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)

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

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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}

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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 the ‘wealth-power’ structure of the Netherlands is more reliant on fossil fuels. In industrial countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark, the government (power) is dependent on the

business sector (wealth) for the creation of economic growth, prosperity, social-security and government revenues. Therefore, the government has strong incentives to protect the interests of the business sector and to create an environment that benefits its

competitiveness. In this respect, as the transition towards renewable energy poses a threat to the interests of the fossil fuel sector, whether it is resisted or supported by the

government is dependent on the relative importance of the fossil fuel sector and renewable energy sector for the economy. In addition to the government and the business sector, democratic countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark know other forms of social organization that try to influence the decision-making process such as social movements. With respect to the transition towards renewable energy, of particular importance are ‘green’ social movements as these generally act as advocates of renewable energy. This research will explain how the configuration of interests, influence and interdependencies between the government, the business sector and green movements has shaped energy policy and hence determined the development of the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark.

In this respect, this research finds that because the fossil fuel business sector is much more important for the economy of the Netherlands than the renewable energy sector, this configuration produced energy policies that served the interests of the fossil fuel energy regime instead of showing support for the transition towards renewable energy. In contrast, as both the fossil fuel sector and the renewable energy sector are very important for the economy of Denmark, this configuration produced energy policies that showed more support for the transition towards renewable energy.

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Maps

Map 1: The Netherlands

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Map 2: Denmark

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Map 3: the European Union

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List of figures

Figure 2.1 World Energy consumption by OECD and non-OECD 39

Figure 2.2 Energy production by source, the Netherlands (2014) 41

Figure 2.3 Total primary energy supply by source, the Netherlands (2014) 41

Figure 2.4 Energy production by source, Denmark (2014) 44

Figure 2.5 Total primary energy supply by source, Denmark (2014) 44

Figure 3.1 Imports and exports of natural gas in the Netherlands (2010-2016) 50

Figure 3.2 Parties involved in the natural gas production of the Netherlands 51

Figure 3.3 Government revenues from natural gas, the Netherlands (1977-2016) 52

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List of abbreviations

AR5 Fifth Assessment Report of the International Panel on Climate Change Bcm Billion cubic meters

BP British Petroleum Btu British thermal units

CBS Central Agency for Statistics (the Netherlands) DUC Danish Underground Consortium

DEA Danish Energy Agency

ECN Energy research center the Netherlands

EIA Energy Information Administration (United States) EMO Europe’s largest coal hub near the port of Rotterdam ETS Emission Trading System

EU European Union

FIT Feed-in tariff

GATE Gas Access to Europe (LNG Terminal Rotterdam) GDP Gross Domestic Product

FNV Dutch labour union

IEA International Energy Agency IEO International Energy Outlook IPE International Political Economy

IPCC International Panel on Climate Change IR International Relations

KPC Kuwait Petroleum Corporation LNG Liquefied natural gas

MENA Middle-East and North-Africa Mtoe Million tonnes of oil equivalent NMP4 National Environmental Action Plan 4 NEV National Energy Outlook the Netherlands NWEA Dutch advocacy organization for wind power

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OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OPEC Oil Producing and Exporting Countries

PBL Environmental Assessment Agency of the Netherlands PPP Purchasing Power Parity

RE Renewable energy

SER Dutch Social-Economic council TPES Total Primary Energy Supply

US United States

VAT Value-added tax

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Chapter 1

Research design

1.1 Introduction

At present, the global economy is predominantly dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas. The utilization of these fossil fuel sources has resulted in two great waves of industrialization and is hence shaped the current industrial economic world order. In

addition, since the economic and political spheres are interrelated and interdependent, fossil fuels have also contributed to the establishment of the global political order that is known today.

However, the dominance position of fossil fuels in the industrial political-economy will not last forever as reserves of oil, natural gas and coal are expected to be depleted in a few decades (Shafiee & Topal, 2009 p. 186). In addition, the utilization of fossil fuels has negative side effects as it contributes to environmental degradation, climate change and various sorts of related problems such as changing migration patterns. As a result, countries with fossil fuel dependent industrial economies face an inevitable transition towards alternative sources of energy. Since many countries have rejected nuclear energy as a safe alternative, the focus is mainly directed to energy production from renewable sources such as wind, water and sunlight. These sources of renewable energy are appealing since they are

sustainable, clean and have the potential to potential to generate large amounts of energy. However, the transition towards renewable energy is not merely a technical process. The incumbent fossil fuel world order has produced powerful (geo) economic and (geo) political constituents that have strong interests in protecting the status quo, at least in the short-run. Therefore, the transition towards renewable energy is foremost a political transition as it encompasses a rebalance of power at the heart of today’s industrial political economy. As a result, the development of the transition is dependent on the ability of constituents

protecting the status quo and constituents that are advocates of renewable energy to influence the decision-making process and to shape system level outcomes. As the existence and relative influence of these constituents varies across countries, some countries are more successful than other regarding the transition towards renewable energy. This research aims to explain why the Netherlands is less successful than Denmark regarding the transition towards renewable energy by looking at wind power development in particular. According to data from Eurostat (2017), The Netherlands has one of the lowest shares of renewable energy in its domestic energy consumption of the European Union with only 5.8% in 2015 while Denmark has one of the highest shares with 30.8% in 2015. This research will look at the role of state-, market-, and societal-forces and evaluate how their configuration of influence, interests and interdependencies have determined the development of the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark. Thereby, this research will connect energy with the central forces of the national and global political-economy and review how their interaction shapes developments in the current world order.

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1.1.1 Objectives

The objectives of this research are plural. First, the central objective is to explain why the Netherlands is less successful than Denmark with respect to the transition towards

renewable energy and wind power development. Second, as the Netherlands and Denmark share multiple common features with other countries in the world, this research also aims to identify the factors that determine the development of this transition in general. Third, this research aims to contribute to the field of academic literature by explaining how state-, market- and other societal-forces relate to each other in the case of energy and how their interaction determines the development of the transition towards renewable energy. Fourth and final, this research aims to provide information and recommendations to policy-makers and other constituents that are involved in the decision-making process in order enable them to produce more effective policies regarding renewable energy in general and wind power development in particular.

1.1.2 Research Questions

In order to achieve the objectives, this research is based on one central research question and three related sub-questions:

The Central research question:

‘Why is the Netherlands less successful than Denmark with respect to the transition towards renewable energy and wind power development?’

Sub-questions:

1. ‘What is the energy situation in the Netherlands and Denmark?’

2. ‘What is the relationship between energy and the wealth-power structure of the Netherlands and Denmark?’

3. ‘How did the relationship between energy and the wealth-power structure determine the development of the transition towards renewable energy and wind power development in the Netherlands and Denmark?

Regarding the sub-questions, some clarification is needed. First, in the first sub-question, the energy situation refers to status quo of the energy regime. It will provide an overview of how much energy the Netherlands and Denmark produce, how much they consume how much energy is imported and exported and what energy sources are prominent in this respect. Second, as will be explained in detail by section 1.2 on theory and concepts, the wealth-power structure refers to the condominium of state and market that constitutes the core of liberal industrial state-societies such as the Netherlands and Denmark. Third, the relation

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between energy and the wealth-power structure refers to the way in which energy is embedded in the economy and how the energy sector is important politically by generating economic growth, prosperity, social-security and government revenues. Finally, the third sub-question asks how the interaction of the state-, market- and societal-forces that emanate from the wealth-power structure has determined the development of the transition towards renewable energy.

1.1.3 Social and scientific relevance

The social relevance of this research relates to several multiple levels that are connected to the transition towards renewable energy. As this research provides insights in the forces that determined the development of this transition and as it provides recommendations to policy makers and other constituents, it contributes to the solution of several problems that are currently present.

First, as the world will run out of fossil fuels in the near future, countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark risk losing energy supply security if they are unable to make the transition towards renewable energy. As energy constitutes the basis of their industrial economic activity, this will create major problems for these countries. This logic is even more important for the Netherlands as the extraction of natural gas is causing earthquakes in the province of Groningen. Already, production levels have been reduced significantly as a result of social and political pressure.

Second, countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark are subjected to political pressure from the European Union (EU) as the European Commission has set pressing targets related to renewable energy for its member-states. By 2020, the EU aims to increase its share of renewable energy in the total energy consumption to 20%. Currently, while it is expected that the Netherlands will not achieve its national target of 14% RE (National Energy Outlook the Netherlands, 2016 p. 15), Denmark is well on track to achieve its ambitious target of 30% (Danish Energy Agency, 2015 p. 3).

Third, there are important geopolitical motivations for the transition towards renewable energy. Although some countries, such as the Netherlands and Denmark, have access to fossil fuel reserves located in their national territory, almost all European countries rely on foreign powers such as Russia and countries in the Middle-East and Northern Africa (MENA) region for the supply of oil and natural gas (Eurostat, 2017)1_{. The recent turmoil in the MENA}

region that emanated from the Arab Spring poses a real threat to the energy supply security of the European Union (Müftüler-Baҫ & Başkan, 2011 p. 4474). Besides, the rising tensions between the ‘West’ and Russia poses another threat to the energy supply security of the European Union. Already, conflicts between Russia and Ukraine have led to disruptions in the flow of natural gas to European Countries in 2006, 2009 and 2014 (Kirby, 2014, October 31). Although Russia is heavily dependent on oil and gas revenues, European countries may

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experience serious problems if the Kremlin decides to use energy as a tool to achieve (geo) political objectives. Therefore, developing a successful transition towards renewable energy might enable European countries to avoid problems with their unstable and unpredictable energy suppliers.

Fourth, on a global level, developing the transition towards renewable energy is pivotal in order to overcome problems related to climate change and environmental degradation. According to the Fifth Assessment report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2014), climate change will have a severe impact on the physical system of the world. As long as emissions of greenhouse gases continue, global temperatures will rise, the water cycle will change, the disparity between wet and dry seasons as well as regions will increase, the oceans will continue to warm and become more acidic, sea levels will rise and circulation patterns that contribute to a stable climate will be disturbed. All these changes are expected to disrupt local or even national economies and affect the livelihood of many communities, triggering large migration flows. For the Netherlands and Denmark in

particular, climate change is a threat to their very existence since these countries will be affected by rising sea levels directly. In addition, with the current refugee crisis and political tension related to immigration and integration issues, the additional pressure of climate migrants on European societies may have detrimental effects.

Fifth, this research will provide new insights in the transition towards renewable energy as it introduces a new perspective, that of ‘geopolitical economy’. Thereby as, it will connect energy with the economy and political power structures in the current world order, this research will contribute to the existing field of academic literature that is related to the transition towards renewable energy. It will increases the understanding of the factors and dynamics that determine the success or failure of the transition in liberal industrialized countries. This new insights may enable policy-makers and other stakeholders to acquire a better, in-depth understanding of the transition towards RE and adjust their actions accordingly. Finally, this research will contribute to the academic fields of International Relations and International Political Economy by applying their perspectives to a relatively new phenomenon, the transition towards renewable energy, and by focusing on the cases of the Netherlands and Denmark. In particular, this research will demonstrate that the

theoretical assumptions of ‘geopolitical economy’ as formulated by Amineh & Guang (2014) can also be used to explain the success or failure of the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark.

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1.1.4 Delineation of the research 1.1.4.1 Time and space

This research provides an analysis of the transition towards RE and wind power development in the Netherlands and Denmark over the period 2001 – 2017. The reason for this starting point is that in 2001, the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment published its 4th_{National Environmental Action Plan (NMP4) which was the first official}

document that referred to ‘transition’ as a policy concept. Although it would take until 2006 before the first offshore wind farm became operational, this publication can be regarded as the central starting point for the Dutch renewable energy transition. By 2017, this research refers to the situation as of June 2017 as this is when this research was handed in. In addition, this research will occasionally provide information from earlier periods in order to explain path dependencies and dynamics of the period 2000 – 2017.

To continue, the geographical space that is under study will be the national territories of the Netherlands and Denmark. In addition, since these countries are EU member-states and as they are dependent on energy supplies from reserves beyond European borders, this study will also reflect briefly on the territory of the EU and the energy rich regions of the worlds including Russia, the MENA region and the Caspian region.

1.1.4.2 Social entities and actors

As will be further explained by section 1.2 on theories and concepts, this research focuses mainly on three branches of actors: state actors, business actors and social green

movements. The interaction of these actors on multiple levels produces system level outcomes such as energy policy and hence determines the development of the transition towards renewable energy.

First, state-actors refer to the national governments of the Netherlands and Denmark. To be more specific, this research will discuss the role of the involved ministries. For the

Netherlands, this will mainly be the Ministry of Economic Affairs as well as the Ministry Finance and the Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment. For Denmark, the involved ministries are the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate, the Ministry of Business and Growth and the Ministry of Finance. Besides ministries, this research will focus on the role of political parties and the composition of the Dutch and Danish coalition governments. For the Netherlands these parties are the VVD (liberal conservatives), the CDA (Christian

conservatives) and GroenLinks (green leftist-party) and for Denmark these parties are Venstre (liberal conservatives), the Social Democrats and the Conservative Party.

Second, business-actors are organizations that are active in the national and sometimes also the international market sphere. These can either be large multinational companies or small and medium enterprises that focus primarily on the domestic market. In essence, business-actors belong to the civil-society domain as in liberal democratic countries, they operate

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relatively independent from the state. However, as organizations have developed into large multinational companies, their interests are no longer univocally aligned with the interest of civil society. As multinational companies are representatives of international capital forces rather than of civil society, this research regards them as a separate category. For the Netherlands, the business sector that is important for the transition towards renewable energy comprises of major companies related to the oil, gas, coal such as Royal Dutch, Shell, ExxonMobil, the NAM, Gasunie, GasTerra, Akzo Nobel, Aldel, Tata Steel and Dow Chemical as well as a vast number of small and medium-sized subcontractors. Besides these fossil fuel related companies, the Netherlands has several small and medium-sized companies related to renewable energy and wind power such as Dutch Wind, Lagerwey and Wind Brokers. For Denmark, the business-sector knows multinational companies such as Møller-Maersk, Dong Energy, Vestas Wind Systems and Siemens Wind Power as well as a vast amount of small and medium-sized subcontractors.

Third, social green-movements generally act as advocates the environment and are

important for the transition towards renewable energy as they try to influence the decision-making process through interaction with the business sector and the government. For the Netherlands, important green movements are Greenpeace, ‘Stichting Natuur en Milieu’ and ‘Milieudefensie’ as well as green movements in the form of spontaneous protest marches and manifestations. For Denmark, Green movements that are important for the transition towards renewable energy are Greenpeace, VedVarendeEnergi and the Danish 92 Group as well as spontaneous protests and manifestations.

1.1.5 Literature review

Over the past decades, a broad field of academic research developed regarding the transition towards RE. Within this relatively new field of inquiry, multiple studies have focused on the dynamics of this transition, including wind power development, in the Netherlands and Denmark in particular. Although different studies have addressed a range of different issues using different perspectives, the academic literature on the transition towards RE in the Netherlands and Denmark can be grouped in three categories. The first, category consists of studies that focus on the influence of the institutional structure on the transition towards RE. In general, these studies evaluate the role and interacting of ideas, institutions and interests. The second category of studies focuses on energy policies and policy implementation. Mainly, these studies aim to find which type of policies are most effective regarding the transition towards renewable energy. Finally, the third category of studies focuses on the public acceptance of RE technologies such as windmills and evaluates how this affects the transition towards renewable energy. Although studying different

aspects of the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark, it must be noted that the studies in the different categories often share common ground and are interrelated to each other. For example, a certain type of ‘institutional structure’ will

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probably have the tendency to produce a certain type of energy policies which is turn has an effect on the level of public acceptance.

However, before going into-depth on the studies of the three general categories, this

research will highlight a study by Foquet (2010) in order to put the transition towards RE in a historical perspective. In his article, Foquet focuses on the role of economic incentives as he aims to find similarities between the current transition towards renewable energy and the historical transition from traditional energy sources to fossil fuels that occurred first in Great-Britain during the industrial revolution. These similarities relate to three things: (1) the nature of the transition, (2) the speed of the transition and (3) the regime level factors that drive the transition. As Foquet (2010) explains, Great-Britain was the first to make the transition from traditional energy sources such as wood and peat to a fossil fuel based energy system. This transition was very complex and involved various services and sectors at different levels over different periods of time between 1500 and 1920. According to Foquet (2010), economic incentives were the main drivers of the energy transition as fossil fuels became dominant due to their ability to produce cheaper and better energy services. However, in the immediate period after their introduction, the price of these new

technologies were higher than the prices of incumbent energy technologies. Therefore, in the early stages of development, the adoption of fossil fuel energy technologies was limited to niche markets. Only because some consumers were willing to pay a higher price for the better energy services that these technologies offered, they were able to develop further and become more efficient. Once fossil fuel technologies were competitive regarding the incumbent energy technologies, their large-scale implementation developed swiftly. This finding is very interesting as nowadays, RE technologies are often unable to compete with fossil fuel technologies. Just as in the early stages of fossil fuel development in Great-Britain, the adoption of RE technologies is limited to niche markets. In relation to this, Foquet (2010) stresses that the greater the willingness of consumers and the government is to pay a higher price for climate stability and energy independence, the more protected the niche markets for RE technologies will be and the faster these technologies will develop and become competitive. However, since consumers have strong incentives to ‘free-ride’, the protection and stimulation of niche markets for RE technologies is primarily a task of governments, albeit with the support of civil society. This implies that the economic and socio-political context in which the transition towards RE will have to materialize is pivotal for its success of failure. Similar to the situation in Great-Britain during the industrial revolution, countries nowadays will have to create a context that protects niche markets and enables new energy technologies to develop until they are competitive and their implementation will he supported by the market. What the characteristics of this context are is investigated by multiple scholars who focused on the influence of the institutional structure, corresponding with the first category.

For example, Meadowcroft (2011) argues that it is the interaction between institutions, ideas and interests that produces energy policy. Therefore, instead of only analyzing the effect of certain policies, scholars should focus more on the politics behind the transition

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towards RE. This is exactly what Kern (2011) does as his study focuses on the influence of discourses, institutions and interests on the socio-technical transition towards sustainability in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Kern (2011) started from the premise that policies regarding sustainability are not neutral but highly political entities instead. As he observed that the Netherlands and the United Kingdom produced a very different policy approach regarding the transition towards RE, he assumed that the configuration of discourses, institutions and interests must be different in these two countries. Kern (2011) find that the interplay between discourses, institutions and interest heavily influenced the transition towards sustainability in the Netherlands. He argues that because sustainability initiatives and new institutions were implemented in line with the incumbent institutional regime, there was no opportunity for structural change to occur. In addition, Kern (2011) emphasizes that ‘interests’ appear to be a very important factor regarding the transition towards sustainability in the Netherlands. He explains that newly emerging interests related to sustainability interacted with vested institutional factors and interests and became forced into the logic of the incumbent Dutch consensus based decision-making model, the

‘Poldermodel’. Therefore, the transition towards sustainability in the Netherlands is strongly

bound by path-dependency. Unless new discourses, institutions and interests are able to transform the incumbent regime, radical change is not expected to occur anytime soon according to Kern (2011).

To continue, the importance of institutional conditions is also stressed by a study of Breukers and Wolsink (2007) that evaluates the level of institutional capacity building for offshore wind power development in the Netherlands. Their study aimed to investigate the way in which RE technology is currently embedded in existing routines and practices of the Dutch institutional structure. In agreement with Kern (2011), Breukers and Wolsink (2007)

conclude that the Dutch approach towards environmental policies is based on a consensus oriented political culture. As, according to ‘ecological modernization theory’, this is a condition that generally results in successful environmental policies, Breukers and Wolsink (2007) aimed to explain the relative failure of wind power policies and support systems in the Netherlands. They argue that, in the early stages, the Dutch government has chosen a development path that focused on a centralized approach and large-scale implementation. Regarding this path, economic considerations have dominated the policy-making process at the expense of spatial planning and environmental motivations. In conjunction with Kern (2011), Breukers and Wolsink (2007) conclude that the consensus based political culture of the Dutch decision-making process has been counterproductive towards ecological

modernization as it solidified the position of vested economic interests vis-à-vis other parties with environmental objectives. As a result, over the past decades the Netherlands

experienced a series of overlapping and changing policy support systems that resulted in an unpredictable and unstable investment climate that hampered wind power development. If the Netherlands wants to be more successful regarding RE, Breukers and Wolsink (2007) argue that the Dutch government should make efforts to mobilize multiple RE-related stakeholders and develop a collaborative approach that incorporates their interests,

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alongside the interests of the incumbent energy regime. This recommendation is also present in a study by Hvelplund (2013) who refers to this process as ‘innovative democracy’. Hvelplund (2013) argues that the development of RE in Denmark happened in two stages: the period from 1976 until 2000 and the period from 2000 until 2013. In the first period, RE technologies were still a supplement to the conventional fossil fuel energy system. However, a cluster of ‘green energy’ technologies, including wind- and solar-power and power from biomass, was developed and implemented despite strong and systematic resistance from the Ministry of Finance, the fossil fuel sector and the broader institutional establishment. Hence, were Kern (2011) and Breukers and Wolsink (2007) showed that the Netherlands failed to address this strong institutional resistance, Hvelplund (2013) argues that Denmark is successful regarding RE as it managed to overcome this problem. Through a process of ‘innovative democracy’, lobbyists and actors that were independent from the fossil fuel sector and vested economic interests were given political momentum and democratic influence. This enabled lobbyists and representatives of energy grass roots organizations, ‘green’ companies and green-movements to develop a broad movement for RE that was able to resist the influence of the incumbent energy regime. To continue, Hvelplund (2013) explains that the process of ‘innovative democracy’ was abolished by the right-wing

government of Anders Fogh Rasmussen that implemented a neoclassical policy approach during the second phase. As a result, the development of RE technologies slowed down substantially during this period and only picked up again after Rasmussen made a political U-turn in 2008, declaring full support for a 100% renewable future. Interesting is that

Hvelplund (2013) considers the ‘market conditions’ that influence the transition towards RE to be nothing more than ‘political constructions’. In contrast to the Netherlands, the Danish government proved that, despite fierce resistance, the incumbent institutional regime can be altered in a way in which ‘green’ constituents are granted with the political power to protect their interest and influence the development of the transition towards RE. In this respect, although both Hvelplund (2013) and Foquet (2010) see an important role for the government, there is less common ground in their recommended approach. While

Hvelplund (2013) argued that the government should enable ‘green’ constituents to protect their interests through ‘innovative democracy’, Foquet (2010) argued that the government should make efforts to protect niche markets for RE technologies to facilitate their

development, although the former could result in the latter.

A study that could explain why the Netherlands has been unable to grant political

momentum to ‘green’ constituents and facilitate the development of the transition towards RE is a study by Oteman, Wiering and Helderman (2014). They analyze the institutional structure of the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany in more detail and evaluate its effect on the ability of community initiatives for RE to manifest themselves. Oteman et al. (2014) find that Denmark knows a traditionally civil-society friendly energy sector that grants significant institutional space to community initiatives to develop their projects. In contrast, the Netherlands knows an institutional arrangement that is predominantly market-oriented and leaves little institutional space for community initiatives. Oteman et al. (2014) agree

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with Breukers and Wolsink (2007) as they too claim that the Dutch government adopts a strong economic rational regarding energy policy which protects the interests of the incumbent fossil fuel based energy regime. Partly, this could be explained by the fact that the Dutch government has large interests in the exploitation of natural gas as this generates extensive government revenues. Besides, they find that the fossil fuel sector of the

Netherlands, including the transport and agricultural sector, has established a very strong lobby that resists the transition towards RE. In contrast, fossil fuel market parties in Denmark are less influential. As a result, the institutional configuration of Denmark is much more decentralized and communities as well as municipal governments and other ‘green’ organizations have the ability to focus on ‘green’ initiatives. A study that connects the

institutional structure with the policy dimension was conducted by Kern and Smith (2008). In their study, these authors critically scrutinize the Dutch implementation of the ‘transition model’ and energy policies that aim to support the transition towards RE. The ‘transition model’ was developed by Dutch researchers and is carried out by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs in order to establish a sustainable energy system by 2030. The main objective of Kern and Smith (2008) was to evaluate to what extent the policy initiatives of the ‘transition model’ opened up opportunities for structural change. In agreement with Kern (2011) and Breukers and Wolsink (2007), Kern and Smith (2008) argue that the transition towards RE in the Netherlands risks being captured by the incumbent energy regime. In conjunction with Hvelplund (2013) and Oteman et al. (2014), they argue that the influence of the incumbent energy regime results in an institutional configuration that does not provide sufficient opportunities for constituents that are placed outside this regime to exert their influence. In relation to the transition, the dominant actors, themes, niches and pathways that fit well into the existing institutional regime are likely to be selected rather than others that could contribute to a Schumpeterian process of ‘creative destruction’. As a result, the current socio-technical system will only be optimized instead of subjected to structural change. This strong path-dependency is an important impediment for the transition towards RE in the Netherlands. A relative similar study by Kemp, Rotmans and Loorbach (2007) shows a slightly more optimistic view regarding the achievements of the ‘transition model’. Although Kemp et al. (2007) agree with Kern and Smith (2008) that (green) constituents outside the incumbent regime are scarcely involved in the decision-making process, they find that several actors were actually invited but declined to be involved. For example, the largest consumer organization of the Netherlands, the ‘Consumentenbond’ felt that it lacked sufficient expertise about energy related issues. Therefore, albeit that the institutional structure favors incumbent interests over the

interests of new ‘green’ constituents, the transition towards RE in the Netherlands may also be hampered because these constituents lack know-how and knowledge on energy and transition related issues.

To continue, some other studies are not primarily concerned with ‘institution conditions’ but focus on the effect that different type of policies have on the development of the transition towards RE.

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For example, a study by Lewis and Wiser (2007) investigates the different paths that twelve countries have taken towards the development of a domestic wind turbine manufacturing industry. They argue that the global dominance of major companies such as Vestas and Siemens Wind Power resulted from the fact that the Danish government created a stable and sizable domestic market that boosted their development. For example, the Danish government introduced variable custom duties for wind turbine components, extensive feed-in tariffs (FIT), facilitated project development loans and even granted benefits to other countries if they chose to import Danish turbines. In addition, Denmark was the first country to establish standardization programs and quality certification for wind turbine technology. In line with the logic of Foquet (2010), the study of Lewis and Wiser (2007) shows that the success of the Danish transition towards RE at least partly resulted from the decision of the Danish government to build and protect a stable and sizable market for wind power. Another study that evaluates the success of the Danish RE transition by focusing on energy policy is a study by Sovacool (2013). According to this study, at least five important lessons can be drawn from the Danish case that can be helpful to other countries with an interests in the RE transition. First, Denmark has proven that the transition towards RE can take place in a relative short period of time. After the oil crisis of 1973 Denmark only needed five years to reduce its oil dependency for electricity production from 95% to only 5%. Second, the Denmark has proven that a carbon tax does not necessarily has a deleterious effect on the overall economy and that it and support wind power development. Moreover, despite the Danish government implemented various expensive energy taxes, the national economy has been growing at a double digit rate over the past decades. However, Sovacool (2013)

acknowledges that a similar approach may not lead to the same results in other countries that have larger energy intensive industry. Third, Denmark made the grid accessible to anyone, preventing a monopoly of the incumbent market players. Fourth, Denmark has advocated a polycentric approach to its energy planning which guaranteed the involvement of multiple stakeholders on different levels. In line with the logic of Hvelplund (20130, this enabled constituents related to RE to protect their interests and influence energy policy. Fifth and final, the Danish energy policy and support systems for RE have been remarkably consistent which created stable investment climate for market parties. Another study by Meyer (2007) also examines the effectiveness of policy support systems on wind power development. This study evaluated the success of national policies according to four criteria. First, technological choice and development, which reviews whether there is long-term support for research and development (R&D) and if steps are taken to ensure the quality and functionality of the produced technology. Second, the extent to which wind power related policies are formally incorporated in national energy policies. Third, the extent to which there exist economic support systems such as subsidies, feed-in tariffs or tax benefits. Fourth, the extent to which ownership of wind power technology is localized. Meyer (2007) finds that Denmark scores very high on all these four criteria which could explain the success of the transition towards RE in Denmark. Another study by Toke, Breukers and Wolsink (2006) also aims to explain how energy policies could account for the cross-country

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difference in success regarding the wind power deployment in the Netherlands and Denmark. The study analyzes the impact of four selected institutional policy variables: planning systems, financial support systems, landscape protection organizations, and local ownership patterns. With respect to planning systems, Toke et al. (2006) find that in

Denmark, local municipalities are obliged to allocate zones for wind power deployment and that only 10% of those municipalities refused to do so. In contrast, the government of the Netherlands is unable to enforce a similar obligation due to the Dutch consensus based political culture. With respect to financial support systems, Toke et al. (2006) find that Dutch financial support system has been highly volatile which undermined the stability of the market. In contrast, Denmark has established a very longstanding incentive regime for wind power development and created a stable market. Regarding landscape protection

organizations, the Netherlands and Denmark fall somewhere in between the extremes as both countries have some organizations that are opposed to wind power deployment. Final, the Netherlands and Denmark both show a high level of local ownership development, a finding that contradicts with the study of Breukers & Wolsink (2007) that concludes that the development of RE in the Netherlands is characterized by a centralized approach.

Finally, a third category of academic studies focuses on the level of ‘public acceptance’ towards wind power development and how this influences the transition towards RE. A very comprehensive study by Wolsink (2007) identifies several factors that can account for

different levels of public acceptance towards wind power in the Netherlands. Wolsink (2007) finds that public opposition towards wind power deployment is strong in the Netherlands primarily because the Dutch government has been neglecting the importance of allocating wind farms to special sites. He argues that it was a tragic mistake to determine the

development path of wind power on a national level. The spatial planning system of the Netherlands has been characterized by a technocratic, top-down and hierarchical way of thinking. Spatial planning systems failed to include the general and local public in the decision-making process and failed to provide consultation in advance of the actual deployment. According to Wolsink (2007), the technocratic, corporatist and elite based decision-making process must be abolished if the Netherlands aims to achieve the same success Denmark had.

In summary, the academic literature on the transition towards RE and wind power development in particular in the Netherlands and Denmark can be grouped in three

categories: studies on institutional conditions, studies on energy policy and studies on public acceptance. In addition, a very interesting study by Foquet (2010) puts the transition

towards RE in an historical perspective and highlights the role of economic incentives. As emphasized, the studies from the different categories share common ground and are often interrelated. In general, studies that focus on institutional conditions agree that the

transition towards RE and wind power development in the Netherlands is hampered by a strong institutional path-dependency and the Dutch consensus based decision-making model. These condition solidified the position of vested economic-interests, which are mostly fossil fuel based, vis-à-vis newly emerging ‘green’ constituents. As new initiatives and

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constituents were forced to comply with the incumbent institutional structure, structural change is not likely to occur anytime soon unless it is facilitated by the market, which brings us back by Foquet (2011). As consumers have strong incentives to free-ride, Foquet stressed the importance of the government that will have to protect niche markets for Re

technologies in order to facilitate their further development. An example of a government that proved to be relatively successful in this respect is the government of Denmark. Over time, the Danish administration managed to adopt policies that protected and favored RE technologies which led to the development of major turbine manufacturers such as Vestas and Siemens Wind Power and gave the country a strong first mover advantage. At least partly, the ability of the Danish government to protect their RE niche markets against vested economic interests may have been derived from the process of ‘innovative democracy’. From the general conclusions of these studies, it is a logical step to the contribution of this research. This study will introduce a new perspective regarding the transition towards RE that will provide new insights in the fundamental factors and trends that determine the success or failure of the transition towards RE in the Netherlands and Denmark. Currently, studies on institutional structures can be perceived the most fundamental as it are

institutional conditions that shape policy which in turn influences public acceptance. However, these studies often only describe the features and the influence of the

institutional structures without explaining how they developed or what constitutes them. This research will go more into depth as it will identify the political-, economic- and social-forces, events and trends that created the context in which the transition towards RE in the Netherlands and Denmark has to manifest itself. It will explain the development of the transition by making a connection between state, market and society and evaluating their interaction against the background of the current Anglo-Saxon world order. The next section will outline the theoretical and conceptual frameworks which are used to conduct this research.

1.2 Theory and concepts

In order to explain why the Netherlands is less successful than Denmark with respect to the transition towards renewable energy and wind power development, this research will rely on the academic field of ‘geopolitical economy’. As this is a very broad school of thought, this research will build in particular on ‘geopolitical economy’ as articulated by Amineh & Guang (2014) in their research: ‘The Geopolitics of the Transnationalization of Chinese

National Oil Companies. After laying out the theory in section 1.2.1, this research will explain

how it is applied in the cases of the Netherlands and Denmark in section 1.2.2.

Besides, in order to assess the energy situation in the Netherlands and Denmark and to explain why these countries will have to make the transition towards renewable energy, this research will rely on the ‘resource scarcity model’ of Amineh and Houweling (2007) which will be outlined in section 1.2.3.

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1.2.1 Geopolitical economy

In the version of geopolitical economy that is articulated by Amineh and Guang (2014), the unit of analysis is the state-society complex that is present in today’s self-identifying states. The interaction between organized groups that emanate from these spheres produces the system level outcomes that are regarded as units of analysis as well. Therefore, the primary target countries of this theory are industrial states or states that are subjected to

industrialization. This is because in these states, the interaction between state- and society-agents is at the core of their geopolitical and geo-economic developments as this interaction produces the institutions that connect the domestic market to the outside world.

With respect to industrial or industrializing countries, Amineh & Guang (2014) make a distinction between two types of state-society complexes: the liberal state-society and the authoritarian state-led society. First, clear examples of liberal state-societies are advanced industrial and democratic states such as the United States or the member-states of the European Union. In these states, civil-society and privately owned corporations operate relatively independent from the government. Through interaction with each other on multiple levels, the relative autonomous branches of government, business and civil-society try to protect their interests by influencing geo-economic and geopolitical developments within their liberal state-society complex. Second, the currently best-known example of an authoritarian state led society is the People’s Republic of China. In China, the sovereign state, representing the ruling elite of the Communist Party, determines the long-term strategic orientation of market and societal forces. For example, state planning controls labour mobilization, wages, savings, sectoral investment priorities and the nature of investments in transnational space through state-owned corporations. Therefore, the capacity of business- and civil-society forces to articulate their interests, domestically or in transnational space, is determined by the geopolitical and geo-economic objectives of the ruling elite.

For both liberal state-societies and authoritarian state led societies, the configuration of state-society relations is termed ‘wealth-power’ structure. It is this configuration, in which the mode of interaction between the three branches is stipulated, that determines how wealth is created and power is distributed within the state-society complex. In the current neoliberal world order, both state-society complexes can be regarded as ‘capitalist

constructs’ that aim to increase their wealth and subsequent power through the market or by force. Although in theory, state and market forces often collide – state agents having long-term goals while the market agents primarily have short-term incentives – they are strongly interdependent. On the one hand, the state requires taxation from the market while on the other, the market requires protection and regulation from the state. Therefore, a growing economy and capitalist expansion are the ‘raison d’être’ of modern industrialized state-society complexes, whether liberal or authoritarian. As a result of their capitalist nature, modern industrialized state-society complexes have a strong tendency to engage in cross-border activities and interact with other state-society complexes in transnational

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space. According to Amineh & Guang (2014), these activities follow two logics: a geo-economic logic and a geopolitical logic. The geo-geo-economic logic is derived from the natural tendency of capital to expand geographically in search for new resources and markets. As the state is heavily dependent on capitalist market parties in order to protect its power in the domestic wealth-power structure, capitalist forces influence the political process that determines the nature of these cross-border quest for resources and markets. Therefore, states have the tendency to follow a ‘geopolitical logic’ by making efforts to gain access and secure control over resources and markets in transnational space. For authoritarian stated led societies such as China, this process of ‘power projection’ is controlled by the state as the business sector that engages in cross-border economic activity often consists of state-owned corporations or corporations that have close ties to the ruling elite. For liberal

state-societies, identifying the actors behind cross-border economic activity is more difficult as the business sector formally operates independently from the state. However, as state and market are interdependent, state forces are inclined to facilitate cross-border economic activities more indirectly. For both types of state-society complexes, the geopolitical

tendency to project power beyond national borders in order to protect the domestic wealth-power structure is the consequence of a factor called ‘lateral pressure’. This refers to the build-up of socio-economic pressure by capitalist market forces. Multinational corporations with ties to a domestic economy, other large, small and medium-sized companies and domestic consumers all exert lateral pressure on the government to protect their capitalist interests through cross-border economic activities.

In this respect, energy plays a crucial role as apart from being merely a commodity, it serves as the prerequisite of present day industrial economic activity. Therefore, it is granted with special attention by both types of industrial state-society complexes. Without energy, capitalist state classes are unable to protect their wealth-power structure and ultimately, their survival. It is here that geo-economic and geopolitical logic of energy manifests itself. Since fossil fuel resources are scarce, unevenly distributed over the world and

non-renewable, capitalist state classes engage in transnational competition with each other for these energy resources. They are subjected to lateral pressure by their domestic socio-economic constituents to project their power beyond national borders in order to ensure energy supply security and to increase wealth and subsequently power. In this respect, power projections could imply the creation of routes abroad to gain access to reserves of oil, gas or coal or investments in foreign companies or energy production fields in order to connect them with the domestic economy and wealth-power structure.

In order to explain the version of ‘geopolitical economy’ of Amineh & Guang (2014) in more depth and to explain its relevance for real world developments, it is important to review the context in which the theoretical assumptions manifest themselves and to provide examples. Therefore, attention is directed towards the process of sequential capitalist industrialization. Geographically, the world experienced two episodes of industrialization that transformed traditional states into capitalist state-society complexes. The first, wave of industrialization originated in Britain during the 17th_{century and later spread to the other regions of the}

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European continent and European colonies such as North-America, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. In the early stages, the process of industrialization was marked by fierce protectionist measures. For example, Britain was unable to prevent its white dominions from installing all kinds of protectionary policies against British imports. Over time, as the industry matured and became strong enough to survive without state protection, state interference retreated and powerful capitalist liberal-state society complexes emerged.

A second wave of industrialization occurred in the late 20th_{century when several states in}

East-Asia made a rapid transition towards economic industrialization. Similar to the process of industrialization in the Western world, developing an industrial society was facilitated by extensive state planning and protection. Currently, the best-known example of this is China. The homemade industrialization of the ruling Communist Party enabled China to ascend rapidly in the global wealth-power hierarchy. As Amineh and Guang (2014) explain, the present context in which capitalist state-society complexes interact is that of a

post-hegemonic world order in which contenting powers push their self-identified hegemony as far as this is allowed by domestic arrangements and international objectives. As a result, the current world order is characterized by conflicts over the rules of interaction, competition and by (gradual) transitions that manifest themselves at the top of the world’s wealth-power structure. Whether conflicts and power shifts will manifest themselves through peaceful or violent means is up for the classical debate between (neo) realism, liberal institutionalism and critical theory. In the past, energy related power projections have resulted in the use of force by state classes. For example in 1920, the British state class resorted to violence against Iraqi tribes in order to gain access to the oil reserves in Mesopotamia that would enable them to keep their naval fleet moving. More recently in 2003, the US and Britain joined forces and invaded Iraq in a quest to secure the supply of oil. However, with respect to the current competition for global wealth and power, the explanatory power of realism has been reduced by liberal institutionalism. In their critique on neo-realist theory, scholars such as Keohane and Nye (1977) claim that the trading state has replaced the warfare state in the current world order. This assumption is in agreement with current developments as for example the ruling elite of China tries to close the wealth-power gap with the United States and the West through the market instead of by force. Through interference in the domestic market, the Communist Party has been able to increase China’s wealth and power vis-à-vis the US and EU by creating strong comparative advantages such as cheap labour. Thereby, China and other developing industrial states are trying to close the wealth-power gap by growing within the global economic order that was established by the US and its Western allies.

In summary, modern industrial and industrializing states state-society complexes, whether liberal or authoritarian, are capitalist constructs that follow an interrelated geo-economic and geopolitical logic. As a result of lateral pressure, the governments of those states are inclined to project their power by facilitating cross-border economic activity that connects the domestic business sector with new markets and resources. As these dynamics are present simultaneously in multiple state-society complexes, power projections in

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transnational space become a competitive enterprise. Whereas in authoritarian state-society complexes, the government has control over its domestic geo-economic constituents, these constituents operate relatively independent from the government in liberal state-society complexes. Nevertheless, both types of state-society complexes, the market (wealth) and the state (power) are interdependent.

1.2.3 The resource scarcity model

Currently, industrial economies are heavily dependent on fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal. As these fossil fuels serve as the basis for industrial economic activity and thus for the creation of wealth and power, countries are very concerned with achieving energy supply security. In this respect, as fossil fuels are scarce and unevenly distributed over the world, industrial countries such as the Netherlands and Denmark face a challenge. In order to assess the energy situation of the Netherlands and Denmark, this research will rely on the resource scarcity model of Amineh & Houweling (2007). In their article: ‘Global Energy

Security and its Geopolitical Impediments – the case of the Caspian Region’, these authors

identify three kinds of scarcity. First, demand-induced scarcity refers to scarcity that emerges as a result of a rising energy demand due to population growth and/or rising per capita income in a country. Second, supply-induced scarcity emerges as a result of the depletion of fossil fuel reserves and from increased competition for resources. Third, structural-scarcity emerges as a result of a deliberate action by other actors. For example, cartels such as OPEC could deliberately reduce the flow of energy to European countries to increase oil prices or to put pressure on political elites to change a certain course of action. Also, rebels or terrorist groups could attack energy production fields or choke points in transportation networks. An important instance of structural scarcity that involved the EU occurred in 2009 when Russia briefly cut gas supplies to Ukraine which affect multiple, mainly Eastern-European countries. The recent tension between the West and Russia and the turmoil in the MENA region might make the Netherlands and Denmark more vulnerable to structural scarcity.

1.2.4 Relation between theory and concept

In industrial and industrializing countries, energy is an entity that connects the state, the market, households and nature. As energy is a fundamental prerequisite of industrial economic activity, the survival of the wealth-power structure in modern industrial or

industrializing state-societies depends on it. However, with respect to fossil fuels, scarcity is built into the capitalist system. States will have to address the issue of scarcity if they want to protect their domestic wealth-power structure in the long-run. This poses a dilemma for the governments of industrial and industrializing countries since the transition towards renewable energy poses a threat to the interests of the incumbent fossil fuel based business

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sector. On the one hand, they are subjected to lateral pressure to protect the short-run capital interests of the business sector in order to protect the wealth-power structure. On the other hand, the government has to act upon long-run incentives and anticipate on increasing fossil fuel scarcity by supporting the transition towards renewable energy. Whether the short-term capitalist logic of the business sector or the long-term government interests will prevail with respect to the system level outcomes that their interaction produces is dependent on their relative interests, influence and interdependence.

1.2.2 Geopolitical economy, resource scarcity and the transition towards renewable energy in the Netherlands and Denmark

Clearly, the Netherlands and Denmark belong to the category of liberal state-societies as both countries are democratic and know a strong civil society and formally independent business sector. They industrialized and developed their economy and subsequent wealth-power structure under the hegemonic umbrellas of Britain and later of the US. Just as the newly industrializing economies in East-Asia, the Netherlands and Denmark developed

within the global economic order and managed to protect and strengthen their

wealth-power structure through the market. Both the state-society complex of the Netherlands and Denmark can be considered to be capitalist constructs that follow a geo-economic and geopolitical logic. The government relies on the business sector for the creation of wealth, prosperity, government revenues and social-security through employment while the business sector is dependent on the government for the establishment of an environment that favors this creation of wealth and prosperity. This means that governments are inclined to protect the interests of the business sector by facilitating cross-border economic activity in order to protect the domestic wealth-power structure. However, related to their power projections, the capabilities of the Netherlands and Denmark differ greatly from that of major power such as the US or China as they are unable to protect their power in

transnational space by the use of force. Although the Netherlands was part of the ‘coalition

of the willing’ that participated in the Iraq war of 2003, without the US or even Great-Britain

this example of power projection would have been impossible. In this research, power projections of small powers such as the Netherlands and Denmark are regarded as efforts to protect and strengthen the domestic wealth-power structure through the market. In this respect, the primary means to gain access to markets and resources abroad through the market is to establish a highly competitive export oriented industrial sector. Governments can contribute to this by creating a favorable investment climate, invest in innovation

through R&D and establishing a regulatory framework that does not hinder competitiveness. In this respect, the transition towards renewable energy creates a dilemma for the

governments of the Netherlands and Denmark as it poses a threat to the competitiveness of the incumbent fossil fuel business sector. In the short-run, the government is inclined to protect the wealth-power structure by protecting or enhancing the competitiveness of the

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incumbent business sector while in the long-run, it has incentives to support the transition towards renewable energy since fossil fuels will run out. Besides the configuration of

interests, influence and interdependencies between the government and the business sector that emanates from the wealth-power structure, democratic countries such as the

Netherlands and Denmark know other forms of social organization that are important to the decision-making process such as social movements. In this respect, of particular importance is the role of green movements as these organizations generally act as advocates of

renewable energy in pursuit of environmental objectives. Although green social movements generally have less influence, they try to protect their interests by interacting with the government and business sector on multiple levels. Therefore, in the Netherlands and Denmark it is the configuration of influence, interests and interdependencies between the government, the business sector and green social movements that emanates from the wealth-power structure that shapes system level outcomes such as energy policy and hence determines the development of the transition towards renewable energy.

1.3 Brief argumentation and hypotheses

As explained by the previous section, in the Netherlands and Denmark it is the configuration of influence, interests and interdependencies between the government, the business sector and green social movements that emanate from the wealth-power structure that shapes energy policy and hence determines the development of the transition towards renewable energy. Based on this logic, the difference in success between the Netherlands and Denmark regarding the transition towards renewable energy might be a result of a difference between the configurations of their wealth-power structures. This research builds on the assumption that the wealth-power structure of the Netherlands is much more reliant on fossil fuels compared to the wealth-power structure of Denmark. If in the Netherlands, constituents from the fossil fuel sector are more powerful and generate much more economic growth, prosperity, employment and government revenues relative to constituents from the renewable energy sector, lateral pressure will primarily incite the Dutch government to protect the interests of the fossil fuel regime. Accordingly, this means that a large segment of the Dutch business sector as well as the Dutch government have strong incentives to resist the transition towards renewable energy. This also means that green movements will face fierce opposition as their interests are not aligned with those of the government and business sector. As a result, the energy policy that is a result of the interaction between the government, the business sector and green movements will protect the interests of the fossil fuel regime instead of showing strong support for the transition towards renewable energy. In contrast, if in Denmark, constituents from both the fossil fuel sector as well as the

renewable energy sector create substantial economic growth, prosperity, employment and government revenues, lateral pressure will incite the government to protect the interests of both sectors. Accordingly, the Danish business sector and Danish government to resist the

The transition towards renewable energy: a comparative study of wind power development in the Netherlands and Denmark (2001-2017)