Towards a future without natural gas for housing corporations
Summary
The energy transition towards a low carbon future in the climate-change combat is one that does not go unnoticed in the Netherlands. The national government committed in the Paris Climate Agreement to making the country entirely free of natural gas by 2050, and has developed policy accordingly. Housing corporations are an important actor in the energy transition, given that they, apart from their societal commitment, can implement renewable energy renovations on potentially large scale. There is, however, still an action gap between what climate scientists see as necessary for achieving such a transition and what is actually happening on the ground. The goals set by housing corporations to improve energy efficiency by 2021 and become energy neutral by 2050 are hard to achieve at the current pace of action. The implementation of renewable energy technologies is limited, there is a major focus on social economic barriers, and the benefits resulting from energy renovations in buildings are underestimated. This study has investigated the current view of five housing corporations in three Dutch neighbourhoods on the energy transition, by means of narrative inquiries. The results have been analysed using a sectoral system innovation approach, and provide insight into housing corporations’ visions on housing availability and affordability versus sustainability, the short-term and long-term practical and financial challenges, and the array of opportunities on the road to a low carbon future. Evaluation has shown that major systemic changes in the sector are required. At the same time, the challenges encountered by the housing corporations also incorporate directions for solutions for advancing the energy transition in more than 2,5 million social homes.