Environmental Reviews and Case Studies. From a Brown to a Green Economy: How Should Green Industries Be Promoted?

One main theme in the Rio+20 Conference was how to facilitate the growth of green industries. How can politicians more specifically promote renewable green industries such as wind turbines or solar energy? How can we get prices right in the market? Prices can be adjusted by the use of economic instruments such as taxes and subsidies. In this way, renewable energy sources and green industries become more competitive, thus enhancing the transition from brown to green economy. Not only can these economic incentives accelerate the so-called switch point in time from fossil fuel–based energy sources to those not based on fossil fuel, they also encourage innovation. An illustrative example of this logic in practice is the case of Danish wind energy production.