9. The Dutch Energy Transition Approach

This section comes from Geels and Kemp (2007).

Based on Rotmans et al. (2000, 2001) who based themselves on Verbong (2000).

It may be called the societal transition approach because it has a stronger focus on (societal) actors and political conflict as primary drivers of transformations.

DRIFT stands for the Dutch Research Institute for Transitions.

First ideas about transition management were created in the project “Transitions and transition management” for the fourth National Environmental Policy Plan (NMP4). In this project, a group of scientists and policy makers met to discuss a new strategic framework. A description of the coproduction process can be found in Kemp and Rotmans (2009) and Smith and Kern (2009). After the project the TM model was further developed by Derk Loorbach and Jan Rotmans and more or less independently by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (a description and discussion of this is given by Loorbach 2007).

EZ is the Ministry of Economic Affairs, VROM is the Ministry of Health, Spatial Planning and Environment, V&W is the Ministry of Traffic and Water, LNV the Ministry of Agriculture and Nature, BUZA the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In 2009 the official goals for 2020 are: 2% rate of energy saving a year, 20% share for renewable energy and 30 reduction of CO₂.

The formal tasks of the Regieorgaan are: (1) to create a basis for support among public and private parties for the energy transition to stimulate the design, formulation and implementation of transition paths, (2) to actively stimulate the bundling of ambitions, ideas about possibilities, knowledge and experience of business, (3) to stimulate cohesion between the different activities of the energy transition and to guard and monitor progress, (4) to promote long-term planning for the energy transition and the development and implementation of transition paths, (5) to make recommendations to Ministers about the energy transition and the implementation of transition paths on the basis of monitoring, analysis and evaluations, (6) to identify, select and stimulate new developments, initiatives and innovations relevant to the energy transition, based on ambitions and competences of market actors and government energy transition goals, (7) to make recommendations to Ministers for what they can do in terms of policy interventions for the energy transition, (8) to evaluate the transition paths every 4 years, to actualize them and to make recommendations for an actualization of long-term plans, (9) to create a network of public and private partners for the promotion of clear communication between the parties of the energy transition and between the transition paths, (10) to promote information provision for the general public about the energy transition.

In the Netherlands many vehicles are leased from companies. People driving a leased vehicle must add 25% of the value of the car to their income before taxes and pay taxes over this extra sum. If you lease a battery electric vehicle, 10% of the value of the car is subjective to income taxes; for hybrid electric vehicles it is 14%. Charging points are up for a fiscal advantage of 20%. The tax incentives for cars proved very effective: in the first 5 months of 2009, 7,456 hybrid electric cars were sold in the Netherlands, an increase of 63% compared to the same period in 2008. Between 2008 and 2009 the number of HEV doubled: from 11,000 to 23,000.

In Kemp (2009) the various criticisms leveled against transition management are discussed more extensively.