Krispy's blog

Categorie: economie

  • Programma Strukton bij Dutch Green Building Week

    Banner DGBW Gouden%20sponsorIn het werk van Strukton staat denken in levensduur centraal: reden voor Strukton om de Dutch Green Building Week als gouden sponsor te steunen. De Dutch Green Building Week vindt plaats van 17 t/m 21 september 2012

    Programma

    Strukton organiseert tijdens de Dutch Green Building Week vijftien evenementen met als rode draad het verduurzamen van gebouwen. We besteden o.a. aandacht aan onderhoud, levensduur, contractvormen en financiering, spitsen het toe op diverse marktgebieden en tonen een aantal inspirerende voorbeelden.

    Aan het bezoeken van de activiteiten zijn geen kosten verbonden. Bekijk het programma voor meer informatie.

    Dgbw%20grasbol%20banner5 CENTERAanmelden

    Als bezoeker van een van onze activiteiten ontvangt u een exemplaar van Bill Clintons boek ‘Geef en verander de wereld’. Strukton gelooft dat geld verdienen en een bijdrage leveren aan de maatschappij hand in hand kunnen gaan. Daarin vindt Strukton aansluiting bij het gedachtegoed van Bill Clinton zoals beschreven in dit boek.

    U kunt zich hier aanmelden voor de verschillende activiteiten van de Dutch Green Building Week.

    Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC)

    De Dutch Green Building Council (DGBC) is de initiatiefnemer van de Dutch Green Building Week, die na een succesvolle editie in 2011 dit jaar voor de tweede keer plaatsvindt. De DGBC laat samen met haar participanten in en aan heel Nederland zien wat zij doen aan het verduurzamen van de bebouwde omgeving. Tijdens de week vinden meer dan honderd evenementen plaats.

    Kijk voor meer informatie en het complete programma op de website van de Dutch Green Building Week.

  • Overzichten lokale duurzame energie initiatieven

    Vorige week heeft HIER.nu de website Hieropgewekt.nl gelanceerd. Op de site staan momenteel een kleine 100 lokale duurzame energie initiatieven, het gaat zowel om de al langer bestaande windenergie coöperaties, als om de nieuwere lokale duurzame energiebedrijven. Volgens Hier Opgewekt zijn er in Nederland zo’n 280 initiatieven in verschillende stadia van ontwikkeling. Een kleine 40 lokale duurzame energie initiatieven vind je op de site Groene energie ja graag van WISE. Als er werkelijk 280 initiatieven in Nederland zijn dan zijn beide sites vooralsnog verre van compleet.

    Met 2 sites met lokale duurzame energie initiatieven (naast E-Lokaal) is het nu nog wachten op een site met een overzicht van alle lopende collectieve inkoopacties voor zonnepanelen.

  • Strukton op niveau 5 van CO2 prestatieladder 2.0

    De afgelopen maanden ben ik samen met collega’s druk geweest met het voorbereiden van de externe audit voor de CO2 prestatieladder voor de werkmaatschappijen die vallen onder het CO2 Bewust certificaat van Strukton Groep (Strukton Bouw, Strukton Civiel, Strukton Worksphere en Strukton Integrale Projecten). Vlak na de audit, die goed verliep, ben ik op vakantie gegaan wetende dat de externe auditeur geen grote punten was tegengekomen.

    Inmiddels hebben we de rapportage binnen en is duidelijk dat Strukton Groep niveau 5 behaald heeft op de CO2 prestatieladder 2.0. Een bericht dat mooi samenvalt met een van de start van een van de eerste projecten die we hebben binnengehaald met gunningsvoordeel volgens deze nieuwe versie van de CO2 prestatieladder. Dochterbedrijf Ooms Civiel bereikte al eerder niveau 5 van CO2 prestatieladder 2.0 en Strukton Rail behield eerder dit jaar niveau 5 op CO2 prestatieladder versie 1.2. Daarmee zijn alle Nederlandse onderdelen van Strukton Groep op het hoogste niveau van de CO2 prestatieladder gecertificeerd.

    CO2 reductie onderdeel van MVO beleid

    Voor Strukton is CO2-emissiereductie geen doel op zich, maar het maakt onderdeel uit van een integrale visie op mvo waarbij ‘denken in levensduur centraal’ staat. Bij het ontwerp van een werk houden we rekening met de levensduur ervan. Vanaf de start van de bouw tot de uiteindelijke sloop ervan. Strukton denkt vanuit levensduur, voor projecten, mens en natuur en draagt hiermee concurrerende en innovatieve oplossingen aan voor de vraagstukken van onze klanten, zowel gevraagd als op eigen initiatief.

    CO2-emissiereductie in 2011

    In 2011 behaalde Strukton de doelsteling om de CO2 emissie met 2% te reduceren t.o.v. 2010 ruimschoots met een daling van 16%. Deze daling is onder andere het gevolg van de overschakeling op Windkracht 220 van Essent. De eerste helft van 2012 laat ook goede resultaten zien, zo heeft Strukton Worksphere in de eerste helft van 2012 haar CO2 emissie met 4 procent weten te reduceren, gerelateerd aan de omzet. Wederom voor een deel door de overschakeling op groene stroom, maar deels ook door lastigere maatregelen als het aanscherpen van de CO2 grenzen van het leasewagenpark, het stimuleren van open vervoer en Active Energy Management voor de eigen panden.

    Doorkijk 2012 en verder

    CO2-emissiereductie is een zaak van lange adem, sommige zaken zijn snel te realiseren andere kosten meer tijd. Begin 2012 zijn intern verschillende trajecten opgestart om de CO2-emissie verder te verlagen. Zowel binnen de organisatie, als samen met ketenpartners. Zo doet Strukton mee aan de pilot Het Nieuwe Draaien: een initiatief van Natuur & Milieu en BMWT om brandstofbesparing bij mobiele werktuigen te stimuleren. Het nieuwe draaien is het slim toepassen van de ervaringen van het nieuwe rijden op bouwmachines. Door de bouwmachines slimmer te bedienen kan er veel energie worden bespaard.

    Daarnaast is Strukton dit jaar Gouden Partner van de Dutch Green Building Week die plaatsvind van 17 september t/m 21 september en zijn we volop bezig met het voorbereiden van activiteiten voor de Dag van de Duurzaamheid van Urgenda op 10 oktober 2012.

  • The price of domestic waste in a circular economy

    Gescheiden Ingezameld Afval 300x200Domestic waste. The only time Henk & Ingrid actively consider this to be an issue is when it’s that time of the week again, and he or she has to lug the waste out of the house. Usually in the poring rain.  And granted, who would consider the remainder of our daily life as an interesting topic? Perhaps it is not a coincidence as most of the expressions concerning waste have a negative connotation!

    But there is more to domestic waste than we generally care to consider. And I’m not just talking about the resources hidden in the enormous quantities of domestic waste we collectively chuck out each year.



    Samenstelling 1940 300x210Samenstelling Afval 2010 300x209In The Netherlands, there is something odd going on with domestic waste.
    The amount of domestic waste produced annually has increased steeply for decades until the year 2000. From 2000-2007 the growth decreased as from 2007 the total amount of domestic waste decreases.

    As of 1990, the Dutch become more and more positive towards the idea of separating domestic waste, which is clearly shown in the amounts of waste collected in separate streams and what domestic waste in the Netherlands consists of. The connection between the contents and the degree of separating waste is obviously not a coincidence.

    Ontwikkeling Kosten Per Tariefsysteem 300x225

    Every household in The Netherlands pays an annual fee to the municipality for the disposal of its domestic waste. This fee is not just for paying the individual who comes to take the trash away, but obviously for managing the system as well but not for other expenses. Thus, when the total amount of domestic waste decreased, the obvious assumption is that this fee would decrease as well. Well, no, not necessarily.

    Based on the principle that waste has no use or function, our municipalities have been given (or have taken, depending on the point of view) the authority to get rid of our waste to keep our town and cities inhabitable. And obviously the ones –the households- causing the pollution are the ones who have to pay to get rid of it. And traditionally, the waste was taken to a landfill, or incinerated. Luckily for us the landfills are largely obsolete and the majority of waste is incinerated, the released energy is used to generate ‘sustainable’ energy (both electricity and heath). But still.

    The annual fee every household pays has not decreased but steadily increased over the past years. In all honesty, this is not the case for every municipality. There is a significant difference between three systems in place. The most common system is a fixed fee per household (one person, or more) per annum (green line). Alternatively there is a different system which calculates the fee per person in every household (purple line).

    And finally there is the DIFTAR system (blue line). Municipalities who have chosen for this differentiated system have not had to decrease the annual fee over the past decade. Roughly 30% of the Dutch municipalities are DIFTAR-municipalities.

    But what does this mean for Henk & Ingrid? Generally speaking this means that separating waste does not bring them anything, apart from the knowledge that they are actively reducing the amount of resources incinerated and making them Plastic Heroes. They will pay the same fee, regardless whether they turn out one bag of refuge or 10. Suffice to say that this does not offer an incentive to separate or reduce waste.

    Perhaps this stems from an era in which we could not have known better (or could we?), in a time in which recycling was a myth and municipalities signed European tender agreements which lasted for decades with large multinational refuge handlers? It is a fact that most of the major cities in the Netherlands have entered such agreements and that the municipal waste goes straight into the incinerators, after a stage in which the separate materials are separated and – in all likelihood – sold.

    There are different approaches, though. Ryck is an initiative in which individuals are financially rewarded for every kg of separated waste they hand in. Twence is a cooperative of a number of municipalities, which have taken matters into their own hands and in doing so, have created a system which turns out green energy, large quantities of raw material and a substantially lower annual fee for the inhabitants. HVC Groep, has taken it upon itself after being confronted with decreasing quantities of waste to incinerate to turn towards sustainable energy and to create awareness and subsequently decrease the amount of waste produced by its shareholders, a number of municipalities. This is a paradigm shift from the more obvious paradigm to import waste from abroad to keep the incinerators burning. And finally, one municipality has, in spite of a very lucrative contract (for the refuge handler, that is) taken the initiative to organize a subsystem for raw materials and thrift stores, to ensure that the absolute minimum of materials go to waste. As a “prize” for this initiative they may face a penalty because the quantity of waste collected goes beneath a threshold set in the 90’s (!).

    This example shows once again that economic principles can only be applied to green our economy with the right government policies in place. Otherwise the Dutch will all become Plastic Heroes instead of getting a lower annual fee for removing a decreasing amount of waste in an increasingly circular economy.

    This post was written for and published by TEDxBinnenhof in close collaboration with Ivo Stroeken, Advisor Electric Transportation.

  • Clean tech can feel like a football match

    Sometimes watching a football match can give you a deja vu feeling. That’s what happened to me during the European Champanionship. Just like the Dutch lost from Denmark and Germany during the European Championship, we are losing in the clean tech sector. According to research done by Rolald Berger Strategy Consultants for the World Wildlife Foundation The Netherlands are loosing market share not only in Europe, where Germany and Denmark manage to maintain a top 3 position worldwide , but also worldwide. The Netherlands in have dropped from 18th to 21st place and sales are decreasing too.

    Although we do have 4 Dutch companies named in the Global Clean Tech 100 and five Dutch clean tech companies are speaking at TEDxBinnenhof. The FME, the largest organisation in the Netherlands representing employers and businesses in the technological industry, is even aiming for a top 10 position in clean tech for the Netherlands. During the last couple of years De Groene Zaak (‘Green Business’) has been uniting entrepreneurs that want to speed up the transition to a green economy.

    Government

    On the government level a difference in approach between The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark can be seen. While Dutch government has been lobbying in Brussel to prevent Canadian tarsand from getting a separate carbon footprint the Danish and German governments are taking action to retain their worldwide position in the fast growing clean tech market. The German decision to close down their nuclear plants attracted a lot of attention. Less attraction is given to the Danish decision to ban oil and gas heaters from new buildings starting in 2013. They also aim to generate 50% of their electricity from wind in 2020 (link in Dutch). The year the Netherlands hope to generate 14% renewable energy (which will be mainly reached by burning biomass and waste).

    So it’s about time the Dutch stop talking the talk and start walking the walk on clean tech and energy transition. The ambition from FME, De Groene Zaak and the fact that half of the speakers at TEDxBinnenhof are active in clean tech shows that Dutch entrepreneurs are ready. As is shown by the For entrepreneurs doing is about getting their products and services sold, for Dutch government it’s about time to look at current legislation to remove or adjust parts that hinder the market introduction for clean tech companies and start acting based on a long term vision towards sustainability. For those policy makers and politician looking for inspiration for the coming elections both the research conducted by Roland Berger and the election page of De Groene Zaak provides good starting points.

  • Building a Smart Grid based on direct current

    One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

    Neil Amstrong

    In my first post about direct current I wrote about the war on currents. Today I will highlight a Dutch pilot project to build a smart grid based on direct current. The DC-network will be realized in a new greenhouse near Schiphol Airport in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer. It was granted a subsidy by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation in December 2011, and will be operational in 2014. The DC-net will be self-sufficient and has a backup to the underlying alternating current distribution system (hereinafter AC distribution). The electrical output of the DC-net is between 300 and 1500 watts.

    The DC-network consists of a ring around the sustainable horticulture area PrimAviera near Schiphol (Haarlemmermeer). The energy will be generated by both solar panels and combined heat and power plants (hereinafter CHP), which will be connected to the DC network. The energy generated will be used for lighting and ventilation of the greenhouses, which will be connected to the ring. Also charging points for electric vehicles will be connected to the DC network.

    What makes this project unique?
    Networks are needed to transport electricity from the place where electricity is generated to the place where it is used.  A major task for operators of electricity networks based on alternating current is to ensure stability of the AC-grid. Imbalance in supply and demand of energy disturbs the stability of the AC-grid and can lead to a widespread blackout. Maintaining stability is relatively easy with centralized energy production, but becomes more difficult with decentralized energy generation. With The Netherlands slowly following the lead of other countries towards more sustainable energy and decentralized generation of electricity ensuring stability of the AC-grid becomes more difficult.

    In a DC network ordination between supply and demand of electricity also exists. However, this balance question does not have to be accurate with millisecond as in the AC-world and can be planned well. Because storage of local DC is also possible (batteries typically use direct current), maintaining the energy balance is more easy, particularly as the management is done by electronics.

    Thanks to the technical characteristics of DC, the DC network manager can determine that the locally generated energy is used before energy generated elsewhere is transported to the user. If there is an excess in energy generated locally it may be stored locally, or the excess can be transported to other local consumers. If there is more energy generated than needed in the DC grid the excess can be supplied back to the AC grid.
    In essence, the DC network doesn’t need a AC-network as an underlying network. So in case of a blackout the DC smart grid in Haarlemmermeer will prove to be a beacon of light.

    The phenomenon of DC will lead to different forms of energy planning and open up new markets. Now let’s talk about innovation! That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.

    This contribution was originally written for and published by TEDxBinnenhof  in close collaboration with Bob Zijderveld, independent Consultant DC, Conventions and member of the board at Stichting Gelijkspanning. Any mistakes or technical errors and omissions are solely the responsibility of the author. For more technical background please contact Stichting Gelijkspanning or Direct Current.

  • Te koop: Windddelen

    Al eerder schreef ik over De Windcentrale. Een initiatief waarbij je mede-eigenaar wordt van een windmolen. In tegenstelling tot bestaande windcoöperaties, zoals Windvogel en Deltawind, gaat De Windcentrale uit van hetzelfde principe als de zonnetuintjes in Nijmegen: deelnemers/eigenaren worden uitbetaald in kilowatturen.

    In het eerste voorstel van De Windcentrale wordt je voor Euro 350 eigenaar van een stukje windmolen dat goed is voor ongeveer 500 kWh per jaar, Windcentrale noemt dit een winddeel. Daarnaast betaal je jaarlijks 15 Euro per winddeel voor beheer en onderhoud van de windmolen.

    Het maximaal aantal winddelen wordt bepaald door je energieverbruik. Bij ons gebruik van 3200 kwh mogen we 6 winddelen kopen, waarvoor we ongeveer 3000 kwh per jaar geleverd krijgen. Greenchoice (ons energiebedrijf) verrekend het energieverbruik met de energierekening. Wat overblijft zijn de kosten voor energiebelasting en de btw daarover. Die blijf je (in tegenstelling tot saldering achter de meter) verschuldigd. Volgens De Windcentrale is het desondanks een gunstige deal voor particulieren, omdat particulieren op deze wijze langjarig hun energieprijs vastzetten en een winddeel van Euro 350 in 16 jaar ongeveer 800 Euro aan energie oplevert. Inclusief de jaarlijkse onderhoudskosten en een jaarlijkse prijsstijging van energie met 2% levert dat Euro 260 winst op. Saldering voor de meter, of zelflevering zo je wilt, is volgens De Windcentrale dus niet nodig om het voorstel interessant te maken voor particulieren.

    Tegelijkertijd ontvangt de rijksoverheid over ieder winddeel van 500 kwh nog steeds Euro 68 per jaar aan energiebelasting en btw. Dat is ruim 1.000 Euro in de 16 jaar dat de windmolen nog draait. Terwijl ik als particulier slechts 260 Euro winst haal, en het volledige risico draag.

    Vergelijk dat met de wijze waarop de winning van fossiele grondstoffen, zoals gas en olie worden behandelt door de rijksoverheid. Via EBN investeert de rijksoverheid daar risicodragend tot 40% van de investering in ruil voor 40% van het rendement. Het toepassen van die systematiek op de winning van windenergie geeft een eerlijkere verdeling van de baten en risico’s. Met als bijkomend voordeel dat de huidige subsidiesystematiek voor wind op land kan vervallen en dat de investeringen in duurzame energie gericht worden op de ‘goedkoopste’ opties. Het alternatief is namelijk dat we investeren in zonnepanelen op ons dak waarna de overheid de volledige opbrengst van energiebelasting en btw kwijt is.

    Het goede nieuws is wel dat ook het CDA nu oproept om een ambtelijke werkgroep van Financien en EL&I op te richten om nieuwe verdienmodellen voor de rijksoverheid mbt duurzame energie op te stellen.

    Eindconclusie

    Ik vind het idee van De Windcentrale sympathiek en de opzet interessanter dan de financiële vergoeding over leningen die ik bij de huidige windcoöperaties kan krijgen. Wel zijn er 4 nadelen die maken dat ik niet meteen in stap, maar er nog een paar dagen over ga slapen:

    1. 16 jaar vind ik te lang om me te binden aan een commerciële energieleverancier, zelfs als dat Greenchoice is.
    2. 16 jaar vind ik te lang in een land waar het beleid met betrekking tot duurzame energie zelden langer duurt dan de zittingstijd van een Kabinet.
    3. Het financieel rendement vind ik vrij laag in verhouding tot bovenstaande risico’s.
    4. de verdeling van risico’s en opbrengsten tussen rijk en burger vind ik buiten proportioneel in het voordeel van de overheid uitvallen. Al 15 jaar neem ik groene stroom af en als dank betaal ik als burger per kwh nog steeds een factor 15 keer meer energiebelasting dan grootverbruikers. Als ik dan nu extra ga investeren in mijn eigen energieopwekking via De Windcentrale blijf ik nog steeds energiebelasting op grijs niveau betalen…

    Ik wacht dan ook graag alle toezeggingen van het AO energie van vanavond rustig even af.

    Oh ja, de spreadsheet met mijn berekeningen plaats ik binnenkort online. Die is nu nog iets te onoverzichtelijk.

  • The war of currents will become a battle lost

    “I have never failed”

    Thomas Edison

    The headlines from the Dutch Newspaper NRC Handelsblad on Thursday, April 26th 2012 read:

    Global player landing in Rotterdam

    We would have chosen a different headline, because the global player meant is General Electric, founded by Thomas Edison. He improved the light bulb and lay the foundation for today’s electrical distribution system. His company, GE, is an important linking pin between generating and using renewable energy. That linking pin is direct current (DC). A technology that lay at the foundation of General Electric over 150 years ago and a technology that will be used in a smart grid pilot at the municipality of Haarlemmermeer that will start soon.

    War of Currents
    In 1879 Thomas Edison introduced his improved version of the light bulb. He soon discovered that an electrical distribution system was needed to provide power to light bulbs. Therefore he built the world’s first electricity network with a voltage of 110 Volt. It was based on direct current (DC), which worked well with incandescent lamps, which were the principal load of the day, and with motors. Direct current systems could be directly used with storage batteries, providing valuable load-leveling and backup power during interruptions of generator operation. Direct-current generators could be easily paralleled, allowing economical operation by using smaller machines during periods of light load and improving reliability. The disadvantage of direct current at that time was that power generation needed to be close to the load, because there was no efficient low-cost technology that would allow reduction of a high transmission voltage to a low utilization voltage. To overcome this disadvantage Edison choose a distributed generation system.

    The alternating current system (AC) had first developed in Europe. In North America one of the believers in the new technology was George Westinghouse, one of the opponents of Edison. Westinghouse was willing to invest in the technology and hired, amongst others, Nikola Tesla to study the design of Edison and further develop the alternating current system. After vigorous campaigns by both Edison and Tesla to demonstrate the danger of using the opponents system alternating current became the dominant standard, both in Europe and the USA.

    The use of alternating current gave the opportunity to increase the distance between power stations and loads. Alternating current set the stage for large scale, centralized power generation.

    The silent revolution towards DC
    The alternating current network dates from a time that load consisted of lamps, heaters and electric motors, but the development of technology hasn’t come to a standstill since setting the standard to AC. Direct current has been returning nearby in three different forms: electronic devices, sustainable energy and energy storage.

    The invention of the “transistor” in the year 1947 forms the starting point of the silent revolution towards direct current. Transistors form the fundamental building block for the development of complex electronic equipment. Currently almost all current electronic equipment and electrical devices use DC internally. Alternating current from the grid is converted to direct current using a AC/DC transformer for internal use in electronic equipment like mobile phones, computers and led-lights.

    The last decades see a shift towards sustainable energy within the European Union. The share of power generated by wind, water, solar and co-generation is rising, especially in Germany with it’s feed-in system. All those forms of sustainable energy generate direct current which has to be transformed to alternating current to feed it back in to the grid. To be able to integrate offshore wind farms the Dutch grid operator Tennet, which owns part of the German grid, wants to construct a DC network. High Voltage Direct Current is already used for bulk transmission of energy from distant generating stations or for interconnection of separate alternating-current systems.

    Sustainable power generation will be rising in the Netherlands too. For example solar power is expected to grow rapidly in The Netherlands, as grid parity for consumers and small business is (almost) reached at current retail electricity prices. Some municipalities and local energy cooperatives are already pioneering with large scale solar energy systems, where people without a suitable rooftop crowd-fund the needed investment. In return they receive the electricity generated instead of a financial return.

    After sustainable energy has been transformed to alternating current for transport over the grid it has to be converted back to direct current again to be used by our electronic devices and led-bulbs or to be stored in (car) batteries. That doesn’t sound very efficient does it?

    This does bring us to the third form of DC we encounter close by: batteries. With the coming age of the electric car and all the fuzz about ‘range anxiety’ it might be good to know a Dutch company exists that can deliver a range of up ot 300 kilometers using a DC powertrain and replacing the AC/DC transformer with extra batteries.

    Rotterdam or GE can be the connection

    In the municipality of Haarlemmermeer Direct Current BV, Stichting Gelijkspanning (the direct current foundation) and their partners are working on a smart grid based on direct current. The pilot has received subsidy from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Innovation. This regional grid will be operating on voltages in excess of 300 Volt. The smart grid based on direct current will link sustainable power generation with users of the electricity, for example charge stations for electric cars.

    Direct current could also be used to provide shore supply of electricity to ships in the Rotterdam harbour significantly improving air quality in the Rotterdam area. If Haarlemmermeer deems to far for Rotterdam perhaps a GE executive is landing at Schiphol Airport to visit the Rotterdam plant can drop by and learn more about what Stichting Gelijkspanning, Direct Current and their partners are up to with DC, the technology used by it’s founding father Thomas Edison. That would return GE to its roots and help bridge the gap between sustainable power generation, power storage and the sustainable use of electricity. It could also make the war on currents lost by GE a lost battle.

    As they say in Rotterdam:

    Not words but deeds!

    This contribution was originally written for and published at TEDxBinnenhof in close collaboration with Bob Zijderveld, independent Consultant DC, Conventions and member of the board at Stichting Gelijkspanning.

  • Dutch innovations in air quality

    The environmental policy debate has been taken over by climate change for years. With some backlash lately because of climate denialism. Most discussion about climate change focus on reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide into the air. In this post I will argue that it is better for both public health and fighting climate change to shift focus to non-CO2 greenhouse gases and air pollution for the short term, leaving the reduction of actual CO2 emission to the future. Do I hear some climate fighters cry wolf already? :P

    Let me be very clear: I trust climate scientist when they say irreversible climate change is upon us if we don’t act now. I equally understand the peak oil statements about shrinking oil and gas reserves and rising fossil energy prices. I also know a large part of The Netherlands is within European air quality standards. And still I argue the focus to combat climate change should be on air quality, especially if The Netherlands want to give their entrepreneurs a head start. As a researcher once provocatively said to me: the carbon price will be zero if Europe reaches the CAFE air quality standards timely…

    The problem
    A few years ago I attended a workshop about the interconnection between transboundery air pollution and climate change. The research presented showed it might be more effective to combat climate change by combatting soot and air pollution (like nitrogen oxides and methane).

    Carbon black, as soot was called by the researchers, is formed mainly through incomplete combustion of both fossil and biofuels. The researchers told that part of the carbon black rains down in snowy areas, where it turns the snow darker. Thereby increasing the amount of solar radiation absorbed, thus raising the temperature of the snow which makes it melt… That’s one good reason to focus on reducing air pollution by carbon black for The Netherlands.

    A second good reason to focus on carbon black has to do with human health. Carbon black is associated with a lot of human health problems ranging from asthma to heart diseases. Human health can be an important driver for environmental policy and a researcher from the Dutch Environmental Agency (PBL) recently wrote an article suggesting reducing soot can be very effective to improve impact from air pollution on human health.

    I know The Netherlands manage to comply to current European air quality standards. But still our air quality is a far cry from the long term CAFE objective:

    to achieve levels of air quality that do not result in unacceptable impacts on, and risks to, human health and the environment.

    Especially because the scientific evidence that smaller carbon black particles have more adverse health effects. Those small particles are not yet regulated, but local politicians know that their citizens are worried and either use it in their campaign or reject to build schools and houses next to highways.

    Carbon black isn´t the only air pollution problem. Ozone is another one. Although the ozone layer on high altitudes is necessary to prevent skin cancer, ground level ozone forms a threat to human health. Recent research by Plant Research International (Dutch pdf) based upon data supplied by Crops Advance shows that exposure to ozone also significantly decreases the ability of plants and trees to absorb carbon dioxide. This effect can be significantly and can reduce the Carbon Use Efficiency of commercial crops up to 46%. If plants are exposed to ozone as seedlings the effect remains even after the ozone level decreases. Perhaps it’s more logical to increase the carbon use efficiency of commercial crops by reducing air quality before spending our money on putting carbondioxide undergroud…

    The carbon use efficiency can be increased by reducing ozone concentrations at ground level. Ozone is formed as a result of other air polluting emissions, mainly volatile organic compounds (VOC’s, such as methane) and nitrogen oxides. Both are emitted by burning fossil and biofuels. But VOC’s are also released during transport and storage of fossil fuels, and some of them, like methane, are very potent greenhouse gasses. So considering the fact that non-CO2 greenhouse gases (like methane) are responsible for over 50% of the greenhouse effect focussing on air quality to combat climate change is less strange then it looks on the outset.

    The solution
    The solution to the above problem for the long term is to decrease the amount of combustion fuel needed by increasing the production of sustainable energy that don’t need combustion and electrification, like electric cars. The short term solution is to use innovations at hand to reduce the emissions of air polluting substances like VOC’s, carbon black and nitrogen dioxide. Several Dutch companies can provide such solutions and research shows that providing them a home market is very favorable to gain traction on the world market.

    So let’s show some examples of Dutch companies that can provide world class solutions to combat air pollution.

    Teigro: VentClean-system
    The VentoClean-System is a special explosion proof machine for the degassing and recovering of hydrocarbons out of tanks and hoses in the shipping industry and bulk storage. It has been developed to clean tanks and hoses from gases and residues quickly after the tanks have been emptied. Through a condensation process gases and residues are brought back to the original product in liquid form very quickly. The high speed together with the high ventilation capacity of the system are also caused by bringing back a higher optimum temperature in the tanks and hoses, this temperature is re-used from the condensation process.

    The VentoClean-Systems had advantages for both people, planet and profit. To start with the profit part: In short the VentoClean-System saves costs and increases turnover. By using the VentoClean-System the tanks are immediately employable, washing is not necessary and there is hardly any waste or slobs.

    As the system can be used independent from location and time, ships that have been equipped with the VentoClean-System become more flexible and are employable more rapidly. The extra shipping hours caused by ventilation can be brought back, port and lock costs can be reduced and a backload can be loaded more often.

    The gains for the planet consist of less waste or slobs, less washing of tanks and reducing the need for ventilation in open air decreases air polluting emissions. Less air polluting emissions is also good for people, as the system can also be used to clean tanks containing carcinogenic substances like benzene.

    Accede: Cairbags
    Fixed Roof Tank Bag 300x180Accede has developed a concept they call Cairbags for use in tanks. This short movie explains how Cairbags work.

    A Cairbag is an aircushion that is installed and inflated in the container of the trailer or truck, especially if the container is only partially filled with a liquid load. The Cairbag fills at all times that space that is not filled by the liquid, preventing the presence of free air. The effect of the Cairbag is that it decreases the emission and evaporation of liquids in a partially or fully filled tank. Therefore the Cairbag contributes to better air quality along shipping routes, both coastal and inland. A Cairbag also increases the fuel efficiency for trucks that use them.

    Cairbags can also be used in tank terminals to reduce emissions to air. When they are combined with a Linerbag emissions to both air and groundwater can be reduced to (almost) zero. Leaving a larger volume of products to sell and increasing air quality in the surrounding area.

    Greentec Oils
    Greentec Oils increases the fuel efficiency of existing engines and reduces the emission of both nitrogen oxides and soot. This is done by a combination of a special biobased oil, adjustments to the engine which make it run smoother and an addendum to improve fuel quality. Confidential data I’ve seen show generators use 10% less fuel and emission from soot and nitrogen oxides are reduced up to 80%.

    HMVT: Corona
    HMVT is developing the Corona Air Purification system together with Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe) and Oranjewoud. The name Corona refers to the phenomenon of air conducting electricity under the influence of a powerful electric field without making a full discharge circuit. The Corona Air Purifier cleanses vapours with the help of pulsed high-voltage electricity, also known as Pulsed Power. The Corona Air Purification system can remove substances like VOC’s, nitrogen oxides, particle matters and traffic emissions with rates ranging from 50% up to 99%.

    Needed action by government
    First and foremost the current separation between air quality and climate change policy should be reconsidered. People are much more likely to act on air quality, as air pollution has a direct effect on both human health and agricultural output and can have a profound and almost immediate effect.  Both local and national authorities can play their part by not settling for a C minus for air quality.

    On the second place a home market for the above mentioned companies can be created. One of the main lessons from research to the critical success factors for clean tech done by both the European Union and World Wildlife Foundation is that a home market gives a large competitive advantage to clean tech companies. Nothing is more convincing and compelling for foreign customers than being able to show that your technology is being used in your own country. After all a sales pitch containing the phrase this technology is not yet used (or not even allowed) in my own country will not be very convincing, of even a sales pitch at all!

    Creating a home market requires more than providing innovation subsidies or R&D funding. It requires an environment where government and entrepreneurs form partnerships to bring technology to the market. Also Dutch government should take an active role in setting at least European standards for clean tech, as we’ve recently done for electric cars.

    If this is done wisely the above mentioned technologies have the potential improve air quality both in The Netherlands and worldwide. Improving air quality will decrease health care cost, save millions of people from air pollution related illness, increase agricultural production (one of our top sectors) and even stall climate change as a side effect…

    So let’s hope some we’ll see some Dutch clean tech on the Catwalk for Innovation next month.

    This post was originally witten for and published by TEDxBinnenhof. Thanks to my former collegues for pointing me to the companies and research mentioned in this post. And to Ivo Stroeken, Advisor Electric Transportation, and Max Herold, owner at Managementissues.com for critically reviewing draft versions.

  • Concept verkiezingsprogramma GroenLinks 2012: voorstel voor aanpassing bij de vervuiler betaalt

    In het concept verkiezingsprogramma van GroenLinks staat uiteraard dat GroenLinks een verdere vergroening van de economie nastreeft. Maatregel 1 en 10 onder B de vervuiler betaalt van het concept verkiezingsprogramma zou ik echter graag aangescherpt zien. Ik ben zelf niet bij het verkiezingscongres (andere verplichtingen), maar hieronder mijn voorstel voor een alternatiev tekst voor hoofstuk 1B, bij punt 1 en 10.

    Hoe luiden ze nu:

    1. Alle subsidies die niet passen in een duurzame economie worden afgebouwd. Resterende subsidies worden, waar mogelijk, vervangen door overheidsgaranties en –kredieten.

    10. Er worden geen vergunningen verstrekt voor boringen naar schaliegas zolang we onvoldoende weten over de risico’s voor mens en milieu. Ook bij andere risicovolle technieken staat het voorzorgsbeginsel centraal. Initiatiefnemers moeten kunnen aantonen dat hun techniek veilig is.

    Hoe zou ik ze graag willen zien (cursief is toevoeging op basis van avondje knutselen, dus is vast nog voor verbetering vatbaar):

    1. Alle subsidies en fiscale regels en investeringsarrangementen die niet passen in een duurzame economie worden afgebouwd. Resterende subsidies worden, waar mogelijk, vervangen door overheidsgaranties en –kredieten.

    10. Er worden geen vergunningen verstrekt voor boringen naar schaliegas zolang we onvoldoende weten over de risico’s voor mens en milieu. Ook bij andere risicovolle technieken staat het voorzorgsbeginsel centraal. Initiatiefnemers moeten kunnen aantonen dat hun techniek veilig is. De Nederlandse overheid sluit investeringen in schaliegas via Energiebeheer Nederland uit.

    Waarom?

    De formulering van 1 bevat een kleine voetangel. Het klinkt namelijk zo mooi, maar het werkt net als met de hypotheekrenteaftrek. Ministers van Financien hebbe deze de afgelopen jaren stelselmatig weigeren te beoordelen op effectiviteit. Het is juridisch gezien namelijk geen subsidie of belastingheffing, maar een aftrekpost. En het effect van aftrekposten wordt niet geevalueerd.

    Evenzo kan Bernard Wientjes (ondanks zijn oude uitspraak duurzaamheid = innovatie) rustig volhouden dat er geen sprake is van subsidies voor bv. fossiele energie. Economisch heeft hij ongelijk, fiscaal en juridisch heeft hij echter gelijk. Het gaat namelijk om fiscale voordelen (bv. vervroegd afschrijven van investeringen in kleine gasvelden), investeringsregelingen (bv. de risicodragende investeringen van Energiebeheer Nederland in exploratie en exploitatie van Nederlandse gas- en olievelden, dus ook van teerzandolie en in de toekomst van schaliegas) en degressieve tarieven (bv. van de energieheffing waar het idee is dat bedrijfsleven en particulieren beide 50% van de opbrengst ophoesten). Voor vergroening is het dus zaak om te zorgen dat ook fiscaal voordelige regels en investeringsregelingen aangepast worden. Dat is een taaier proces dan subsidies afschaffen, maar wel broodnodige voor een duurzame economie.

    Bij de huidige formulering van punt 10 weten olie- en gasbedrijven nog steeds dat ze voor 40% van het benodigde kapitaal voor de winning van schaliegas een beroep kunnen doen op de Nederlandse staat (zoals Nederland via EBN ook in de winning van teerzandolie in Schoonebeek investeert). Die investeringen zijn risicodragend, wat betekent dat de Nederlandse staat tot 40% (of minder als de staat een kleiner deel van het veld heeft) van het financiële risico van proefboringen (exploratie) en winning voor haar rekening neemt. Sinds de RSV affaire is de olie- en gasindustrie de enige sector die permanent op zulke ruimhartige risicodragende ondersteuning kan rekenen. Het lijkt me hoog tijd dat GroenLinks zich hard gaat maken om daar wat aan te doen. Dat zorgt meteen voor een stukje extra risico en onzekerheid voor fossiele grondstofwinning. Voor de leden die het belang daar neit van snappen: Ik denk dat ieder lid van Holland Solar gratis komt uitleggen wat extra risico doet met je business case…

    Het is wel zaak om nog na te denken over de manier waarop je de aardgasbaten regelt als EBN niet investeert in schaliegaswinning.

    De concept tekst voor een amendement van deze strekking vind je hier.