Gerrit Rentier is interested in climate and energy policy, the transition to a sustainable energy system, climate change, environmental issues, reduction of CO2-emissions, Zeeland and the preservation of nature (especially the coast of Zeeland). He has been working on his Ph.D. since 2016, investigating the relation between institutions and energy transition. His research covers which institutions support the innovation and development of new low carbon technology (e.g. wind energy technology) but also which institutions hamper the phase-out of high carbon technology like coal-fired power (see publication https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519303465 ).

He graduated in computational linguistics with honors at Tilburg University in 1992 and worked there (research and lecturing) until 1996 when he turned to working in software engineering, and after that, in the energy sector at management level. From 2009 onwards he was involved in Dutch national discussions concerning regulation for the energy sector, until he started working for the energy cooperative Zeeuwind in April 2019.