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This paper aims to capture the effect of an environmental tax on environmental degradation in the Netherlands while controlling economic growth, primary energy consumption, and trade in the Netherlands. As part of its climate change plan, the Netherlands government aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to industrial levels by 2030 and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The present study used novel Fourier ADL cointegration, Fourier ARDL, and Fourier TY causality approaches. The outcomes of this study reveal that environmentally related taxes cause the mitigation of environmental degradation in the Netherlands, while primary energy consumption affects environmental sustainability negatively. This study provides policy implications based on the empirical results of this study, which support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of 2030 through (SDG 7) affordable and sustainable energy, (SDG 9) innovation, and (SDG 13) environmental sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A qualitative and quantitative assessment of social, economic and environmental impacts of low-emission transition pathways in livestock. • Quantified macro-economic and health impacts of low-emission transition pathways in the livestock sector in the Netherlands. • Each low-emission transition pathway design has its own footprint of social, economic and environmental impacts. This paper provides the results of a combined qualitative and quantitative assessment of key impacts for two low-emission transition pathways for the Dutch livestock sector. These impacts or side-effects can be positive or negative. Both pathways were designed to meet a sector specific methane emission reduction target of 33 % in 2030 (relative to 2005). The qualitative assessment with stakeholders resulted in developing off-model quantifications to better reflect expected changes in system dynamics and development of more realistic transition pathways used for macro-econometric (E3ME) and atmospheric (TM5-FASST) modelling. We found that each low-emission transition pathway has a unique footprint of positive and negative impacts. This footprint is largely shaped by the combination of existing and new technologies, infrastructure used, and practices deployed. We consider the analysis and results relevant for climate policy and governance processes where there is a need to develop transition pathways that are optimised to meet different sustainable development goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews long-term development of biofuels in Sweden and the Netherlands. In particular this paper explores the social dynamics of ‘niche protection’. The Swedish and Dutch cases are analyzed by means of the Strategic Niche Management (SNM) perspective extended with insights from political science. Our main argument is that the development of biofuels and the way this development is protected relies on a variety of actor strategies and (local and global) discourses. This case therefore suggests that policy making for biofuels is a complex and non-linear process that can only partly be managed by policy actors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the Netherlands, the national government is committed towards altering the systems of energy, transport and agriculture in the name of sustainable development. A process of deliberation and change was started - aimed at achieving 'transitions' - using a model of transition management. This paper examines how the new arrangements of governance for energy transition deal with six problems of steering: ambivalence about goals, uncertainty about cause-effect relations, distributed power of control, political myopia, determination of short-term steps for long-term change and the danger of lock-in to new systems. The Dutch experience shows that transition management is applied in ways different from the original model (established players play a too great role) but it appears a useful model of reflexive governance, combining advantages of incremental politics with those of planning. It helps to orientate innovation policy and sectoral policies to sustainable development goals and to exploit business interests in system innovations in a prudent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The sustainability of current healthcare systems is threatened by several societal developments, including an aging population, an increase of unmet medical needs and rising healthcare costs. A transition is needed in order to meet these threats and to achieve a proper balance between the demand for care and the capacity to supply it. Entrepreneurs play a crucial role in developing the required sustainable innovations for this structural change. They are able to develop innovations in close interaction within the healthcare context. This paper studies entrepreneurial strategies for the successful development of sustainable innovations in Dutch healthcare. Data comes from semi-structured interviews with healthcare entrepreneurs. Results show that entrepreneurs experience the interaction with the healthcare system context in various ways and act accordingly. Four types of sustainable healthcare entrepreneurs could be identified: isolated, innovative, evolutionary and revolutionary. These entrepreneurial types differ in terms of their beliefs as to whether and how individual entrepreneurs can contribute to achieving structural change in healthcare. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Innovation is characterized by uncertainties, high risks, large investments and late returns on investment which make it a complex process. This is particularly true for sustainable innovation where market forces alone cannot be relied upon to realize the desired transitions. Insight in the dynamics of such innovation processes is necessary in order to influence technological change toward a more sustainable direction. However, few instruments and indicators are available to assess the performance of emerging technological innovation systems. In this phase competition often takes place based on expectations rather than on technological performance. This paper therefore focuses on the expectation patterns of technological innovation systems in the exploratory phase through the analysis of the expectation dynamics of three emerging technologies in the field of sustainable mobility within the Netherlands: biofuels, hydrogen as a transport fuel and natural gas as a transport fuel. These technologies do not only compete with the current fossil-fuel based system but also with each other. We have collected over 5000 expectation events regarding these technologies for the period 2000–2008 and discuss the insights generated by the comparison of the observed expectation dynamics to theoretical patterns. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The support of sustainable energy innovations has become a dominant topic on the political agenda of many countries. Providing this support remains difficult, since the processes constituting such innovation trajectories are poorly understood. To increase insight in such processes, this paper takes the historical development of biofuels in the Netherlands as the topic of study. Special attention is paid to the simultaneous development of two technology generations within the field: a first generation (1G) and a second generation (2G) of biofuels. A critical question asked is whether deployment programmes for a 1G technology may have positive effects on the development of later generations. Two archetypical support strategies are identified: one is to keep investing in R&D concerning 2G technology, where the expected outcome is a fast move from one technology generation to the other. The other strategy is to focus on learning-by-doing in the 1G technology. In that way progress can be made in 1G technologies but the effects on 2G technologies are uncertain. We apply a Technological Innovation System perspective to analyse the strategies followed and their effects. From the results we draw lessons of relevance for practitioners who aspire to understand and influence emerging energy technologies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]