Wind Technology: A Framework for the Evaluation of Innovations’ Impacts on the Diffusion Potential

This paper proposes a framework based on which innovations in wind power technologies can be evaluated from the standpoint of their contribution to diffusion expansion. The framework helps build up a missing link between the technical literature on innovations and policy-oriented contributions concerned with the diffusion potential of wind power in national energy systems. The ideas are applied for the evaluation of wind technology innovations adopted in Spain. The framework can help policy-makers prioritize their innovation objectives and funding, so as to support the adoption of innovations that deserve the highest priority, given the country’s resources and energy system characteristics

Governance of national parks at the crossroads: New Zealand’s silent reform

New Zealand’s national parks are major attractions for tourism and recreation, while hosting other commercial activities considered compatible with that primary role, like grazing, commercial filming and renewable electricity production. Commercial activities can only be carried out according to the terms of legal documents referred to as ‘concessions’ (typically, permits, licences and leases). There are currently 14 national parks, all managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC). Most of the country’s native birds, reptiles, frogs, bats and plants are unique in the world, but highly vulnerable to introduced predators and human activities. DOC has argued frequently that its conservation activities are ‘heavily weighted towards the trapping and poisoning of ... introduced animals’. However, ‘less than 25% of conservation land receives interventions on key threats, with around 8% receiving possum, rat and stoat control’ The limited availability of financial resources is an important obstacle to implementing the department’s statutory biodiversity protection responsibilities. In the recent past DOC’s budgetary allocations have increased slightly every year. However, Treasury documents show that since 2013 there has been a reduction

Partnerships in implementing sustainability policies theoretical considerations and experiences from Spain

The greening of economic and industrial activities requires that new relationships be formed between private actors who often never met before on the business or policy arenas. To initiate and give direction to the sustainability transition, public actors may choose to become involved in partnerships for policy implementation, next to industrial prime movers. After having catalyzed the process, new forms of public-private partnerships may emerge, in the transition towards ‘green private-private partnerships’.\ud This paper presents theoretical considerations regarding the types and evolution of publicprivate partnerships (PPPs) involved in the implementation of sustainability policies. The central argument is that PPPs are themselves in a process of transition, with changes in the types of activity, types of investment and types of financing on which partnerships focus. Empirically, the paper analyses the greening of the electricity industry in Spain and looks specifically at the cases of wind electricity and biomass technologies’ diffusion. The evolution of PPPs shows clearly that there is a transition from ‘project-vehicle-partnerships’ to ‘technology-specific-partnerships’ to ‘renewables-development-partnerships’. In parallel there is a transition from ‘internally-financed-partnerships’ towards ‘bank-financedpartnerships’ with a substantially higher diffusion potential. Finally, another transition was observed from ‘learning-partnerships’ towards ‘commercialization-partnerships’. As the greening of the electricity industry advances, there is a gradual retreat of public actors and an increase in new green private-private-partnerships. Through these analyses, the paper fits into the conference theme regarding the dynamics for public-private partnerships. In the same time it is relevant for the theme regarding the implementation of public policies and technologies to promote sustainable development. Understanding the metamorphosis of partnerships supports policy-makers to design policies facilitating wider engagement in PPPs, a more secure operation environment and a faster transition towards new green private-private partnerships in industrial activities. The paper draws in postdoctoral research and is aimed for oral presentation in the workshop “Dynamics of public-private partnerships in implementing sustainability policies”

Policy measures and governance for sustainable tourism and recreation in the Netherlands – an evaluation

The paper discusses the policy approach for facilitating sustainable development of the tourism and recreation sector inside the Netherlands. Taking a national perspective, it reflects on the sustainability challenges facing the sector, and how the currently used governance and policy styles address them. It observes that a mismatch exists between the preferred governance policy-making style of the central government, and what numerous entrepreneurs and sub-national actors argue would be desirable. The central government prefers nationallevel, direct regulations and policies based on themes such as spatial planning, integrated water management, nature conservation, and environmental protection, for which the tourism recreation sector is just one of many target groups. Tourism businesses and many sub-national public actors and private stakeholders, on the other hand, consider new national level regulations targeted specifically at the tourism-recreation sector most desirable. The central government believes that policy measures of the \u27new-modes-of-coordination\u27 type are most appropriate to specifically target sustainable tourism. To underpin the possible contributions of such measures for sustainability, an analytical framework is proposed to evaluate the sustainability depth of instruments and initiatives. Two \u27new-modes-of-coordination\u27 instruments are then evaluated. The conclusion drawn is that these instruments had rather modest ambitions in design, insufficiently facilitating a shift towards sustainable patterns of tourism-recreation development. The paper argues that, under the general expectation of significant increase in demand for recreation and tourism in the Netherlands, there is a need to reconsider the administrative boundaries of the sector in terms of governance structure, policy-making styles, and policy instrument types that would adequately support sustainable development in the sector

Policy measures and governance for sustainable tourism and recreation in the Netherlands – an evaluation

The paper discusses the policy approach for facilitating sustainable development of the tourism and recreation sector inside the Netherlands. Taking a national perspective, it reflects on the sustainability challenges facing the sector, and how the currently used governance and policy styles address them. It observes that a mismatch exists between the preferred governance policy-making style of the central government, and what numerous entrepreneurs and sub-national actors argue would be desirable. The central government prefers nationallevel, direct regulations and policies based on themes such as spatial planning, integrated water management, nature conservation, and environmental protection, for which the tourism recreation sector is just one of many target groups. Tourism businesses and many sub-national public actors and private stakeholders, on the other hand, consider new national level regulations targeted specifically at the tourism-recreation sector most desirable. The central government believes that policy measures of the \u27new-modes-of-coordination\u27 type are most appropriate to specifically target sustainable tourism. To underpin the possible contributions of such measures for sustainability, an analytical framework is proposed to evaluate the sustainability depth of instruments and initiatives. Two \u27new-modes-of-coordination\u27 instruments are then evaluated. The conclusion drawn is that these instruments had rather modest ambitions in design, insufficiently facilitating a shift towards sustainable patterns of tourism-recreation development. The paper argues that, under the general expectation of significant increase in demand for recreation and tourism in the Netherlands, there is a need to reconsider the administrative boundaries of the sector in terms of governance structure, policy-making styles, and policy instrument types that would adequately support sustainable development in the sector

Reorganization of water and waste water management in Romania:from local to regional water governance

Romania's drinking water and wastewater sector is currently going through a process of regionalization. This process involves a replacement of a local-focused governance structure by a regional-focused governance structure. The objective of this paper is to explore and explain this regionalization from a governance perspective. In two case studies, the situation before and after the regionalization are investigated. Analyses of the case studies show that the local-focused governance structure was highly incoherent. This resulted in a lack of financial resources needed to maintain and develop the water infrastructure. Romania's accession to the European Union affected several governance elements and evoked the regionalization. Real improvements are not visible yet as the time needed for actual services improvements is considerable and governance elements are still adjusting to each other. This means that there is still a need for ongoing support to arrive at a coherent governance structure

Initiating a sustained diffusion of wind power: The role of public-private partnerships in Spain

The literature on policy approaches for the market support of renewable electricity is dominated by narrow conceptualizations of policy, referring mostly to direct instruments for economic feasibility. Such approaches often led to unsatisfactory explanations of diffusion results. This is the case of wind power diffusion in Spain, the success of which is typically credited to the 'feed-in-tariff' instrument. This paper offers an alternative explanatory account for wind power diffusion in Spain. It is argued that diffusion can be explained by a less obvious policy of stimulating investments by means of public-private partnerships (PPPs). The three legal frameworks for economic feasibility applicable up to 2004 harbored high economic risks. Although projects could have high profitability because of generous investment subsidies, up to mid 1990s most investments were based on PPPs, to address the risk perceptions of early investors. Fully-private partnerships now dominate investments, though PPPs have not disappeared. Next to winning investors' confidence, the PPP policy led to an investment culture whereby partnership investments dominate. By 2000, 95.7% of the installed wind capacity was owned by partnerships, and only 4.3% by individual companies. Partnerships invest in larger projects, have ambitious investment plans, and these lead to a high diffusion tempo