Energy research and long-term energy policy in the Netherlands

Planning of energy research policy relative to future energy developments has been a difficult task for policy planners in the Netherlands. This paper describes the methodology accepted by the General Energy Council as a tool for policy advice. The decision method consists of negotiating agreement at four stages: agreement on the nature of future problems in the energy system, agreement on the kind of criteria to be set for long-term energy policy, agreement on the set of energy options that satisfy these criteria, and finally, agreement on the research needed to develop these options.