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About ECN
The Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) is a leading institute in The Netherlands for energy and environmental research and policy advice. ECN is a private and independent organisation, employing over 900 people, and focusing its activities on the needs of the energy industry, governments and European Commission in their objectives and contributes to a sustainable development of a reliable, environmentally sound and cost effective energy industry. ECN has units addressing delineated energy research areas such as Policy Advice, Biomass, Solar energy and Wind energy. This project is coordinated by unit ECN Policy Studies, that particularly provides advisory services in the field of market, technology and policy analysis and the development of strategies for the promotion of renewables, enhancement of energy efficiency, security of supply and liberalisation of energy markets.
The unit ECN Policy Studies carries out research and provides advice in the field of energy policy. Key activities are development of scenarios, analyses of energy markets, comparison and evaluation of energy and environmental policies and socio-economic analyses of innovation and transitions. The 50 researchers of ECN Policy Studies form a multidisciplinary team with academic and applied energy knowledge of drivers, markets, sectors, policies and technologies. A range of modelling tools is available to support the analyses. The unit is located in Amsterdam and Petten.
We are concerned about the effects of energy use. Today’s production and use of energy is not sustainable and the trends and projections in energy use indicate that sustainability will deteriorate. The main concerns are related to the effects and risks from climate change and the increasing risks of disrupted energy supply. The future energy system can become more sustainable but this requires significant changes. Governments try to develop effective policies to make energy systems cleaner, more sustainable and more affordable. Our high-quality and well-balanced insights can help to improve energy and environmental policies.
We have organised our research in four groups that cover the following research areas.
- The Energy Innovation and Transition group identifies ways to achieve a sustainable energy system, what the robust technologies, infrastructures and energy sources are and which policies can best help to induce a long-term transition.
- The Energy Markets and International Climate Change group aims to increase insights in markets for gas, electricity and CO2 and to develop effective policies and strategies for international climate change.
- The Renewable Energy group supports Dutch and European policy makers in target setting and developing effective policies to promote renewables. Part of the activities of this group is aimed at policies to make energy available for developing countries.
- The Energy Use and Emission Reduction group is responsible for making energy outlooks for the Netherlands. Furthermore, this group provides advise on efficient energy saving strategies and makes assessments of emission mitigation options.