The convergence of electricity and digitalization in the Netherlands: data governance as an emerging policy issue

This paper explores the convergence of electricity and digitalization in the Netherlands. Based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework, we first show how the Paris Agreement on global warming in 2015 has led to a new renewable energy policy paradigm, in which digitalization plays a key enabling role. We will then show that the far-reaching convergence of electricity and digitalization pursued by European and Dutch policy makers will raise new policy issues. The core challenge is adequate energy data governance. Digitalization also raises policy issues in the areas of safety, consumer protection, democratic control, and equal distribution of costs and benefits in a digitized energy system. As the transition to a sustainable energy system must take place rapidly and energy data are expected to play a crucial role in achieving this, these issues are urgent.Dieser Artikel befasst sich mit der Konvergenz von Elektrizität und Digitalisierung in den Niederlanden. Anhand des Advocacy Coalition Framework zeigen wir zunächst, dass das Pariser Abkommen zur globalen Erwärmung im Jahr 2015 zu einem neuen Paradigma der Politik für erneuerbare Energien geführt hat, bei dem Digitalisierung eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Darüber hinaus werden wir zeigen, dass die weitreichende Konvergenz von Elektrizität und Digitalisierung, die von europäischen und niederländischen Politikern angestrebt wird, neue politische Fragen aufwerfen wird. Die zentrale Herausforderung ist ein entsprechendes Energiedatenmanagement. Darüber hinaus wirft die Digitalisierung auch politische Fragen im Bereich Sicherheit, Verbraucherschutz, demokratische Kontrolle und die gleichmäßige Verteilung von Kosten und Nutzen in einem digitalisierten Energiesystem auf. Da der Übergang zu einem nachhaltigen Energiesystem rasch erfolgen muss und Energiedaten hierfür voraussichtlich eine entscheidende Rolle spielen werden, sind diese Fragen dringend

Optimizing decision making in the global biofuel chain for sustainable development, by creating insight into trade-off between social, economic and environmental impacts, and how these affect actors in different locations and on different time scales.

Biofuels can provide a renewable and CO2 neural fuel, however biofuels are contested as the land needed to cultivate biofuels threatens food security. The market pull created by the European Biofuel Directive, that targets at a 10% obligatory blending in transport fuels by 2020, threatens food production and biodiversity in other continents, as for instance Africa, since Europe does not have the required land area neither the suitable climate. Sustainability criteria are defined, however, evidence is still lacking, as this new sector is still in the learning phase and data and expertise on best practices are being gathered. Furthermore, different actors within this global cultivation, production and usage chain have different priorities. Europe is targeting at mitigation of climate change, while Africa’s priorities are poverty reduction and conservation of soil fertility. Therefore it is important to operationalize the sustainability criteria in decision making by creating insight into the trade-off between the 3 dimension of sustainability; social (sustaining livelihoods in developing countries), economic (poverty reduction and profit making), and environmental (mitigation of climate change and conservation of soil fertility and biodiversity). Through mapping of the actor network and the distribution of costs and benefits (including externalities) in the entire chain, we will indicate where decisions can influenced. By combining this with the impact assessment we are creating insight into trade-offs and power relations for optimization of decision making. We will discuss the case of small holder jatropha farmers in Tanzania cultivating for export, based on years of research. Combined with our expertise on socio-economic modeling of the decision making processes, in this case strengthened with extensive literature research on jatropha biofuels as well as expert knowledge obtained through interviews, we will develop a decision support model for policy making in this global biofuel chain