Negotiated environmental governance in the Netherlands:Logic and illustration

The Dutch consensus oriented model of negotiated environmental governance enjoys increasing popularity within the European Union because of its seemingly effective way of dealing with environmental problems. A closer look at the model does not reveal any better performance than European average. The article theoretically explains the strengths and weaknesses of the Dutch model as an iterative policy model in which three different modes of governance-competitive, cooperative, and authoritative-interact and compete to achieve effective efficient and legitimate policy results. The argument is empirically illustrated with findings of energy saving policies in the Netherlands.</p

Power to the people: local energy initiatives as seedbeds of innovation?

Background: Two decades after the launch of Local Agenda 21 in Rio de Janeiro, we have witnessed the emergence and development of local initiatives in sustainable development. Local energy communities are a clear manifestation of this development. The questions the paper raises are as follows: can local energy initiatives be considered seedbeds of innovation? If so, how can such initiatives lead to innovations in the energy supply?\ud Methods: We applied desk research and reviewed secondary literature. \ud Results: The questions are answered empirically and theoretically. Empirically, the paper analyses the causes and manifestations of local community initiatives throughout Europe and especially in the Netherlands, to discover the drivers and foci of the initiatives. Theoretically, the paper provides an institutionally oriented classification of local electricity initiatives, based on coordination, technology and performance. In a final step, the paper analyses the innovative capacity of the local energy initiatives.\ud Conclusions: The conclusion is that local electricity initiatives can be considered a seedbed of innovation but with no potential to develop dominance in the electricity supply. The local initiatives will develop as niches inside the dominant central generating station electricity system and will add to the hybridisation of its products and services

Introduction:The governance challenge of radioactive waste management

Long-term radioactive waste management (RWM) is a multidimensional and multi-level governance challenge. This chapter introduces and explains a governance ecosystem framework as tool to comparatively analyze how ten European countries covered by the book, deal with the complexities of the governance challenge of RWM

Regulatory reform in the Indonesian Natural Gas Market

This paper analyses the problems and dilemmas Indonesia is facing in the upstream and downstream segments of the gas market and the remedies suggested and practiced in Indonesia to mitigate the problems. Indonesia is a country gifted with natural resources, including natural gas and oil. The exploitation of both of these energy resources has given rise to a large oil and gas industry and resulting in Indonesia becoming a leading world LNG producer. However, prospects for Indonesian gas are changing due to the country’s natural gas policy in 2001. Implications of this policy change have become more visible and demonstrate the difficulties Indonesia is facing with respect to the national management of this natural resource. Indonesia is in a way trapped: the country possesses a tremendous natural resource without being able to get the full benefit out of it for the benefit of the country’s economic prosperity

Indonesian natural gas policy reform

Abstract: This paper investigates the challenge to improve Indonesia’s domestic gas market and the remedy to alleviate the problems. Gifted with abundant natural resources, primary oil, and natural gas, Indonesia became a leading world liquid natural gas (LNG) producer. However, since 2001 there has been a shifting paradigm in gas policy from export – oriented to domestic market development. The implication is that Indonesia needs to find the balance between producer and consumer interests and at the same time has to deal with the geographical challenge of the country’s archipelago. The new paradigm also requires that natural resources should promote economic growth instead of state revenue, therefore Indonesia must reform its gas policy to fulfil the multi objective of gas utilisation. This paper suggests ways to overcome these dilemmas