Energy from biomass is expected to be the most important renewable energy source in the Netherlands on the short term. Nevertheless, the implementation of many projects using biomass is considerably delayed, while other projects are abandoned. In this paper, the discrepancy between national policy goals on the one hand and actual implementation on the other is therefore investigated. A multi-level model is introduced in which technological development is understood as the interaction of developments at the level of technological regimes, niches and the broader context of the socio-technical landscape. Subsequently, the model is used to analyze the developments in the electricity regime and the niches for manure digestion and co-combustion. The main conclusion is that the delay of the projects is explained not only by a lack of stability within the electricity regime, but also by a mismatch of the rules of respectively the agricultural regime and the waste regime. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.