Energy Policies and Environmental Entrepreneurship: The Cases of Britain, France and Germany

Abstract

To respect climate change goals, reinforced by COP21 in Paris, an overhaul of the energy system in EU countries will be necessary and this will involve a major deployment of low-carbon technology (Stern 2006). Although the relative roles of green new ventures and incumbent firms in the dissemination of environmental innovation remain unclear (Hall, Daneke et al. 2010), entrepreneurship shows promise as a response to environmental prob-lems (Anderson 1998, Schaltegger 2002, Hart, Milstein 1999). Since green new ventures are free from the innovatory constraints faced by incumbent firms (York, Venkataraman 2010, Hockerts, Wüstenhagen 2010), they are in a position to disrupt existing unsustaina-ble markets. Designing and implementing an energy policy with an “entrepreneurial fla-vour” (Wüstenhagen, Wuebker 2011) could be advantageous in achieving a successful sus-tainable transformation of the energy system. This thesis examines how entrepreneurs per-ceive energy policy in three advanced EU countries using a case study approach, with each country constituting a case. Data sources comprised policy documents, interviews with entrepreneurs and key staff in new ventures, and field notes from practitioner conferences. At this critical point at which direct support for renewables is being withdrawn, it is argued that efforts must be made to retain this entrepreneurial force in the energy market. This thesis reflects on the degree to which the market-creating support mechanisms are being withdrawn. If entrepreneurship is to thrive in a post-support context, there must be consid-eration as to how to better integrate decentralised renewables into the energy market, espe-cially in relation to how they can compete effectively with conventional technologies, namely nuclear and gas. In addition to alternative strategies to incentivise adoption of re-newable energy technologies beyond early adopter consumer categories (Rogers 1995), building greater public consent to sustainability policies is crucial to the continued success of energy entrepreneurship. Geopolitical factors surrounding energy security may rein-force the case for continuing to support entrepreneurship in the renewable power sector.