Sustainable energy is heavily subsidised. So it is an easy target when cutbacks are made. At the same time, the Netherlands has to meet strict European guidelines to reduce CO2 emissions. What should be scrapped: windmills, solar panels?
 
The Dutch are facing serious cuts. One sector which is very concerned is the sustainable energy sector, which relies on all kinds of subsidies.
 
Conservative VVD MP Helma Neppérus, spokesperson for the environment, thinks it is an easy choice. She proposes an end to the construction of more wind parks in the sea. A good move, not just because windmills are driven by subsidies but also because of embarrassing mistakes a report compiled by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change for the United Nations.
 
Obligations
Teun Bokhoven who promotes the interests of sustainable energy businesses is worried:
 
”We are concerned that things are going the wrong way. On the other hand, I think a new government will realize that the Netherlands has to meet its obligations with regard to the sustainability of our energy supply, and politicians cannot deny that.” 
 
The obligations Mr Bokhoven is talking about come from Brussels. The Netherlands has to reduce its CO2 emissions by 20 percent, just like all the other European countries.
 
Without subsidies
Some forms of sustainable energy can be installed without subsidies. Take heat pumps, which store heat from buildings underground in summer to use it for heating in winter. The system saves so much money that it is immediately cost effective. The same goes for solar boilers which use the sun to heat water. There are all kinds of subsidies to stimulate these systems, but they are not really necessary.
 
Expensive
Solar panels are a much easier target for cuts. Solar power is too expensive to compete with coal-fired electricity. But cutting subsidies for solar power doesn’t actually save much money.
 
A government looking to cut spending would do better to stop subsidising forms of sustainable energy which are  almost economically viable and already being produced on a large scale.

For instance, a lot of funds are spent on subsidising the burning of wood and garden waste in electricity plants, and to the windmill parks which are being built all over the place. The clean energy generated is not much more expensive than conventional energy. Expectations are that it will not be long before green energy from these sources is cheaper. So should you start making cuts in this area right now?
 
Energy bill
People should think before they cut subsidies, says Dutch environmental expert Lucas Reijnders. He also points out that more has to be done to meet the European CO2 targets. At the same time, he understands why cuts are necessary:
 
“If you want to make cuts it stands to reason that you want to stop financing the expansion of sustainable energy with public money, the treasury. All power companies should be obliged to supply a certain percentage of sustainable energy to the market. That way the costs are transferred to electricity bills, as it were.” 
 
Whether the consumer pays for sustainable energy through taxes or through monthly bills makes little difference. Mr Reijnders points out that in this system the biggest consumers of energy contribute the most to making energy production sustainable. And the energy producers will do their best to make green energy viable as quickly as possible, after all they are out to earn money.
 
Mr Reijnders: “That is what subsidies are for, to make sustainable energy viable. In the end it does not matter how we do it, as long as we do.”