian von Hirschhausen, 2021. "A collective blueprint, not a crystal ball: How expectations and participation shape long-term energy scenarios," Papers 2112.04821, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    7. Lindberg, Marie Byskov & Markard, Jochen & Andersen, Allan Dahl, 2019. "Policies, actors and sustainability transition pathways: A study of the EU’s energy policy mix," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    8. Chapman, Andrew J. & Itaoka, Kenshi, 2018. "Energy transition to a future low-carbon energy society in Japan's liberalizing electricity market: Precedents, policies and factors of successful transition," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P2), pages 2019-2027.
    9. Adrian Neacșa & Mirela Panait & Jianu Daniel Mureșan & Marian Catalin Voica & Otilia Manta, 2022. "The Energy Transition between Desideratum and Challenge: Are Cogeneration and Trigeneration the Best Solution?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-22, March.
    10. Karoline S. Rogge & Elisabeth Dütschke, 2017. "Exploring Perceptions of the Credibility of Policy Mixes: The Case of German Manufacturers of Renewable Power Generation Technologies," SPRU Working Paper Series 2017-23, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    11. Grimm, Veronika & Rückel, Bastian & Sölch, Christian & Zöttl, Gregor, 2021. "The impact of market design on transmission and generation investment in electricity markets," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    12. Bhuvaneskumar Annamalaisamy & Sivakumar Vepur Jayaraman, 2023. "Renewable energy for sustainable development in Asia‐Pacific region: Do foreign direct investment and regulatory quality matter?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 108-124, February.
    13. Andal, Emmanuel Genesis T., 2022. "Industrialisation, state-related institutions, and the speed of energy substitution: The case in Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PC).
    14. Hansjörg Drewello, 2022. "Towards a Theory of Local Energy Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-20, September.
    15. Luigi Dolores & Maria Macchiaroli & Gianluigi De Mare, 2022. "Financial Impacts of the Energy Transition in Housing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-17, April.
    16. Basil Bornemann & Stephan Schmidt & Susanne Schubert, 2016. "Governing Uncertainties in Sustainable Energy Transitions—Insights from Local Heat Supply in Switzerland," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 1(3), pages 38-54.
    17. Rogge, Karoline S. & Pfluger, Benjamin & Geels, Frank W., 2020. "Transformative policy mixes in socio-technical scenarios: The case of the low-carbon transition of the German electricity system (2010–2050)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    18. Fuenfschilling, Lea & Binz, Christian, 2018. "Global socio-technical regimes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 735-749.
    19. Nuccio Ludovico & Marc Esteve Del Valle & Franco Ruzzenenti, 2020. "Mapping the Dutch Energy Transition Hyperlink Network," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-24, September.
    20. Maswabi, Mareledi Gina & Chun, Jungwoo & Chung, Suh-Yong, 2021. "Barriers to energy transition: A case of Botswana," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    21. Rogge, Karoline S. & Pfluger, Benjamin & Geels, Frank, 2017. "Transformative policy mixes in socio-technical scenarios: The case of the low-carbon transition of the German electricity system (2010-2050)," Working Papers "Sustainability and Innovation" S11/2017, Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI).
    22. Elisa Peñalvo-López & Francisco Javier Cárcel-Carrasco & Carlos Devece & Ana Isolda Morcillo, 2017. "A Methodology for Analysing Sustainability in Energy Scenarios," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-12, September.
    23. Jonathan Doh & Pawan Budhwar & Geoffrey Wood, 2021. "Long-term energy transitions and international business: Concepts, theory, methods, and a research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(5), pages 951-970, July.
    24. Ngar-yin Mah, Daphne & Wu, Yun-Ying & Ronald Hills, Peter, 2017. "Explaining the role of incumbent utilities in sustainable energy transitions: A case study of the smart grid development in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 794-806.
    25. Renée M. De Waal & Sven Stremke, 2014. "Energy Transition: Missed Opportunities and Emerging Challenges for Landscape Planning and Designing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(7), pages 1-30, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Marletto, Gerardo, 2011. "Structure, agency and change in the car regime. A review of the literature," European Transport \ Trasporti Europei, ISTIEE, Institute for the Study of Transport within the European Economic Integration, issue 47, pages 71-88.
    2. Markard, Jochen & Hoffmann, Volker H., 2016. "Analysis of complementarities: Framework and examples from the energy transition," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 63-75.
    3. Maarten Wolsink, 2020. "Framing in Renewable Energy Policies: A Glossary," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-31, June.
    4. Thomas Pownall & Iain Soutar & Catherine Mitchell, 2021. "Re-Designing GB’s Electricity Market Design: A Conceptual Framework Which Recognises the Value of Distributed Energy Resources," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-26, February.
    5. Ronan Bolton & Timothy J Foxon & Stephen Hall, 2016. "Energy transitions and uncertainty: Creating low carbon investment opportunities in the UK electricity sector," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 34(8), pages 1387-1403, December.
    6. Edmondson, Duncan L. & Kern, Florian & Rogge, Karoline S., 2019. "The co-evolution of policy mixes and socio-technical systems: Towards a conceptual framework of policy mix feedback in sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(10).
    7. Jan-Peter Voß & Adrian Smith & John Grin, 2009. "Designing long-term policy: rethinking transition management," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 42(4), pages 275-302, November.
    8. Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "The history and politics of energy transitions: Comparing contested views and finding common ground," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2016-81, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Farrelly, M.A. & Tawfik, S., 2020. "Engaging in disruption: A review of emerging microgrids in Victoria, Australia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    10. Sanya Carley & Richard Andrews, 2012. "Creating a sustainable U.S. electricity sector: the question of scale," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 45(2), pages 97-121, June.
    11. Pesch, Udo, 2015. "Tracing discursive space: Agency and change in sustainability transitions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 90(PB), pages 379-388.
    12. Kivimaa, Paula & Kern, Florian, 2016. "Creative destruction or mere niche support? Innovation policy mixes for sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 205-217.
    13. Laura Tozer & Nicole Klenk, 2019. "Urban configurations of carbon neutrality: Insights from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 37(3), pages 539-557, May.
    14. Londoño-Pulgarin, Diana & Cardona-Montoya, Giovanny & Restrepo, Juan C. & Muñoz-Leiva, Francisco, 2021. "Fossil or bioenergy? Global fuel market trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    15. Kirsi Kotilainen & Pami Aalto & Jussi Valta & Antti Rautiainen & Matti Kojo & Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2019. "From path dependence to policy mixes for Nordic electric mobility: Lessons for accelerating future transport transitions," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 52(4), pages 573-600, December.
    16. Healy, Noel & Barry, John, 2017. "Politicizing energy justice and energy system transitions: Fossil fuel divestment and a “just transition”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 451-459.
    17. Sorrell, Steve, 2018. "Explaining sociotechnical transitions: A critical realist perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1267-1282.
    18. Phil Johnstone & Andy Stirling, 2015. "Comparing Nuclear Power Trajectories inGermany And the UK: From ‘Regimes’ to ‘Democracies’ in Sociotechnical Transitions and Discontinuities," SPRU Working Paper Series 2015-18, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    19. Goldthau, Andreas & Sovacool, Benjamin K., 2012. "The uniqueness of the energy security, justice, and governance problem," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 232-240.
    20. Benjamin K. Sovacool, 2016. "The history and politics of energy transitions: Comparing contested views and finding common ground," WIDER Working Paper Series 081, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:6:y:2014:i:3:p:1129-1152:d:33497. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.