The Transition Towards Renewable Energy: a Comparative Study of Wind Power Development in the Netherlands and Denmark (2001–2017)
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Graduate school of Social Sciences The transition towards renewable energy: a comparative study of wind power development in the Netherlands and Denmark (2001–2017) Source: website of Mother Earth News (2012) Author: Michel van den Akker Student number: 10145451 Thesis type: Master Thesis Program: The Political Economy of Energy Supervisor: Dhr. dr. M.P. Amineh Second Reader: Dr. ir. W. Crijns-Graus Date of submission: 23-06-2017 Place of submission: Amsterdam 1 (This page is intentionally left blank) 2 Table of contents Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................ 5 Abstract ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Maps ........................................................................................................................................................ 8 List of figures ......................................................................................................................................... 11 List of abbreviations ............................................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 1 Research Design ................................................................................................................... 15 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 15 1.1.1 Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 16 1.1.2 Research Questions ............................................................................................................. 16 1.1.3 Social and scientific relevance............................................................................................. 17 1.1.4 Delineation of the research ................................................................................................. 19 1.1.5 Literature review ................................................................................................................. 20 1.2 Theory and concepts................................................................................................................... 27 1.2.1 Geopolitical economy .......................................................................................................... 28 1.2.3 The resource scarcity model ................................................................................................ 31 1.2.4 Relation between theory and concept ............................................................................... 31 1.2.2 Geopolitical economy, resource scarcity and the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark ..................................................................................................... 32 1.3 Brief argumentation and hypotheses ........................................................................................ 33 1.4 Research methods ...................................................................................................................... 34 1.5 Structure of the thesis ................................................................................................................ 34 Chapter 2 The energy situation and policy responses of the Netherlands and Denmark ................. 37 2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 37 2.2 Global energy profile .................................................................................................................. 37 2.3 Energy profile and policy responses of the Netherlands .......................................................... 40 Chapter 3 The role of fossil fuels and renewable energy in the economy of the Netherlands and Denmark ................................................................................................................................................ 47 3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 47 3.2 The role of the energy sector in the economy of the Netherlands ........................................... 48 3.2.1 The role of natural gas ......................................................................................................... 49 3.2.2 The role of oil ....................................................................................................................... 52 3.2.3 The role of coal .................................................................................................................... 54 3.2.4 The role of renewable energy ............................................................................................. 55 3.3 The role of the energy sector in the economy of Denmark ...................................................... 56 3 3.3.1 The role of oil and natural gas ............................................................................................. 56 3.3.2 The role of renewable energy ............................................................................................. 58 3.4 Energy and economy in the Netherlands and Denmark: similarities and differences ............. 59 3.5 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 60 Chapter 4 The transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark .................. 63 4.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 63 4.2 The role of the business sector .................................................................................................. 64 4.3 The role of the government ....................................................................................................... 66 4.4 The role of green- and social movements ................................................................................. 69 4.5 Energy policy and the transition towards renewable energy ................................................... 70 4.6 The future of renewable energy in the Netherlands ................................................................. 78 4.7 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 79 Conclusions ........................................................................................................................................... 83 References............................................................................................................................................. 89 Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 95 4 Acknowledgements When I started studying at the University of Amsterdam in September 2011, I was not fully aware of my interest for politics and political-economy. However, without realizing it I choose a study that is strongly connected to the political and economic sphere: ‘Future Planet Studies’. Although I learned that (future) global problems and issues are almost always interdisciplinary in nature, I started to develop a passion for the political dynamics and explanations of those problems. As this passion grew stronger over time, I applied for the major: ‘Political Science: International Relations’ with firm conviction in my second year. During this major, I started to comprehend the complexity of international affairs and developed a special interests for issues that manifest themselves on the interface of politics and economics, of state and market. Therefore, and because I assumed that this program would be more challenging, I applied for the Master’s program: ‘Political Science: Political Economy’ which is the reason for writing this thesis. This thesis is the result of five months of research on the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark. I consider this research to be the culmination of a very intensive but educational year in which I worked hard, acquired extensive knowledge and developed strong analytical tools that enable me to explain all kinds of political issues and phenomena. First and foremost, my gratitude goes to Dr. Mehdi Amineh for his dedication and support during my thesis project. He was always willing to reflect on my work and to provide feedback. In addition, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to learn from his vision and ideas about the relation between energy and political economy. It really helped me to understand the dynamics of the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and with respect to the current world order. Second, I want to thank my second reader, dr. ir. Wina Crijns-Graus for her time to review my work. Finally, I want to thank all interviewees for their time and willingness to invest in my thesis project. Michel van den Akker June 26th, 2017 5 (This page is intentionally left blank) 6 Abstract This research will claim that the Netherlands is less successful than Denmark with respect to the transition towards renewable energy and wind power development because