The Climate, Land, Energy, Water and Food Nexus Challenge in a Land Scarce Country: Innovations in the Netherlands

Davine N. G. Janssen, Eunice Pereira Ramos, Vincent Linderhof, Nico Polman, Chrysi Laspidou, Dennis Fokkinga and Duarte de Mesquita e Sousa
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Davine N. G. Janssen: Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal
Eunice Pereira Ramos: Department of Energy Technology, KTH—Royal Institute of Technology Stockholm, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden
Nico Polman: Wageningen Economic Research, Wageningen University Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582, 2595 BM Den Haag, The Netherlands
Chrysi Laspidou: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Thessaly, 38334 Volos, Greece
Dennis Fokkinga: DbV—Driven by Values, Kastanjelaan 400, 5616 LZ Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Duarte de Mesquita e Sousa: Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 24, 1-27

Abstract: The Netherlands has the ambitious target of transitioning to a low-carbon economy by 2050. One factor that may constrain this progress, however, is the large spatial requirements of renewable energy technologies, and resulting competition for land through interlinkages between the Climate (C), Land (L), Energy (E), Water (W) and Food (F) domains—the CLEWF nexus. This study aims at identifying innovations that can improve the performance of the nexus by addressing the land scarcity constraint while supporting the low-carbon economy transition. A framework for the identification of potential innovations applicable in the nexus context was developed and applied. It is derived from a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) analysis of land scarcity in the Dutch nexus and a stock-taking benchmarking analysis of European countries. An inventory of innovations was prepared based on several classifications of innovations, collecting examples from the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Latvia and Sweden. Three innovations were identified as particularly promising: district heating, Energy Service Companies and peak shaving through water pumping. Furthermore, the DPSIR framework was also used to identify overarching societal elements common to countries that successfully implemented sustainable innovations. These were found to relate to long-term political commitments, geopolitical and economic drivers, and pioneering approaches building from and towards national strengths.

Keywords: innovations; CLEWF nexus; DSPIR; benchmarking; systems thinking; the Netherlands; low-carbon transition; energy transition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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