SCENES ABOUT ENERGY
SUSTAINABILITY
What do we want the Netherlands to look like in 40 years in
terms of sustainability (energy, cradle to cradle and
economics) and how are we going to realize this?
Wiebe Veldhuis
Vincent Visser
Thomas van Zonneveld
Mentors: J. Bijlsma, H van Vonderen
February 2015
Coördinating teachers: B. Toepoel, A. Colly, L. Sytsma
2
SCENES ABOUT ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY
Whilst sustainability is a growing focal point all over the world, a lot of investigation is needed. With
our research we want to try to change your minds to go fully green. We believe in a good future. We
cannot stand and watch and see how the earth is collapsing under our environmentally destroying
feet. Every contribution, no matter how small, is important. Not even half of our roofs have solar
panels. Not even half of our cars drive on electricity. We do not have an industry where recycled
material is used in reasonable quantities. We simply do not have that. But why actually do we not
have that? Would it not be the right thing to do? Could it not be profitable for our society and
economy?
Our interest includes three main areas on how we can change our nation, the Netherlands, to
become as sustainable as possible within approximately 40 years. The first subject is durable
(´green´) energy. In this part we want to see what is possible in the field of, for example, solar energy,
wind energy, blue energy, nuclear energy and more. What can we expect to find in/on our future
homes, is it going to be affordable and will it be worth it? The second subject is the circular economy,
or said differently; recycling. This part is about what we can reuse, what should be reused and what
sort of businesses are doing so. But beside this we tried to find information about the recycling of
things like solar panels and wind turbines but also cellphones. The third and last part is the economy
as a whole with the government included as well. Here we look for the answers for questions like
how can our economy influence the environment but also how the environment can influence the
economy. The government itself is also put to the test in how it could and should help the economy
in becoming sustainable. Every sub question of a part, but also the parts itself, start with a short
introduction and are followed by a conclusion.
This research is commissioned by the Ministry of Environment and Infrastructure of the Dutch
government aiming to find out how the youth sees the future and how younger people look upon
sustainability.
Can we achieve becoming sustainable?
Being completely sustainable is the goal of many countries. However, to achieve this, some
innovations and new techniques are necessary. Today, in 2015, there are enough ways to become
completely sustainable.
In terms of energy, we could combine different techniques to achieve a goal of using 100%
sustainable energy. With just only 1500 wind turbines we could already achieve our goal. However,
when you combine this with solar energy and biomass energy, we could agree with just a wind
turbine here and there.
In terms of cradle to cradle, we could like to achieve to only use reused products. We can reuse
everything. From phones and electronic devises to clothes, like jackets, trousers and jeans. We could
separate all of our garbage and burn it as a source of biomass, which is another way of gaining
energy.
To achieve our goals, the government has to help, of course. By giving grants and subsidizing solar
panels for example. Also companies have to make concessions, mostly with a positive effect. A green
production line can be subsidized and the sale will increase. And with a higher sale, a higher welfare
and a better “name” will be gained.
3
Table of contents
Introduction
Summary (Can we achieve becoming sustainable? )
Table of contents
page
page
page
[1]
What are our goals?
page 6
[1.1]
[1.2]
What do we think is sustainable?
What do we want the Netherlands to look like in 40 years in terms
of sustainability (energy, cradle to cradle and economics) and how
are we going to realize this?
page
page
[2]
How are we going to realize our goals?
page 9
[2.1]
[2.1.1]
[2.1.2]
[2.1.3]
[2.1.4]
[2.1.5]
[2.1.6]
3
3
4
7
8
What energy facilities can help us, to realize our goals and how?
What are the capabilities of wind energy?
What are the capabilities of solar energy?
What are the capabilities of nuclear energy?
What are the capabilities of blue energy?
How can we use geothermal sources as a future heat source?
What are the capabilities of hydrogen in terms of replacing it for
fossil fuels?
[2.1.7] What could the future bring us, in terms of biomass energy?
[2.1] Conclusion
page
page
Page
page
page
page
page
9
10
14
24
32
34
41
page
page
44
49
[2.2]
[2.2.1]
[2.2.2]
[2.2.3]
[2.2.4]
What can the cyclic economy do to help us realize our goals?
What is cradle to cradle?
What is urban mining?
What can we do with urban mining?
What non-recyclable materials do we use most, and how can we
still recycle them?
[2.2.5] In what ways do we have to change our behaviour so that we
would only have recyclable garbage left?
[2.2.6] What potential does the Netherlands have of becoming
significant in the recycling of products?
[2.2.7] How can we use the plastics in the oceans in a profitable way?
[2.2] Conclusion
page
Page
page
page
page
50
51
52
53
55
page
57
page
59
page
page
62
65
[2.3] How will the economy/government react to sustainability?
[2.3] Introduction
[2.3.1] In what ways can the government help us with the realization
of the Netherlands in becoming sustainable?
[2.3.2] Why or why not should the government give grants to companies
that produce in a green way?
[2.3.3] Which jobs/educations can/will help us in the development of a
sustainable society?
[2.3.4] Should companies manufacture in a durable way?
[2.3.5] Why would a sustainable country be positive for the economy?
[2.3] Conclusion
Page
page
page
66
67
68
page
72
page
76
page
Page
page
80
85
89
4
[3]
Can we realize our goals?
page 91
[3.1]
[3.2]
Conclusion, can we realize our goals?
Advices: how to change the current policy?
page
page
92
93
List of used figures
References
page
page
94
96
Supplements
[1]
Conversation with Micheal Saakes (blue energy )
[2]
Conversation with Gerrit Jan Valk (TNO)
[3]
Conversation with Darwind (recycling wind turbines)
[4]
Conversation with Windbrokers (recycling wind turbines)
page
page
page
page
page
106
106
109
110
112
5
Part [1]
What are our goals?
1.1
What do we think is sustainable?
1.2
What do we want the Netherlands to look like
in 40 years in terms of sustainability (energy,
cradle to cradle and economics) and how are
we going to realize this?
6
1.1
What do we think is sustainable?
Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and the environment can
exist in a productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of
present and future generations.1
For example, sustainability should not exhaust environmental energy sources like fossil fuels.
Thereby something sustainable should be recyclable, be there in unlimited numbers or it should be
inducible. This means that it will still be there for the next generations and thus has no negative
effects upon them.
So, something is sustainable if it contributes to a balance between ecological, economical and social
interests in the present as well as in the future. All developments that contribute to a healthy globe
with prosperous inhabitants and a good functioning ecosystem are sustainable.
7
1.2
What do we want the Netherlands to look
like in 40 years in terms of sustainability
(energy, cradle to cradle and economics)
and how are we going to realize this?
Our government, the Dutch government, states that they plan to fully replace fossil fuels with
sustainable fuels in the next 36 years (2050). This is our goal as well. We want to run the Netherlands
on sustainable energy only. This means we shall not use any gas anymore, nor are we going to use oil
to produce energy. Electricity, blue energy and water/wind energy will be sources that are going to
provide us with the energy we need, just to mention a few. We all know that the fossil fuels will run
out one day. Fortunately, there are more options and those options can save us. Without energy we
would be nowhere. We have evolved into energy consuming monsters, almost everywhere on the
world. Especially here in Europe energy is consumed, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. At this
speed, some say that all fossil fuels will be gone within approximately 75 years.1 This is why we want
to replace all fossil fuels by inducible fuels, or fuels that are unlimited, within 40 years. (but faster, is
preferable)
In terms of cradle to cradle we want the Netherlands to work with recyclable products only, and that
all those products will actually be recycled. We are already using recyclable products. Plastic bottles,
glass and paper for example. But a lot of products are not recyclable yet. We want to, or stop using
those and replace them with products that are recyclable, or we want to develop a method with
which we can start recycling them. Besides that, there are many products that could be recycled but
that almost nobody knows of. Also good to know is that we do not support recycling only. Also reusing products is of high importance to us. Re-using products might even be better...
If we look at the economy, we want all companies to fully support a sustainable Netherlands. Plus,
we want that education is looking more at sustainability so that in the future a sustainable nation is
realisable more easily. Imagine a nation in which sustainability can grow without any delay. In the
economy of today, the companies are a huge enemy of sustainability. For them, it is too expensive or
too much work. That is one of the reasons why education should focus more on a sustainable nation
or maybe even a sustainable world. If more educations, and thus people, are focussed on
sustainability, than the development of this phenomenon will increase rapidly and newer, smarter
and cheaper ways to make the Netherlands sustainable can be invented. Because of this, people will
become more aware of and interested in how the Netherlands should actually look like: sustainable.
8
Part [2]
How are we going to
realize our goals?
Chapter 2.1
What energy facilities can help us to realize our
goals and how?
_____________________________________________
2.1.1
2.1.2
2.1.3
2.1.4
2.1.5
2.1.6
2.1.7
2.1
What are the capabilities of wind energy?
What are the capabilities of solar energy?
What are the capabilities of nuclear energy?
What are the capabilities of blue energy?
How can we use geothermal sources as a
future heat source?
What are the capabilities of hydrogen in
terms of replacing it for fossil fuels?
What could the future bring us, in terms of
biomass energy?
Conclusion
9
2.1.1
What are the capabilities of wind energy?
Wind energy as how it is today
Wind energy is one of our major sources of energy along with solar/geothermal energy and biofuel. The Dutch government claims that biofuels and wind turbines have the best future prospects. The Netherlands
already had a production capacity in wind energy of 2693 mega watt
(1MW = a million watts) at the end of 2013[1] and this number is still rising.
Currently we have 2000 (onshore) wind turbines which account for only
4% of the total demand for electricity. This is of course really low. If we
want to achieve something with the wind, then we have to step it up a
notch. The question is: can we do this within a certain amount of time?
If we want wind energy to have a noticeable share in the total energy
production, than we have to increase the profitability by making them
more efficient and less expensive. Besides, it is a good idea if we can get
the civilians of the Netherlands so far that they like the idea of wind
turbines in their backyard. We can realize the latter by making wind
turbines more friendly to residents.
Figure 1: windturbines
How do they work
If we want to improve the efficiency of the wind turbines, then we have to know where to start. Well,
we can compare a wind turbine to a fan, working in the opposite direction. A fan uses energy to
make wind, and a wind turbine uses wind to make energy. Wind is a form of kinetic energy (energy
derived from moving material). When the wind makes contact with the blades of the wind turbine, it
transfers some, not all, of its kinetic energy to the blades which make them rotate. The blades ensure
that a shaft starts spinning which is connected to the turbine or generator where the kinetic energy is
converted into electricity which we can use to light our houses for example. [2]
The amount of electric energy that a wind turbine can get out of all the caught kinetic energy is what
we call the capacity factor. Or said differently: what it does, to what it could have done. Another
word that can be used for ´capacity factor´ is efficiency. Ten years ago the capacity factor was about
25% which is nowadays sometimes 50%! [4] (35% on average)[5]
Next to the capacity factor we have the capability factor: how much kinetic energy we extract from
all the kinetic energy in the wind facing the wind turbine. To make the distinction between the
capacity and capability factor clear, here is an example.
´´All the kinetic energy the wind can provide us equals 100%. We have a wind turbine which extracts
80% of this kinetic energy (capability factor). In the process we lose another 20% which leaves 60%.
(60%/80%)×100 = capacity factor = 75%.
(This would be an extraordinary good wind turbine because normally the capacity factor is about
35%)
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Advantages/Disadvantages
Advantages [3]
It is obvious that an advantage of wind energy is that it is durable. It is unlimited. Second, is that it is
good for the environment, no CO2 is produced and or released into the atmosphere. Also, wind
turbines are very efficient talking about transport. They can be placed literally almost everywhere
minimize the costs and energy loss by means of transport. Wind energy is also really fast energy. By
this I mean it is easy to produce. Take some wind, blades and a turbine and you are ready to go. A
wind farm can be placed within half a year.
Disadvantages [3]
People do not like looking and listening to wind turbines. The people placing those terror wind
turbines do take the residents in account. They try to place as carefully as possible. Regarding the
noise, modern wind turbines are almost deadly silent at a distance of 250-300 meter. Luckily,
because they produce 96 decibels if standing next to one of them. Looking at economic prospective
there are downsides as well. Producing a wind turbine brings relatively high costs. Besides that it
takes a lot of time to earn that money back and start making a profit. The last disadvantage is that
birds do not always fly around the wind turbine but prefer to go straight through which does not
always end well.
What are the possibilities
Now we know how they work, we can look at how to improve them. The first thing you think of is
probably the size of the blades. With bigger blades you can ´´catch´´ more wind and convert this
extra kinetic energy into extra electrical energy. But before this is possible you have to enlarge the
whole structure which is the second possible improvement.
The downside of these first two things is that the bigger blades cause more noise, and besides that,
bigger wind turbines means more costs and a decreased view. We still have to keep in mind that
there is a chance that the costs for enlarging them is higher at a certain point than the extra revenue
we will receive. This will result in a loss. Thereby, rotors have to deal with two main powers. Torque
and thrust. Torque is what makes the rotors turn. More torque equals more energy. But also: more
torque equals more thrust. And thrust is what makes things fall over. Really basically; torque is good
and thrust is not. This is a major challenge for engineers. The modern wind turbines deal with a
thrust as strong as five F-18 engines trying to pull the thing down. [4]
A third improvement could be the efficiency and profitability of the generator. We rely on the
universities if talking about making the generators more profitable. A result of this last point is that
we can produce the same amount of energy with less turbines and thus less wind turbines or, if we
choose to keep the same amount of wind turbines, we can generate even more energy than ever
before.
Next to wind turbines there are many projects working on wind
energy. There is a new blade-less wind turbine device by Saphon. [7]
The design is inspired by the sailboat and is likely to significantly
increase the efficiency of current wind power conversion devices.
The company is already looking for manufacturing partners to bring
the turbine to market. Saphon is not the first to engage in exploring
the bladeless turbine idea, Nikola Tesla also experimented with
similar bladeless technology in 1913.
Figure 2: the Saphon windturbine
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Last but definitely not least, we can improve the capability factor. Unfortunately the capability factor
of the imaginary wind turbine in the example used before (75% capability factor) cannot be improved
and here is why: In 1919 a German physicist found out, with solid math, that we can only extract 59%
of the kinetic energy from the wind. This ´law´ was published by Albert Betz, who was a German
physicist and a pioneer of wind turbine technology. This ´law´ is called the Betz´ Law.[5] So 59% is the
most you can possibly get out of the winds kinetic energy. Explaining or proving this shows difficult
but fact is that Betz was right. It is easy to understand that we will never be able to turn 100% of the
wind into energy. Because that would mean that on the ´back of the wind turbine´ no kinetic energy
would be left in the wind. No velocity left in the wind. No wind. Dead calm. That the wind stops
flowing when it reaches the wind turbine means that ´new´ wind is less able to reach the wind
turbine resulting in a decreasing capability factor. The capability factor will continue decreasing until
it reaches somewhere near 59%. Fact is; we are still far from getting there.
What can we expect in the (near) future
We now know what is not possible: wind turbines and their blades cannot be infinitely large and we
cannot extract 100% of the kinetic energy from the wind. But what then is possible?
A thing that we did not mention before is that a lot of wind turbines will probably be placed offshore.
There is a lot of space, no people nagging about their view and there is more wind than onshore.
Various techniques are being used to install those offshore facilities. These include artificial islands
and wind turbines on floating foundations anchored at depths of up to 60m, similar to oil rigs. This
plan will only be continued if the people opposing wind energy do not persuade the government to
drop the project.
Luckily, the odds that wind energy will be put on hold are very little because wind energy is the
fastest developing renewable energy source. In 2009 we were the country placing relatively most
wind turbines in the world even though China is still in the lead. For its part, the EWEA (European
Wind Energy Association) estimates that by 2030, so within 40 years, wind energy could supply 2635% of electricity in Europe [6] and thus the Netherlands. In 2020 the Netherlands aim for 13%
(nowadays 4%) from which a third will be produced offshore.[6]
So can wind turbines make a significant contribution to the production of electricity? Yes, they can,
but not yet. A new type of wind turbine, the ladder mill, actually can. A ladder mill is a wind turbine
operating at an altitude up to 9000 meter where wind speeds can be 20 times as high as at sea level
and produce an estimated 100 MW (that is the equivalent of 70 regular wind turbines)! [6]
Regarding the size of the wind turbines, they will most likely not increase. As explained the size
depends on the thrust and engineers are not yet that far to increase them again. The chances that
wind turbines will decrease on the contrary are present because the wind speed offshore is higher
and thus more torque and thrust will be faced.
The capability factor will logically not be increased to above 59% and the capacity factor, or
efficiency, will not rise to a 100%. Considering Saphons bladeless wind energy converter, the
efficiency could increase with a mind-blowing 130%[8] increasing the capacity factor from 35% to
80%.[7] About the capability factor nothing can be said because the project is still in the preface. Also,
the focus lies on the offshore projects, therefore the wind turbines itself are not being improved that
much anymore.
At last, the costs, what it is all about. A Saphons bladeless wind turbine converter is believed to be
45% cheaper. A wind turbine costs about 750.000 to a million euro, so between 410 and 550
thousand is the aim for in the future for a saphon converter. Wind energy itself can also become less
12
expensive. In the next two decades the price of wind energy will drop with an estimated 20% to
30%.[7]
A very concrete plan here in the Netherlands is that
in the future, offshore projects in the North Sea
could add to the number of wind farms, using
existing facilities and thus reducing investment
costs. Plans are being studied to build 200 turbines,
with at least 280 MW, in the Beatrice oil field. Each
wind turbine will have 60 meter blades that can
withstand the North Sea winds.
In 2015, 86 wind turbines will be place in the
Ijsselmeer. This project, the Windpark
Figure 3: a large-scale wind farm on the North Sea,
Noordoostpolder, will be capable to provide
90 km north-west of the island of Borkum.
electricity for 400.000 households in the
Netherlands. While there is much resistance, the
project was given a green light. The first turbines will start operating in 2015
Haliade™ 150-6MW
The Haliade is at the moment the newest type of wind turbine with a height of 100 meter, without
the blades. With the blades, that have a diameter of 150 meter, the wind turbine will be 187 meter.[7]
These wind turbines are for offshore usage. One wind turbine can provide electricity for 5.000
households. If we want the Netherlands to run on wind energy, according to the CBS, the
Netherlands counts 7.438.000 households, we only need around 1500 wind turbines. [7]
Vestas has also started producing new wind turbines. One of these turbines is able to provide
electricity for 7500 households. That means, less than 1000 wind turbines could achieve our goals in
terms of electricity.
Conclusion
In the near future wind energy shall not have a huge impact on our electronic lives because the
efficiency will not rise enough within a small period of time. However, the developments will go
faster and faster as time goes by, resulting in more efficient and less expensive wind turbines which
can change our energy choices dramatically. Thereby we did not even include the ladder mills and
maybe even Saphons energy converter yet.
With the use of onshore and also offshore wind farms we can produce a lot of resident friendly wind
energy which is more efficient and less expensive than ever before. Wind energy is a serious future
energy prospect. Therefore, wind energy should be supported even more by the Dutch government.
Instead of placing wind turbines in recreational areas, place them offshore. Or replace all the current
wind turbines for the Vestas wind turbine.
Fun facts
1. Wind energy is actually a form of solar energy. The sun heats the atmosphere in an uneven way
which causes wind. Also, the sun makes the earth spin, which is an even more important cause for
our energy producing wind.
2. The GWEC (Global Wind Energy Council) controls a capacity of 400 GW in wind energy at the
moment. That is an astonishing 4 billion watts! (net worth = ±3.5 billion euro)
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2.1.2
What are the capabilities of solar energy?
The earth is absorbing energy from the
sun. Actually, the earth is absorbing lots
and lots of energy from the sun. The earth
is absorbing an average of 174.7 Watts
every m2.1 This average is estimated for
over the whole world. For the
Netherlands, with a surface of 41.526 km²
(41.526.000 m2) this will be 7.254.592.200
W, 7.25*109 W. In one year, this will be a
total of 2.288*1017 J, 6.36*1010 kWh.
This could be enough for 18 million
households (with an average usage of
3500kWh).
Figure 4: a Concentrated PhotoVoltaic (CPV) panel
What is solar energy?
Solar energy is all the energy that is dissipated by the sun. Only a part of this radiation is reaching the
earth´s atmosphere and only a fraction of that is reaching the earth itself. Only a part of this fraction
is used as an energy source nowadays.
There are many ways in which energy from the sun can be used on the earth. Most common are
photovoltaic modules and heating installations. But while there are numerous ways to use solar
energy, here are some possibilities: use solar energy for cooking (solar ovens), heating water (solar
boilers) and for example the distillation of water to disinfect it.
Besides these “active” ways of using solar energy, there is also a passive way to use solar energy. You
have to think of heating houses, using the light from the sun, and using the sun as a heater for your
house.
Solar panels
A solar panel is a panel that converts light into energy. There are many types of solar panels, but the
most common nowadays is the PV-panel. A PV-panel consists of multiple photovoltaic (PV) modules
combined together. There are many different photovoltaic modules. The principle is most often the
same but the materials that the modules are made of differ. That
has to do with innovation and higher efficiencies.
How does a PV-panel (solar panel) work?
A PV-panel consists of multiple photovoltaic (PV) modules
combined together. So to explain how a PV-panel works, we will
discuss the working of photovoltaic modules.
A photovoltaic module consists of a silicon plate. Silicon does not
conduct energy. An electron that is hit by solar energy, will be
shot from the silicon, but it will replace itself into the silicon again.
To change this, phosphor and boron are added. Phosphor on top,
boron on the bottom. Phosphor has a needless electron, boron
Figure 5: a simplified PV panel
somehow misses one electron. Therefore, the electrons from
phosphor will move, all the way through the silicon, to the boron. The phosphor will eventually
become too positive and the boron will become too negative and the “transport” of electrons will
stop. The silicon has become a semi-conductor.
14
When sunlight hits the semi-conductor, an electron from the phosphor is shot from the phosphor. It
will then move through the silicon to boron. But boron already has enough electrons. Therefore this
electron can be used as energy. When multiple modules are combined, it is called a PV-panel; a
photovoltaic panel.
The upside of this panel, is negative, the underside is positive. If you connect both sides, there will be
electricity.
How much energy can solar panels provide nowadays? (the four common panels)
The amount of energy that is generated by solar panels is depending on a lot of factors.
Of course, the amount of energy that is generated by solar panels is depending on what type of solar
panel you are using. Nowadays, there are roughly four types of solar panels: mono crystalline-, poly
crystalline-, amorphous- and CIGS solar panels.
Amorphous and CIGS panels are a type of “thin film panels”. Thin film panels are being developed
nowadays and instead of solid silicon they consist of silicon powder or other substances like CIGS
(copper indium gallium selenite). To show the difference between those four panel types, here are
the panels pictured.
1
Mono crystalline solar panels are solar panels consisting of
solar cells (photovoltaic (PV) modules) made up from one crystal of
silicon. They have the highest yield and are deep blue/ black.
2
Poly crystalline solar panels are solar panels consisting of
solar cells made up from multiple arm crystals of silicon. The colour
is light/dark blue.
3
Amorphous solar panels does not consist of silicon crystals,
but of powder. These panels are the newest type of solar panels and are being developed at the
moment of speaking (thin film solar panels). They are very thin,
“bendable” and unbreakable.
4
CIGS solar panels consist of copper-indium-gallium-selenite
instead of silicon. These panels are solid black. This is, and so are
amorphous panels, a thin film panel. It is very thin, “bendable” and
unbreakable.
The yield of these four panels is different. Mono crystalline panels are the best, amorphous is
the worst. The difference in it is yield is as following (measured by the incoming light)2:
Mono crystalline solar panels
Poly crystalline solar panels
Amorphous solar panels
CIGS solar panels
Figure 6: four
types of solar
panels
Yielding approximately 14-20 %
Yielding approximately 12-16 %
Yielding approximately 6-10 %
Yielding approximately 13-15 %
Besides the type of panel, the energy generated depends on the following factors.
The upward angle of inclination from incoming sunlight, the sideway angle, the underlying system
that transports, stores and converts the energy, the solar irradiation (average 174.7 Watts every m2),
the amount of sun-hours and the temperature.
15
The amount of energy produced by a solar panel differs from panel
to panel and is given in Wp; Watt peaks. This number indicates the
maximum of watts that can be generated. To calculate the kWh, we
have to use a conversion factor. This is different for each country
and has to do with the amount of sun-hours and light intensity. For
example, on the equator, this number is higher than on the poles.
The light intensity on the equator is higher than on the poles. For
the Netherlands, this number is 0.853 (see table)
To give an indication, here are some solar panels with their
Figure 7: the Indak Solar panel
maximum power (under the optimal circumstances). These panels
are for sale and are sold in the Netherlands.
The first panel, the Indak solar, can be used instead of roof tiles due to its dimensions. You can see
this in figure 7.
1 c21e tiles indak solar
Mono crystalline solar panels
300 Wp  255 kWh
300*0.85=255. This number
(0.85) indicates how much of
the capacity of the panels are
used in the Netherlands, see
the text above.
2 LG Solar 270 Wp mono
Mono crystalline solar panels
270 Wp  229.5 kWh
3 Hyundai Solar MG245 poly
Poly crystalline solar panels
245 Wp  208,25 kWh
4 TSMC Solar 140Wp dunne
CIGS solar panels
140 Wp  119 kWh
film
1
2
3
Figure 8: four examples of solar panels
16
4
What if everyone in the Netherlands would place solar panels on their roofs?
If everyone in the Netherlands would place solar panels on their roofs, they could provide
themselves with energy. Here is one example made with the second solar panel mentioned above,
the LG Solar 270 Wp mono.
An average family, 2.2 people, uses 3500 kWh. With the LG solar, there are 3500/229.5=16 panels
needed. According to the producer of the second solar panel, LG, the dimensions are 1640mm x
1000mm x 35mm. This means, 1.64m2 for 229.5 kWh.4
16*1.64= 26.24m2 is needed in solar panels to completely yield all the energy out of solar panels.
According to Holland solar, mentioned on the website of Nuon, the available roof surface is 26.4m2
Theoretically, it is possible to get this done. Practically, it is not. Why not? Because solar panels are,
most often, rectangles. You have to place all the solar panels in such a way that they use all the space
most efficiently and while you, not yet, cannot cut the solar panels into shape, this does not seem
possible. However, at the moment, people are investigating flexible solar panels and solar panel
paint. Therefore, in the nearby future it should be possible to use all available space on your house or
roof.
A problem that occurs here are the apartment buildings. The roofs are not capable of gaining energy
for all the people inside the apartment. However, other roofs are.
For example, what if every big industrial buildings would place solar panels on their roofs? If large
areas like industrial buildings are used, this could cope with the problems.
If we could use all the areas shined upon by the sun, we would achieve an enormous yield. For
example planes or boats. Both of them are operating already, we will discuss them later. But instead
of planes and boats, why not use the surface from sea containers? Most of the time they are outside
in the sun and on the sea. This could provide a big energy boost for ships but while we have
Rotterdam, also for the Netherlands. This could also help us in realising our goals.
17
Figure 9: a house full of solar panels
What does the future look like for solar panels? 5
There is a great future for solar panels. There is a lot of
innovation in this area and the panels are getting better and
better. The production of solar energy is growing and the
prices are lowering.
The future is looking great. At the moment, there are CPV
systems. This stands for Concentrated PhotoVoltaic. With
lenses or dishes, the sunlight is converted to smaller beams
(see figure 10). The light could have the intensity of 1000 suns
and therefore, the energy in this beam will increase. The
Figure 10: illustration of solar panels using dishes
efficiency can reach up to 40% by 2017. These systems are
way too expensive and too big to be placed on roofs, but for example in rural areas, they can do their
job. The Amonix 7700 solar power generator
(53kW) is a working example of this principle
(see figure 12). The picture at the beginning of
this chapter, is a CPV panel. Of course, the
heat is a problem, because the heat will
increase as well.
A solution for the extreme heat generated is
the CPVT, the Concentrated photovoltaic and
thermal or Combined Heat And
Power Solar (CHAPS). In these
systems, the heat can be used for
district heating, water heating and
air conditioning, desalination or
process heat.
Another future panel is the multiFigure 12: the Amonix 7700 with an electric Tesla Roadster
junction photovoltaic panel. In
these panels, there are more PV cells above each other; there are more layers. This
combined with CHAPS and an infinite number of layers, the cell efficiency could be 87%.
Figure 11: illustration
of multi-junction
photovoltaic
Do solar panels fit into our future plans?
Solar panels are very sustainable and there are no considerable disadvantages. But the
advantage is definitely considerable: there is no CO2 emission and no harmful waste, the
prices are not that high and they do not use materials from the earth like wood or oil.
Ironically, the worst disadvantage is the gained energy. This energy has to be stored in gigantic
batteries. While batteries are not ecologically friendly, people can build gigantic storages lakes: with
the, needless energy, water can be pumped into a lake at higher level. When you need the energy,
you open the locks from the lake so that the kinetic energy from the water will be transferred into
electrical energy again and you can use the electrical energy.
However, before solar panels can become the future, some problems have to be solved. For example
the efficiency. The predictions from the international energy agency displays that the highest yields
for silicon panels will become 24% in 2017. From that moment, other panels/system will become
more interesting. For example, efficiencies to 50% (HCPV, a CPV system), and 28% (tandem cells)6,7.
Therefore, solar panels definitely fit into our future plans.
18
Solar boilers
What is a solar boiler and how does it work?
A solar boiler is a device that uses the sunlight, to warm up water that is used to warm up houses,
swimming pools and other things. Solar boilers can also be used to warm up the underground water
beneath a house in the summer, and with the help of heat pump systems you can heat up your
house in the winter. There is, in this way, no energy needed to warm up your house or your water.
The concept of a solar boiler is very simple. Something made of a metal material, is heated by the
sun. Water is flows by this heated material and therefore, the water will be heated. There are many
different versions of boilers, but the even-plate-boiler is the boiler which is most commonly used in
the Netherlands.
Figure 13: an even plate boiler
The sunlight hits the tank. The black absorbent, black because black
absorbs the most heat, is heated. The pipes with water beneath this
absorbent warm up. This water is used for anything you want to use it for.
The whole tank is insulated. Therefore, most of the heat is absorbed by
the plate and therefore in the water. If you install such a system, with an
extra tank for the heated water, in a house, your water is completely
heated by the sun.
With a little pump, the water keeps moving and circulating through the
system. When the sun has not got enough power to warm the water, for
example in the winter of when it is cloudy, an original boiler will heat or
help heat the water.
Is it necessary to place a solar boiler in every house?
According to the Dutch government, a solar boiler with a collection surface
of 3m2 saves up to 150m3 to 200m3 of natural gas.8 The total amount of
Figure 14: an even plate boiler in a
households in the Netherlands on 1 January 2013 was 7.570.000. If every
house
household should have a solar boiler, 7570000*150=1.14*109 m3 of natural
gas could be saved.
By burning 1m3 of natural gas, 1.8 kg CO2 will be emitted. With all transports, productions, cleanings,
bringing it to pressure and the storage, the total CO2 emission could become 2.2kg for every m3
natural gas.9
1.14*109 m3 * 2.2= 2.49*109 kg of CO2 could be saved every year with solar boilers.
In 2012, the average amount of CO2 emission in the Netherlands is 182,078 million tonnes (measured
over multiple years) 10.
2.49*109/1000 = 2.49*106=2,49 ton. 100(2.49/182,078)=1.37%
Solar boilers could save 1.4% of the total CO2 emission in Holland.
So, is it necessary to place a solar boiler in every house? Yes, because we could save a lot of CO2
emission with such a simple invention.
19
Do solar boilers fit into our future plans?
Solar boilers are sustainable. Solar boilers do not need any materials from the earth, except the
materials for making the boiler once. They do not need fuel, they are the fuel in some way.
The energy provided by solar boiler is, for such a simple device, quite big. While the energy is in
heated water, we cannot use the energy for something else, which is actually the only disadvantage.
For using the energy for something else, you would need a convertor. However, while we can save
1.37% of the total CO2 emission, solar boilers fit into our future plans.
What can we do with passive solar energy?
What is passive solar energy?
Solar panels and solar boilers are two types of active solar energy. The energy of the sun is
transferred into something else (electrical energy of heated water). If you use the sun just on it is
own, without transferring the energy or without the need of devices, we call it passive. If you do not
have a heater in your house, you use the energy from the sun to warm your house, without doing
anything for it, then it is passive. In modern buildings, there are a lot of possibilities to save energy,
just by the architecture of the house.
What can you do to save energy in a passive way?
Nowadays, passive solar energy is used in all modern houses. The most crucial is the architecture of
the house. If your roof is pointed south under an angle of 35 degrees, solar panels can achieve
relatively a much higher yield compared to the north. Therefore, most new build houses are built
with the angle of 35 degrees.
While there is more sun on the south, most living rooms in modern houses are build southwards.
There is less energy needed to warm up the house, because the sun shines into the house. To
achieve this, you can also use mirrors.
Another idea is to use trees. In the summer, trees will stop the sunlight from shining into your house
and making it too hot. In the winter, the trees will lose their leafs and the sun is able to shine through
the trees making your house warmer.
Figure 15: examples of passive solar energy
20
Solar towers
Now that we have talked about solar panels, solar boilers and passive solar energy, there is another
way of gaining energy from the sun. It is using solar towers. There are roughly two types of towers.
The first is the solar power tower, the second is the solar updraft tower.
The solar power tower
The solar power tower consists of a huge amount of mirrors. These mirrors focus all their reflected
sunlight to the top of a tower, in the middle. This tower contains mostly water. Because of the
extreme heat produced by all the
mirrors together, the water will
vaporize. This vaporized water will
be guided through a series of pipes
and powers turbines that will
therefore produce electricity. The
water will be guided again into the
tower where it cools down. Then,
the process is complete. This
happens all the time, so there is a
constant power supply. Only at
night, there will be no power.
This process is exactly the same as
in a solar boiler.
At the moment, there are some
power plants that are operating
using this principle. For example:
Figure 16: Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the California Mojave Desert
Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the
California Mojave Desert. It contains 173.500 heliostats, which are mirrors, placed in an area of 1420
ha. The total plant produces 440 MW, enough for 140.000 households in California.11
In figure 17 you can see the solar beams being reflected to the tower. It is the PS10 solar power plant
with a power output of 11MW.12
Figure 17: the PS10 solar power plant
21
The solar updraft tower13
The solar updraft tower consists of the principle of a hot air balloon. When air is heated, its density
will decrease. Therefore, it will rise, just like a hot air balloon. When you heat air, it rises.
If you heat air and use some turbines, power could be generated. This is the principle of the updraft
tower.
While the idea is good, the eventual power supply is very low compared to its costs, as shown by a
prototype tower, built in Spain. It has a tower of 194.6 meter and a collector radius of 122 meter. It
produces 50 kW.
According to calculations, it is estimated that a 100MW power plant would require a 1,000 m tower
and a collector area of 20 km2. A 200 MW tower with the same tower would require a collector with
an area of about 38 square kilometres.
A 200MW power station will provide enough electricity for around 200,000 typical households and
will abate over 900,000 tons of greenhouse producing gases from entering the environment
annually.
Figure 18: a sketch of the solar updraft tower
22
Does solar energy fit into our future plans?
The development of solar panels with more and more yield is continuing and people are getting
more and more aware of the capabilities of solar energy. This is a good development, solar energy is
capable of becoming very significant in our nearby future. There is almost no emission of toxic
gasses, the yield is quite high and, when installed, you do not have to do anything for it. Except for
cleaning and maintaining it, of course. Besides the solar panels, the solar boilers are worth their
investment as well. Using the power of the sun to heat your water does definitely fit into our future
plans (less emission for heating water but the same heated water) and so does passive solar energy
(without doing actually anything, heating and lighting your house). It could be used even more, for
example in apartment buildings and rented houses. While people do not want to invest money in
somebody else´s house the owner should do so.
All these ways to use the energy from the sun, can be combined in houses, cars, boats, planes,
whatever you can imagine.
The Solar Impulse, flies only on solar
panels, day and night without a drop
of fuel (figure 19)
Figure 19: the Solar Impulse
The MS Tûranor Planet Solar sails only on solar panels. In
May 2012, it became the first solar electric vehicle to
circumnavigate the globe (figure 20).
Figure 21: MS Tûranor Planet Solar
The Nuna 7 (figure 21) drives by the sun only. It
is made by students from the technical
university of Delft. The left car, the Stella, was
made by the technical university of Eindhoven.
And it is not something for famous universities.
Even the Marne College is building a solar boats
every two years to race against other countries.
Figure 20: Stella and the Nuna 7
So, does solar energy fit into our future plans? Yes, it definitely does.
23
2.1.3
What are the capabilities of nuclear
energy?
What is nuclear energy?
Nuclear energy is a way of manufacturing energy in which atomic
reactions are involved. These reactions occur in nuclear reactors. The
energy that is generated with those reactions comes in heat. This
heat is converted to electrical energy by conventional ways. At the
moment of speaking there are two types of nuclear energy. Nuclear
fission and nuclear fusion.
Nuclear fission
What is nuclear fission and how does it work?
Figure 22: nuclear energy
Nuclear fission is a way of nuclear energy whereby one atomic
nucleus hits a neutron so the nucleus splits into two atomic nuclei, two or three neutrons and
energy. The mass of the first nucleus and the neutron is more than the two nuclei and the neutrons
that arise. The mass that has been lost, is converted into energy. You have to use an unstable
nucleus; a nucleus that will disintegrate
very easily when it collides with a
neutron. A good nucleus is uranium
235; an isotope of stable uranium. The
principle of nuclear fission will be like
this:
U-235 is an unstable nucleus. When
you shoot a slow moving neutron on
this nucleus, the U-235 will be too
Figure 23: nuclear fission
unstable (U*) and it will disintegrate in
another nucleus and three neutrons.
The reaction:
92
235
U + 01n → 92236U* → 3692Kr + 56141Ba +3 01n (the most common reaction)
The weight of a 235-U nucleus is 235.04393u, the weight of 92-Kr is 91,926156u, the weight of 141Ba is 140,914411 and the weight of one neutron is 1,008665. This means that we start the reaction
with a total weight of 236,052595u. This ´u´ is a number used to indicate the mass of atoms and
molecules. 1 u = 1.660538921 * 10-27kg. The total weight after the reaction is 235,866862u. This
means that a weight of 0.186033u is lost. This weight is converted into energy. You can compute this
energy with Einstein´s famous formula: E=mc2. However, to convert this directly into the right unit,
we will use a other way.
The energy that is generated is: (0.186033*931,49)=173,28MeV=173,28 * 106 eV= 173,28 * 106 *
1.60217653*10-19 =2.77*10-11J. One u can be transferred into 931.49MeV. That is where that number
comes from. One MeV is 1,602 177 33×10-13 J.
There is not a lot of energy generated with one reaction. However, in a nuclear reactor there will be
a lot of reactions per second. This is the reason why nuclear reactors can produce a lot of energy.
24
The neutrons that arise from this reaction can be used for the next reaction. These nucleuses are
going extremely fast, one of the arisen neutrons will be slowed down by a moderator (water or
carbon). This neutron will again react with another U-235 nucleus and the reaction will occur again.
The other two neutrons will be absorbed by control rods, for example, u-238. This U-238 will then
disintegrate into plutonium which is used in atomic bombs. Because there are exactly enough
neutrons at the perfect speed to react, the reaction can go on and on, until all the U-235 have
reacted.
What makes this source of energy dangerous?
The reaction mentioned above will produce energy. Besides that, some other nucleuses and
neutrons will arise. These reaction products are the danger of this type of energy. Kr-92, Ba-141 and
U-235/238 and plutonium are radioactive . Because of the fact that more neutrons have arisen then
necessary, it could become a chain reaction if the moderator and u-238 do not do their job properly.
238/235
U, 92Kr and 141Ba are radioactive isotopes from uranium, krypton and barium. These isotopes
will disintegrate to ´lower´ atoms. by all these disintegrations, a bit of radiation will be sent out.
These atoms will be radioactive for a very long time because of their hemi time. The hemi time for
plutonium (an arisen particle because of the radiation) and 235/238U are respectively 24.000,
4.470.000.000 and 704.000.000 years. All those years, the materials should be hidden for people who
want to steal it. After those years, it is still radioactive. It has only lost half the radiation it once had.
Besides that, when one of the arisen neutrons (slow or fast moving) hits the 238U atom, this uranium
will disintegrate into plutonium. Plutonium is used in atomic bombs. For some countries, this is an
advantage. For others countries, it is a disadvantage. It is whether or not you want to build an atomic
bomb. If you want to, you need plutonium. If you do not want people to build an atomic bomb, you
do not want nuclear fission.
Neutrons arise by the fission of 235-U. To start the reaction mentioned above, you need one slow
moving neutron. However, three fast moving
neutrons have risen. These neutrons are captured by
the moderator and are slowed down so that exactly
one neutron will have the right speed to react again.
The other two neutrons are captured by the U-235,
and U-238 will fall to Plutonium. When the reactor
keeps itself to this principle, everything is fine and
the reactor is critical.
When the U-238 or the moderator do not behaving
normally, it could occur that there are more neutrons
are slowed down. Now the reactor will be
supercritical. As a result of all those slow moving
Figure 24: a nuclear chain reaction
neutrons, the reaction will go faster and faster and
there will be too many reactions. The amount of
reactions per second grows and grows until the reactor explodes, or there will be a meltdown.
A meltdown is a very dangerous situation in a fission reactor. During a meltdown, the reactor is not
cooled down enough. Therefore, the fuel rods will melt and become something like a lava-substance.
This substance is extremely hot and it consists of uranium, plutonium, krypton and barium; all
radioactive. Because of the extreme temperature of this substance, it can melt through the reactor
into the earth and into the environment.
25
Pressure is also one of the dangers of nuclear fission. Most reactors use water as a cooling liquid, but
because of the boiling point of water, it will vaporize at 100 degrees Celsius. While most reactors are
much warmer than a 100 degrees Celsius, the water has to be compressed to extreme pressures so
that the water will not vaporise. Now it is also possible a leak occurs which causes the reactor to
explode.
What does the future look like for nuclear fission? 1
At the moment of speaking, many countries are working on thorium reactors. In
these reactors, uranium is replaced by thorium. These reactors are called liquid
fluoride thorium reactors (LFTR´s). Fluoride salts are mixed with thorium. When a
neutron is fired onto thorium,
thorium will change into U-233
and it will send out two electrons (β--).
When another neutron is shot onto this U-233, this uranium will disintegrate to
two other nucleuses, some neutrons and energy. The hemitime of the nucleus
which will arise with these reactions is much shorter than those from nucleus from
the reaction with 235U, mentioned earlier. There is also no plutonium for atomic
bombs and there are less radioactive waste products because there is not a lot of
uranium.
While the fluoride salts are still liquid at high temperatures, it is not necessary to
raise the pressure inside the reactor, which makes it safer. These reactors also
contain some “safety systems”. When the power supply to the reactor stops, the
temperature will rise, because of the uncontrolled reactions. But when the
temperature rises, the salt will expand, the density of the uranium in the fluid will
drop and the reaction will stop by itself.
Another advantage is that all substances are liquid. When the power supply stops,
a frozen plug in the bottom of the reactor (see figure 25), will melt. All the liquid
Figure 25: an illustration of a
substances will flow into a tank beneath the reactor. This tank can be closed and
liquid fluoride thorium reactor
because of this, it is not possible to have meltdown.
(LFTR)
Another advantage: there is four times more thorium availably on the earth than
uranium.
Because we know how it works and because of the fact that we handle fission reactions, nuclear
fission will, and already is, become significant for the future.
26
Does nuclear fission fit into our future plans?
Nuclear fission has some disadvantages. There is radioactive waste, which has to be put away for
billions of years on a place where no one can steal it. This waste is very dangerous.
When a disaster with a fission reactor occurs, it mostly has catastrophical consequences. Areas are
uninhabitable and the radiation can cause diseases like leukaemia and thyroid cancer. Also, in the
area around Tsjernobyl (a nuclear power plant that exploded in 1886), a lot of children and animals
were deformed and the number of miscarriages was much higher than normal. This had to do with a
mutation in the DNA of women which was inherited by the
children.4
But nuclear fission is an environmentally friendly source of
energy (except for the waste). There is almost no CO2 emission
during the production of energy (transport and digging not
included). According to the American investigators Pushker A.
Kharecha and James E. Hansen from the NASA Goddard
Institute for Space Studies,
1.84 million lives have been saved with nuclear energy, because
there is no pollution5.
There is also enough fuel for nuclear reactors. The current
amount of known 235U is, according to the IAEA, 5.902.500
tons. Each year, 68.000 tonnes is used for reactions, which
means that there is enough for 86 years. While this capacity,
Figure 26: dangers of nuclear fission, a duck
the 5.902.500, is increasing each year, the amount of used
with four legs
uranium is not increasing in the same rate because of its
inefficiency. Over the years 1980 to 2008 the electricity
generated by nuclear power increased 3.6-fold while uranium used increased by a factor of only 2.5.2
The safety is also getting better by the time and the government from the Netherlands is very strict
with demands for reactors. The nuclear reactor in Borssele is resistant against an earthquake of 5.2
on the Richter scale and a flood that will cause the water to rise 7.3 meters above sea-level.3
Thorium reactors have potential too, so that they can definitely have a future in the Netherlands.
Nuclear fission could be the future in the Netherlands. However, the public support is too low and
should be raised.
27
Nuclear fusion
What is nuclear fusion and how does it work?
Nuclear fusion is in some ways the opposite from nuclear fission.
While fission works with one instable nucleus turning into two stable
nuclei, fusion works with two nucleuses turning into one. The two
nucleuses which the reaction started with, are together heavier than
the nucleus and the neutron that arose. The lost mass, just like
fission, is turned into energy. This way of energy producing is almost
everywhere in the universe. All the energy from the sun and stars are
produced by nuclear fusion.
The reactions used in fusion reactors are like this: a deuterium
Figure 27: nuclear fusion
nucleus (hydrogen with an extra neutron) and a tritium nucleus
(hydrogen with two extra neutrons) are combined and are converted
to a helium-4 nucleus and a neutron. Of course energy is formed.
Tritium does not exist on earth. Lithium is used to make tritium inside the reactor.
The reaction with tritium is like this:
2
1 H
+ 13H  24He + 01n
Just as with nuclear fission, there is a difference between the mass before, and the mass after the
arrow. The mass of 12H (deuterium) is 2,014102u, the mass of 13H (tritium) is 3.016050u, the mass of
4
2 H is 4,002603 and the mass of a neutron is 1,008665u. The difference in mass is
(2,014102u+3.016050u)-(4,002603+1,008665u)= 0.018857u.
The gained energy is:
(0.018857*931,49)=17.56MeV=17.56*106eV=17.56 * 106 * 1,60217653 × 10–19=2.8142*10-12J
1u has an energy of 931.49MeV.
However, before this reaction can occur, the electrons from deuterium and tritium have to be
removed from the atom. Because of this, the nucleus can come close enough to each other to merge.
When the electrons are still in the atom, the nucleus can not come close enough to each other and
nothing will happen. To achieve this, you have to radiate the deuterium and tritium. You can radiate
it with, for example, lasers or X-rays. When the electrons are separated from the nucleus, it will be a
mixture of positive nucleus, and negative electrons. Now it is a plasma, also known as the 4th state of
aggregation. To keep the mixture in this state, you have to use extremely high temperatures.
28
What two ways of nuclear fusion do we know?
There is a giant gravity on the sun and on the stars in the galaxy. This gravity causes the nucleus to be
pressed together. Fusion will occur. On earth, we do not have a gravity that high. That is the biggest
problem with nuclear fusion for scientists nowadays. There are two ways to solve this problem. We
can create a very high pressure or we can increase the temperature to 15 million K to give the
nucleus enough speed to fuse.
High temperatures gives the positive nucleus the necessary energy to come close enough to each
other to fuse. These temperatures are 15
million K. However, to make it profitable,
the temperature should get 150 million K6.
This extremely high temperature is again a
problem. A plasma with a temperature of
150 million K will melt through everything it
touches. Therefore, it cannot touch
anything.
Because of the fact that the nucleus are
positive, a positive magnet will reject a
positive nucleus. Tokomaks are systems that
work like this magnetic principle (see figure
27). A very high magnetic field is produced
and because of its shape, a thorus, the
Figure 28: a thorus shaped tokamak (JET)
plasma will never touch the walls. However,
the magnets need lots and lots of power so a lot of generated power by the fusion is used for the
magnets.
A high pressure will cause the nucleus to merge because of the high pressure. The way of how this is
done is a bit different from normal fusion.
Deuterium and tritium are combined in a small plastic ball. With X-rays, the layer of plastic will
vaporise. Because of this, the pressure inside the little ball will increase very rapidly. Then some
lasers will shoot a pulse of high energy to the ball. At this moment, the pressure and the temperature
are just good enough and the two nucleus will fuse together.
Figure 29: using a high pressure for nuclear fusion
This way of fusion offers the most advantages for the future. This is because there is no plasma of
150 million degrees K. The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has already achieved some successes where
more energy was produced than energy was used.7
29
What are the disadvantages of nuclear fusion?
The greatest disadvantage of nuclear fusion is the extremely high temperature. Because of this
temperature many miscellaneous problems occur. How to control the plasma for example.
While there are some inventions done to control the plasma, it does not take away the fact that 150
million K is very dangerous.
Tritium is formed from lithium. Tritium does not exist on earth in high numbers and it is radioactive
Therefore, when it is formed inside a reactor from lithium, there is a little radiation. Also, the formed
neutrons will be absorbed by the walls inside a reactor and therefore, these walls will become
instable and eventually radioactive.
Of course, the investigations for nuclear fusion costs a lot of money. While fusion is a very new
technology, all innovations and investigations are very expensive. For example, the planned costs for
ITER, a fusion reactor for investigation, are €13 billion8.
What are the advantages of nuclear fusion?
Nuclear fusion is very ecologically friendly, there is no CO2 emission. This is measured without
transports and building a reactor. The only waste product from fusion is helium. Helium is not
damaging to the environment.
The substances needed for the fusion reaction are deuterium and tritium. 0.015% of all water on
earth is deuterium, and tritium can be made by lithium. There is a lot of both on the earth, much
more then uranium. While 0.015% does not sound a lot, you do not need a lot of fuel for nuclear
fusion. There is also enough tritium available, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Tritium
can be made of Lithium, of which there is enough for 3000 years, in current mines.. if we could get all
the lithium from the water too there is actually enough lithium for 60 million years. For a more
complicated fusion reaction, you can also only use deuterium. Then there will be enough deuterium
for the next 150 billion year.9
Tritium is made of lithium and one neutron. With every reaction, a neutron will arise. This neutron
can be used to transform lithium into tritium. Therefore, you do not need to transport the
radioactive tritium, because that is formed inside the reactor.
The energy that can be made by fusion reactions is very high, according to DIFFER, the Dutch
Institute for Fundamental Energy Research, one gram deuterium (with the format of one piece of
chewing gum) can produce the amount of energy that is equivalent to 50 barrels of raw oil.
According to DIFFER again, a fusion reactor with 250 kg fuel (125 kg deuterium and 125 kg tritium) is
equivalent to a coal-fired power plant which uses 2.700.000.000 kg coal.10
Will we be able to use nuclear fusion in an effective way in the future?
At the moment of speaking, investigators and scientists are building ITER. ITER is an investigation
project of many countries to investigate fusion power. ITER is planned to be ready in 2019. ITER is a
tokamak with the objective to achieve 500MW out of an input of 50MW. If this goal is achieved, ITER
would be the first reactor that is able to multiply the input by 10. The first tests will start in 2020.
ITER is the successor of JET, The Joint European Torus. This tokamak was able to dispose the energy
step by step. If there are successes with ITER, DEMO will be the successor of ITER. DEMO will be a
combination of an investigation and a commercial power plant.
It is very hard to answer the question, whether or not it is possible to use nuclear fusion in the
future. At the current moment, people are doing a lot of investigation to fusion with the objective to
have a higher output than input. Especially the tokamak ITER will be very significant for this
investigation.
Investigators assume that the first generation of commercial fusion reactor will be active in 2050.
30
Does nuclear fusion fit into our future plans?
Yes, it does. Nuclear fusion is a very powerful and environmentally friendly type of energy. It can
provide us in our needs and even much more. There are no significant dangers, there is plenty of fuel
to power the reactors and it can provide lots of energy. So nuclear fusion could become very
important for the future.
However, we are not there yet. While it fits into our future plans, we have no idea whether or not it
will become the energy source for the future. The results of various tests have to show if it will
become the future or not. It has at least the potential to.
31
2.1.4
What are the capabilities of blue
energy?
What is blue energy?
Blue energy is energy that can be generated
from the difference in concentration between
fresh- and salt water.
When you put those two kinds of water next to
each other with a membrane in between, the
salt (Na+ and Cl- ions) from the salt water wants
to go to the fresh water to neutralize the
difference in concentration. By using different
Figure 30: illustration of blue energy
kinds of membranes which let different kinds of
ions pass, you can separate the Na+ ions from the Cl- ions. This leads to a potential difference which
allows us to generate electricity. The electrons from the Cl- want to go to the Na+ to neutralize the
difference in positive and negative. By connecting both sides with a metal rod, the electrons will
move. These moving electrons are electricity!
For some more clarification look at figure 30.
What are the possibilities? [1]
Where there is fresh- and salt water, there is blue energy. There are three places in the Netherlands
where we can generate blue energy: Our first priority is the Afsluitdijk, secondly we have the Nieuwe
Waterweg and also Zeeland shows a lot of possibilities. These three places give us a huge potential
for blue energy. At this moment big stacks are being tested on the Afsluitdijk, and produce 200MW,
this number shall rise because the amount of water in the Ijsselmeer will rise in the future. If we look
at the space which is not covered with blue energy yet, we can state that a 1000 up to 1500MW per
year should definitely be possible. Wetsus states that in about 10 years we can provide the three
northern provinces (Friesland, Groningen & Drenthe) with electricity fully derived from blue energy
generated at the Afsluitdijk. The rule of thumb (for now) of blue energy is: 1MW is generated by
every cubic meter (1m3) of water that flows by per second. Practice will show if this value (1MW) will
also be achieved, or if it must be corrected. In about three years (2017/2018) it will be clear if this
feasibility will be realized. This means that in practise a few parameters must be optimised, and that
takes time, but still 1MW/m3/s is the directory.
Also the price to produce membranes is of high importance. If we can lower the production costs, the
eventual price of blue energy will be more appealing to the consumers. Our goal is to decrease the
price of blue energy in such a way that it is cheaper than the price of non-durable energy. Lowering
the costs can be realized by mass production of the membranes for example. If we want the
membranes to be profitable then they should cost less than €5,- per square meter says Mr. Saakes of
Wetsus (supplement 1)
32
Advantages/disadvantages
A huge advantage is that blue energy is durable and does not harm the environment. Mr. Saakes (of
Wetsus) says: “The producing process of the membrane is realized with a process that pays attention
to the impact on the environment. This means that a minimal amount of energy is used to produce
the ion-selective membranes. Also, the anion and kation selective membranes that are made are
environmentally friendly which means; no toxic or harmful things are released into the water.” The
only waste product is brackish water, which is not harmful in any way to the environment. Look at
figure B to see where the brackish water goes, and where the fresh and salt water comes from.
Also; there are a lot of locations in the Netherlands where blue energy plants can operate.
One of the disadvantages is that the only way to provide the electricity cheaper than gas-produced
electricity, is to mass produce the membranes which we cannot do yet. Also, in comparison to other
types of sustainable energy, it generates a smaller
amount of electricity.
Figure 31: a plan for blue energy on the
Afsluitdijk
Conclusion
Blue energy is still small, but it has a lot of potential to grow in the future. If it becomes as big as
other sustainable energy sources remains a question. What we do know is that the price to produce
blue energy will definitely decrease and thus make blue energy a cheap and attractive source of
energy to the civilians even though not that much blue energy can yet be generated. Thereby blue
energy does not harm the environment in any way imaginable.
33
2.1.5
How can we use geothermal sources as a
future heat source?
The earth was formed 4,6 billion years ago.1 Particles, dust, rocks, atoms, everything in space, started
to collide. The rocks became bigger and bigger with heat building up. Eventually, those expanding
rocks became planets. One of those planets is our home, our welcome planet earth.
It was formed because multiple smart particles were combined to, what we now know as, the earth.
This process of accretion happened and the temperature kept rising because of colliding particles.
When the accretion was completed, the earth was formed and inside the earth, the temperature was
enormous. During those 4,56 billion years, the earth has cooled down a bit. However, the earth is still
extremely hot. In the nucleus, the temperatures vary from 4500°C to 6500°C. When a volcano erupts,
you can see how enormous the heat inside the earth is: even stones and rocks will melt. Why are we
not using all the energy?
What is geothermal energy?
Geothermal energy is the energy stored in the earth that can be used to gain energy or heat. Geo
means earth in Greek and thermos means heat. During the accretion of the earth, all the heat was
stored in the earth´s inner core. We know that the core is liquid, everything inside will melt.
However, all the geothermal energy in the earth is not formed
by accretion. Only about 20 to 30% is formed during that
accretion. The other 70 to 80% is formed as a result of nuclear
fission.2 As we discussed earlier, when a nuclei is split, it
produces a lot of energy. The last 4.56 billion years, this
happened. Therefore, a lot of heat is generated and locked up in
the earth. Al the forms of energy in the earth, are geothermal.
The deeper you go into the earth, the higher the temperature
will become. This rise in temperature is steady. Every 1000
meters you go deeper into the earth, the temperature will rise
with 30°C. This number is called the geothermal gradient. This
geothermal gradient is different for every place in the world. For
example, a geothermal gradient of 200°C is measured in Iceland.
In the Netherlands, the average geothermal gradient is 30°C.
However, this differs from place to place in the Netherlands. At
2000 meter, the temperature is about 60 to 70°C. In figure 31,
you can see the differences from place to place.
In 2011, TNO measured that the technical and economical
achievable potential of geothermal energy up to 4000 meter
into the ground, is around 85.000 PJ3. According to TNO, 1 PJ is
enough for the average household of 25.000 families. Therefore,
an extreme amount of energy is stored in the earth.
Depending on the depth of the warm water and on the
temperature of the water, there are different ways of using the
heat.
34
Figure 32: temperatures in the earth, depending
on the depth (the Netherlands)
How can we use geothermal energy?
There are many ways to use the energy in the earth to heat/cool our houses. We will discuss them in
this paragraph, to start with the most simple one: direct cooling/heating.
Direct cooling/heating
While the surface of the earth is heated constantly, a few
meters beneath the surface, the temperature is constant, in
the winter as well as in the summer. This temperature is not
influenced by the sun and the average temperature of the
Netherlands is: 10.1°C.4 This means, when you dig a hole with
a depth of 5 to 10 meters, you will reach a temperature of
10.1 degrees.
In the summer, when the sun heats our houses, we need
cooling. The temperature of the earth is 10.1 degrees. We
could use this to cool our houses. This could be done by using
heat pump systems or other installations. A heat pump will
cool water which is transported through the house.
Therefore, the temperature of the air inside the house will
decrease.
In the winter, when the earth is cold and freezing, we need
Figure 33: direct cooling/heating
heating. The temperature in the earth is still 10.1 degrees.
This could be used as extra help to heat our house. This works the same way as cooling a house. The
energy savings are estimated to be 95% for cooling and 40-50% for heating (in the winter).5
This principle can also be used to keep roads from freezing and to keep them free from snow. Which
makes it safer to drive.
The first use of direct geothermal energy was used and built in the Qin dynasty in the 3rd century BC.
It is a pool that is heated by an underground hot spring.
KWO or WKO systems (natural cooling) and hydrothermal systems
Another way of direct use of geothermal energy, is a KWO or WKO system (warmte-koudeopslag of
warmte- en koudeopslag). The difference with direct use is that you can gain water from a deeper
storage. This means that the water is heated more and that you can use it to warm your office, your
house or greenhouses, depending on the depths of the drilling.
Two drillings are made into an aquifer (an underground water resource).Water pipes
are inserted and a pump is installed. In the winter, the heated water can be pumped
to the surface. Now a heat pump can be used to heat a building. You can also use the
water without a heat pump by guiding it through the building. The water that is
cooled down, will be injected into another aquifer through the second pipe. In the
summer, this cooled water can be reused for cooling. After being heated again, it will
be injected again into the earth. Deep in the earth, it will keep its temperature so
that it can be used again in the winter. This is called a doublet. The energy savings
are again estimated to be 95% for cooling and 40-50% for heating (in the winter).5
Figure 34: illustration of
KWO
35
Hydrothermal systems are simple to understand and look a bit like WKO. The difference is that you
can use it without reinjecting the heated water.
A hot water aquifer is tapped. The heated water is pumped to the surface and can be used for a lot
of things as heating offices and greenhouses. When the hot water is heated more than 100°C, it can
be used to generate electricity in turbines. This however depends on the depths of the drillings.
Petro thermal energy systems
Petro thermal energy systems are the systems that reach the highest depths. The deeper you go into
the earth, the higher the temperature will be. Therefore, these kind of installations are reaching the
highest temperatures and these systems can generate electricity the best.
The principle of these systems are a bit different to the ones we have discussed so far.
At least two drillings are made, one for putting water into the system and one for getting the heated
water out of it (there could be more pipes for the output or input). There has to be a distance
between the pipes, otherwise the water is not heated enough. The whole system is closed; all the
water is reused.
The first drilling, is the output. The second drilling will drill a hole through the earth and because of
the pressure that is used to drill, all the cleaves in the earth will be connected. Because of that, the
surface touched by the water is much bigger and the water will be heated much earlier and faster.
The water which is inserted is under pressure. Therefore, the water has only one way out: the 2nd
pipe. However, during the time that the water was in the earth, it raised in temperature up to 100°C.
But because of the pressure, it will not vaporize.
Later on, when the water comes back to the surface, it will vaporize. The steam is then guided
through turbines, which generate power.
A diagram (figure 36) is added on the following page, to make this explanation clearer. You can also
see some other usages like direct usage and heating factories.
´Hot-Wet-Rock´ (HWR), ´Hot-Fractured-Rock´ (HFR) or ´Enhanced Geothermal System´ (EGS) are
names given for these kind of systems.
Geothermal probes
Another way for geothermal energy is a
geothermal probe (figure 34). This
systems consists of one tube. The ρ (the
density) of water at a temperature of
293K=20°C, is 0.998 x 103 kg m-3. Which
means, 1 litre of water weights 0.998 kg.
The ρ of cold water at a temperature of
277K=4°C, is 0.99997 x 103 kg m-3. Which
means, 1 litre of water weights 0.99997
kg. Because of the difference in weight,
the heated water will float on the cold
water. The cold water will be heated by
the energy in the ground and will start
floating as well.
Some systems consist of a coaxial tube, in
the shape of a ´u´. This works the same
way.
Figure 35: an illustration of a geothermal probe
36
Figure 36: Petro thermal energy systems (summary)
37
What is the current situation in the Netherlands?6
In the figure (figure 31/37) shown, it is clear that the Netherlands has a potential of significant
geothermal energy. So, if people or companies in the Netherland should
use geothermal energy, there could be a possible way to save tons of
emission from damaging substances.
Luckily, there are multiple companies and businesses in the Netherlands
which are using geothermal energy. Besides that, the energy production
from geothermal energy is rising. It started around 2008 when one
greenhouse company drilled the first holes to geothermal energy. The
success of this investment resulted into many more investors and today,
according to the CBS, 8 “deep” installation are operating in 2013 and 1.2
billion is being subsidized for 44 more projects.5 Besides that, many more
“shallow” installation are used.
All projects with a depth of less than 500 meters are called shallow. Projects
with a depth of more than 500 meters are called deep. The deeper you go
into the mantle of the earth, the hotter it will be. Therefore, deep projects
are resulting into a higher yield, compared to shallow projects. The thing is,
however, that deep projects require higher investments.
According to the CBS, in 2013, 993 TJ (993x1012J) was produced by deep
geothermal energy and another 3157 TJ was produced by shallow projects.
A total of 4150 TJ was produced with a saving of 196K tons of CO2 emission.5
Figure 37: temperatures in
the earth, depending on
the depth (the
Netherlands)
The company ´Green Well Westland´ is an company that operates in flowers and plants. In 2013, they
drilled their geothermal sources to a depth of 2900m. The energy is used to heat the greenhouses.
The total production of energy is equivalent to 8 million m3 of natural gas. The averted CO2 emission
is 14.400 ton. They planned to start new drillings at a depth of 4000 meter.6 According to Theo
Duijvestijn, a city council member of Westland, it is possible to cover 70 to 80% of all the needed
energy of the Westland companies.7
Figure 38: geothermal energy in tera joules (CBS)
38
What are the advantages of geothermal
energy?
There are many advantages of geothermal energy. Of course, the
most logical one: it is sustainable. When harvesting the energy,
there will be no emission of CO2. Besides that, it is still available
within 50 years, the earth will not cool down so fast. According to
National Geographic, geothermal energy will run out when the
earth does. Therefore, we have around 5 billion years left of
geothermal energy.8 While this is not entirely true (the aquifer can
lose its heat by reinjecting too much cold water), we can use this
type of energy for an extremely long time. Eventually, the aquifer
that has lost its heat, will regain its heat by the energy from the
middle of the earth anyways.
This kind of energy is available everywhere, everywhere in the
world. The deeper you go into the earth´s crust, the higher the
temperature will become. Of course, it differs from place to place
because of the geothermal gradient. In Iceland the temperature
will be higher at a lower depth then for example in the
Netherlands. But this kind of energy is in some form everywhere
in the world.
This kind of energy is extremely reliable. It has nothing to do with
wind, the sun, or any other uncontrollable variable factor.
According to the EIA, geothermal energy has a higher capacity
factor than any other source of energy, as seen in figure 39.9
The EIA is the U.S. Energy Information Administration, part from
the US Department of Energy.
Another small advantage which is of great value is that the used
space for a power plant can be very small. The heating for a
building can be achieved by one drilling.
Figure 39: capacity factors according to the
EIA
What are the disadvantages of geothermal energy?
The worst disadvantage of geothermal energy is the possible escape of harmful gases. While this can
be seen as an advantage, this definitely brings dangers with it. If you cannot catch the escaping
gases, it can be seen as pollution. However, if you catch them, you can use them for generating
electricity as well. But these are again fossil fuels. The deeper the drillings are, the higher the risk of
these escaping gases.
While costs can be high for private buildings, there are no significant dangers or disadvantages of
geothermal energy.
39
Does geothermal energy fit into our future plans?
Different studies have shown that there is a great potential in geothermal energy. According to the
NREAP (the National Renewable Energy Action Plan), made by all members of the European Union, 7
to 13% of the total use of electricity can be gained from geothermal energy. Another 22 to 31% from
the total use of heat can be gained from geothermal energy. It is even considered possible to
produce up to 8.3% of the total world electricity with geothermal resources, supplying 17% of the
world population.10
So, it fits into our future energy consumption. If we save 13 and 31% on heating and electricity, these
same numbers can be transferred to savings in CO2 emission, because there is almost none. Besides
the savings, there are many ways on how to
gain the energy, not just only drilling deeper
and deeper. The first projects with a drilling
depth of more than 4000m are already being
realized. The future will provide even deeper
drillings, with a higher yield that will result in
a lower CO2 emission. Besides that, this kind
of green energy is sustainable. It will not
harm the future generations, they can only
benefit from the knowledge we will gain the
upcoming 40-50 years. Does geothermal
energy fit into our future plans? Yes, it
definitely does, it should become part of the
future. Let us go to a society in which the
picture (figure 40) on the right is just normal
Figure 40: Green Well Westland
40
2.1.6
What are the capabilities of hydrogen
in terms of replacing it for fossil fuels?
A point of discussion nowadays is the electric car. No emission, no sound. In many ways they are
better for the environment than usual cars. So why should we not drive on hydrogen? Why can
hydrogen not be a fuel for many more things? Even in 1937 whole blimps were airborne with it. Let
us discuss if hydrogen is a better fuel than the normal petrol or diesel.
What is hydrogen gas?
71% of the earth is covered with water: H2O. H2O consists of two H atoms, hydrogen atoms and one
O atom, the oxygen. When two hydrogen atoms are combined, or, when the O atom is taken out of
the H2O, it is called hydrogen gas, H2.
Under normal conditions, H2 is an odourless, tasteless, colourless gas. Besides that, it is very
flammable. We can see that for example with the accident with the Hindenburg, the blimp that
exploded in 1937. This blimp was filled up with hydrogen gas. The whole blimp burned to the ground
in less than 32 seconds.
Hydrogen gas is that flammable because it reacts with oxygen. When you add oxygen to hydrogen,
the two molecules react and form H2O and a lot of energy:
As you can understand, this is exactly the opposite compared to gaining H2, where you have to add
energy. Therefore, you should add 286 kJ / mole to gain the H2.1
How can we gain hydrogen gas?
There are many ways of gaining H2. There are multiple examples of reactions which will gain you H2.
Here are some examples on how to gain hydrogen gas.
CH4 + H2O  CO + 3H2
CH4  C + 2H2
CO + H2O  CO2 + H2
While you will gain H2, you will also get CO, C, CO2 or you need CH4
(methane; a fossil fuel). Therefore, we should use something else. That
something else is called electrolyze; electrolysing of water.
Electrolysing of water means that you split 2H2O into 2H2 and O2. This
happens when a current flow gets in touch with water. The H2 and the
O2 will both arise, on each one of the electrodes.
Figure 41: electrolysing water
While both of the arisen molecules are gasses, there has to be a way of
separating them. That is done by putting the electrodes in different
spaces. Then, the hydrogen can be separated because the hydrogen gas is only formed at the
cathode, oxygen only at the anode. The cathode is the – side of the electrical system, the anode is
the + side.
An advantage that occurs here is that for every gram, millilitre or mole H2O that is used, double the
used amount of H2 will arise, as you can see in the reaction.
41
You can also see, that there is energy needed to get this reaction done. The energy needed to get
this reaction done can be gained for example, from generators running on fossil fuels. But, to keep it
green, you can also use wind turbines. At night, when there is still wind, you can use the excess wind
energy to change this energy into H2. Then the energy can be used at any time you want and it is
green. The same thing counts for solar panels. When people are not using them, you can use it to
make H2. Because this is not a way of gaining energy, it is not green energy, but green fuel.
Therefore, this is not a way of gaining energy, but gaining fuel.
How can we use hydrogen gas as a fuel (for cars)?
As already discussed, hydrogen gas is very flammable because it can react with oxygen. Besides H2O,
you also get energy. Therefore, H2 can be used as a fuel. At the moment, the hydrogen cars are very
topical. But, besides that, you can use this fuel for many more than just cars. Think of generators and
cooking. This could be possible. At the moment, innovations are in the area of hydrogen cars. For
cars, there are roughly two types of car engines: hydrogen engines and fuel cells.
Hydrogen engines are engines that work principally the same as traditional combustion engines.
Instead of petrol or diesel, the engine runs on hydrogen. This hydrogen is burned and H2O and
energy are the resulting products.
Fuel cells are completely different engines then the ones we see as common. In a fuel cell, for
example, hydrogen can react with oxygen instead of being burned. Here water and energy will come
out. This fuel cell is therefore safer, you do not burn H2. It also gains much more energy. When you
burn something, it will become hot and a great amount of the energy will be transferred to heat. A
fuel cell does not burn anything, all the H2 is transferred into energy. Overall, the stored chemical
energy is transformed into electrical energy. You can do this principally with all fuels.
Why are we not driving on hydrogen yet? Because hydrogen engines simply cannot compete with
fuel cells. A couple of years ago, people were talking about hydrogen as a fuel. A lot of car companies
worked out these ideas, but they never resulted into affordable cars. Why? Because a big part of the
energy was converted into heat. When the fuel cells came out, the hydrogen car industry gained a
boost. Cars could become safer, cleaner, more silent
and eco-friendly. In 2015 Toyota will produce the first
fuel cell powered car: the Toyota Mirai, based on their
FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) sketches. The car has,
compared to electric cars, many advantages. When
refuelling, the car is filled in seconds due to the high
pressure of the gas (compared to hours by electric
cars). The range is also much bigger. With the Mirai
you can drive 650km, according to Toyota, compared
to around 150-200kms by electric cars.2
Figure 42: Toyota Mirai (FCV)
42
What are the disadvantages of hydrogen gas as a fuel?
The biggest disadvantage is the hydrogen. It is extremely flammable.
Most of us know the accident with the Hinderburg in 1937. The whole blimp burned down in
seconds. The danger of hydrogen is its flammability. If hydrogen reacts with oxygen, it could explode.
When an accident occurs, the tanks, containing the hydrogen in cars, could explode because of the
high pressure. Nowadays, this pressure is about 700 bar. That is 700 times the pressure of the
atmosphere. At 700 bar, hydrogen has a density of 42 kg/m3, compared with 0.090 kg/m3 under
normal pressure and temperature conditions. At this pressure, 5 kg of hydrogen can be stored in a
125-liter tank.3 The car companies are trying to get this pressure down, but for now we have to put
up with these pressures. Of course the tanks are built extremely strong to hold the pressure.
Another disadvantages: there is only one gas-station in the Netherlands where you can fill up your
car with hydrogen gas. This in combination with the high car prices, ensures that nobody wants to
buy these cars. The FCV has a price of $69000.2 While you can buy another new car for much less.
The prices of these cars are that high because of the platinum. The catalysts only work with platinum;
an expensive metal. However, for the future those prices will most likely lower a lot. This has to do
with new innovations.
What are the advantages of hydrogen gas as a fuel?
The biggest advantage is that there will be no emission of CO2. Instead,
only water will come out of the exhaust. While hydrogen can be formed
by green energy, wind turbines, or solar panels, we could become
completely CO2 emission-free. When people add solar panels to the
cars, we will not even have to fill up with H2 but just with H2O.
Does hydrogen as a fuel fit into our future plans?
If the government supports hydrogen cars, they could become the
future. While a lot of innovation has to be done, a lot of investments are
needed. If the prices are lowered and if more filling stations arise, more
and more people will buy these cars. Then the CO2 emission will
Figure 43: example of the advantages of
decrease enormously. The prices of oil will rise in the future, because of hydrogen as a fuel (theatrical)
lower oil backups. In this case, the hydrogen car will increase in
popularity again. While there are some dangers to cover, the hydrogen cars are way better than our
conventional cars because of their green power supply.
Does hydrogen as a fuel fit into our future plans? Yes, if the prices become lower they could become
the future.
43
2.1.7
What could the future bring us, in
terms of biomass energy?
Because we have discussed many things like wind energy, solar panels and geothermal energy, we
have not disscussed biomass energy. Using your garbage as a source of energy? When you have
finished your dinner, you can simply make energy from your left overs to get a hot shower or to store
the food as energy for cooking your next meal. It sounds great, but is this nonsense, or it this the real
future? Let´s have a look at the truths of biomass energy.
What is biomass?
The definition of biomass is as follows:
1.
“The amount of living matter in a given
habitat, expressed either as the weight of
organisms per unit area or as the volume of
organisms per unit volume of habitat.”
2.
“Organic matter, especially plant matter,
that can be converted to fuel and is therefore
regarded as a potential energy source.”
However, in this document, the term biomass
refers to the dry weight of an organism of parts of
these organisms. That means that a lot of things
could be called biomass. For example straw,
wood, food wastes (left overs), dried animals,
sugar canes, corn. Almost everything that is made
by people could be called biomass.
Figure 44: examples of biomass
How can you gain energy from biomass?
When you burn something, just anything, you need a fire to start it. When the material itself is on
fire, it gains in temperature. It does not even have to be on fire at all. The energy from inside the
material, the recorded energy, is converting. The chemical energy inside and between the molecules
of the material is converted into heat. This heat can be converted into electricity. This can be done
with generators.
The heat can turn water into steam. While hot steam will rise, turbines in generators will start
turning and the heat is again converted into kinetic energy. This kinetic energy will be converted to
electrical energy. In The Netherlands, we have got 12 of these incinerators. In 2013, 3855 million
kWh of energy is delivered by these kinds of installations.
But, not all of our waste is biomass. Therefore, this is an example of how to gain energy from dry
materials. A lot of people do use this principle in a fire place. Energy from wood is used to spare
natural gas for heating. In 2013, a total of 928.000 fire places prevented an exhaust of 460.000 tons
of CO2 emission.1
44
Nowadays, there are many ways of gaining energy from biomass.
Most of them are chemical. With chemical reactions, different
substances are formed. From oils and petrol to for examples H2.
When a fuel is made from biomass, it is called biofuel.
The possibilities of biofuel are huge. Another way of forming oil is to
squash nuts of plants. Rape oil is an example of squashed seeds
from the rapeseed. The yellow fields you see sometimes are filled
with rapeseed.
Figure 45: rapeseed and rape-oil
Another way of gaining this energy is anaerobic digestion. Not only sugars and carbohydrates can be
digested, but also, for example, sewage. Silt from the sewers can be digested and be converted into
heat and methane gas. This gas can be burned in factories, or it can be injected into the gas network.
Now it is called green gas.
Since 2009 this way of gaining energy provides green energy to the RWZI (Apeldoornse sewage
purification plant) and to the electricity network. Besides that, it also provides heat for an adjacent
village.2
Another thing we can use as fuel is frying oil. You can buy a tool, called the Fuelpod 3, which allows
people to make their own biofuel from old frying oil. The biofuel can be put into your car and you can
drive on it. One little disadvantage, the driver behind you will smell snack-bars everywhere as long as
he is behind you. Besides that, the price of a Fuelpod 3 is $6495, or around €5326. Therefore, it is too
expensive to buy one, for most people.3
Of course, your car has to be able to drive on oil. With no effort, some cars could drive on salad oil.
But not all of them. Just as frying oil, long term use can do harm to your car. Another simple way of
using biomass energy, is heating water in a fireplace for your shower. Some woodwork companies
are burning their wooden remains to heat their accommodations with.
At the moment, investigators are trying to grow algae which produce oil themselves. Living in the
water, they use CO2 and sunlight to grow. When you burn them, you will regain your CO2. This kind of
biomass energy is called the third generation. The first generation uses food, the second generation
uses wood and straw for example.
What is the current situation in The Netherlands in terms of biomass
energy?
According to the CBS, 69301TJ was provided in
2013. This total amount of energy saved a total
of 85259TJ of energy from fossil fuels.2 An
example: this 85259TJ = 85259000000 MJ. One
m3 of natural gas has a calorific value of
32.000.000J = 32MJ for one m3 of natural gas.4
This means, 85259000000/32=2664343750
m3=2.6x109 m3 of natural gas has been spared
in 2013, due to biomass energy. This
production is made up from many different
ways of using biomass as a source of energy.
Figure 46: biomass energy in tera joules (CBS
45
What are the advantages of biomass?
“Sustainability creates and maintains the conditions under which humans and the environment can
exist in a productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic and other requirements of
present and future generations. For example, sustainability should not exhaust environmental energy
sources like fossil fuels. Thereby something sustainable should be recyclable, be there in unlimited
numbers or it should be inducible.”
When you are making energy from biomass, you are not using any fossil fuel at all. Most of the
energy comes, eventually, from the sun. The plants grow because of photosynthesis.
6 H2O + 6 CO2 → C6H12O6 + 6 O2
The energy needed for this process comes from the sun. The other materials used to grow a plant,
are from the earth. For example potassium and sodium. But, if the biomass is made into fuel, the fuel
will be burned. All the materials once used will return into the environment. Just like rain water, all
the fallen rain will eventually become new rain. The CO2 that occurs with the burning of fuels, is
needed again for the photosynthesis, it is reused. The only thing that is lost, is the energy. While this
comes from the sun, nothing is taken directly from the earth. Besides that, O2 occurs with
photosynthesis. This is the O2 we humans need to
live. As long as the sun is there, it is possible to use
biomass energy.
Biomass energy does not affect the earth or the
environment. Actually, if we could stop using oil
from the earth, we would not use CO2 anymore. It is
a circular cycle. As long as the CO2 is inside the earth,
there is no emission. With biomass energy, we
would not use more CO2 as we already have used or
are using. All the materials are above the earth´s
surface. You are not regaining new molecules of CO2.
Therefore, it is a sustainable way of energy, the
future generations can use it as well.
Besides that, we do not have to establish great
Figure 47: illustration of a circular process
changes in our current society. While all bio-fuels
are liquid, we can just put them in our cars. We do not need new cars or new inventions to use it
effectively. We can use it straight away, we can use it directly. A little notification to this is that it is
not recommended to use all sorts of oil in your car. In the long term it could harm your car.
What are the disadvantages of biomass?
When you need biomass energy, you need biomass. This biomass can be gained from, for example,
woods. If you chop a forest down to burn it, this forest will no longer be able to transfer CO2 into O2.
All the animals that live inside, will die. Besides that, most of the materials needed for biomass
energy are grown in warm countries. Besides that, 22% of the total farmland is needed to achieve a
11.5% portion of the total fuel usage in Europa.5
When you burn plants, all the materials from the plants enter the environment. The burning
installation in Harlingen for example, is burning garbage. Not all this garbage comes from the
surrounding area, but all the CO2 from the garbage is missioned again in Harlingen, the
concentrations of CO2 and other hazardous chemical connections are much higher in Harlingen then
46
somewhere else.
In 2011, a crane driver became unwell due to an extreme high concentration of sulphur dioxide. In
total, there is not more emission. But the emission is moved to one place instead of multiple places.
Besides that, all the materials that are used to gain energy have to get to the installations. If you burn
wood, the wood needs to be imported from another country with vehicles, that are probably running
on fuel engines. A lot of CO2 is exhausted instead of reduced.
What does the future look like for biomass energy?
At the moment of speaking, the food prices are rising. That has to do with supply and demand. The
demand is high, the supply is low. For example, we are using more and more food while the suppliers
cannot cope with that. If we want to use
food for our energy needs, the prices will
rise and so the prices of biofuel from food
will also rise. The same for woods. If we
want more and more wood to burn,
forests have to be chopped down, less CO2
can be converted into O2. Besides that, all
the animals inside those forests will die;
the environment will only become even
worse. This first and second generation
will not become the future, they could
play a small role by reusing their own
garbage.
The third generation could become a
better candidate. If we could really use the
sun and if we could use unused oceans for
Figure 48: food as a source of biomass
growing algae, then this could play a big
role in the future. But investigators have
to cope with some problems. For example, if The Netherlands wants to use water to grow algae,
what water shall we use? We do not have oceans or something like that. Under optimal conditions,
algae can grow up to 7.3 gram, each day in one litre of liquid.6 For industrial usage, this is a problem.
Besides that, you cannot stack the algae up because they need the sunlight. Not even to think of
countries where it is too hot to grow algae or when all the water is frozen the whole year. Should the
whole world import the algae from one plant? Then a lot of CO2 will be emitted into the environment
because of transport. The third generation could become interesting if we could cope with these
problems.
Today, investigators are working on the fourth generation of biofuels. These biofuels are dnamodified and are consuming CO2 as much as possible. The goal is to create an algae of plants that are
consuming CO2 and that are putting that CO2 back into the ground. The effect of that is that the total
CO2 in the atmosphere is decreasing. Besides that, these plants are growing with maximal speed and
are using energy from the sun as much as possible. Because these are plans, we cannot speak of
achievements. To achieve these goals, time is needed. Time and investment. If this could work out
the way we expect, these biofuels could play a serious role in our future fuel consumption.
47
Does biomass or biofuel fit into our future plans?
Biomass can be converted into oil, petrol, hot steam and to energy. Using something that can be
planted again is sustainable. Using something, burning it, getting energy and then do the whole
sequence again. But of course, that is not possible, that would bring us to the pepertuum mobile:
energy from nothing. But that is, according to Leonardo da Vinci impossible.
You do have to use the sun, materials from the ground and water to grow plants or food. But,
besides that, this is energy from nothing. While all the materials return into the environment except
the sun, this is a very special way of energy. But does it fit into our future plans?
We have to get a fuel that is sustainable which does not affect the environment. While biofuel is
sustainable, it could play a role in the future. It will play a role in combination with other energy
sources. The problem however is that we have to cope with many problems. Costs, transport and of
course the burning process. If we could cope with these problems, we do have an energy source that
will fit our future plans.
The first and second generations of biofuels do definitely not fit into our future plans. While we have
our energy, the countries where the food or wood is produced, will only increase their CO2
production and the food prices will rise. The rising food prices will eventually result in an even more
askew world. The rich people will get richer, the poor people will get poorer.
The third and fourth generation of biofuels however do not cope with this problem. While there is no
food used. But we do need space to grow our algae. While we do not have enough space in The
Netherlands, we have to import all these algae which will result in an even higher CO2 emission.
For The Netherlands, a source like wind has a higher potential then biofuel. While biofuel fits into our
future plans, it will not play a huge role in the sustainability of energy in The Netherlands. It could be
combined with wind turbines and solar panels.
Figure 49: Food should feed people, not fill cars
48
2.1 Conclusion
Can we achieve our goals within 40
years in terms of energy?
The Dutch government has set goals to achieve a complete sustainable energy production within 36
years, in 2050. Our goal is the same, but it will be even better if all the energy we use, is produced
inside The Netherlands as well.
To achieve the goals of the government, they have set short term objectives to build up the
sustainability slowly. The first goal is
to achieve 14% of sustainable energy
in 2020. In 2013, 3 billion dollars was
spent to increase the sustainability,
according to the RVO. In 2013, only
4.5% of the energy was sustainable,
which is the same as in 2012.
Figure 50: amount of sustainable energy (CBS)
Is it so hard to achieve the goals of the
government? No, it is not. There are so many ways to achieve the goals set by us and set by the
government. For example, if you just place wind turbines all over the Netherlands, you would have
achieved our goals. If every building in the Netherlands should have solar panels on the roof, we
would achieve our goals. If you combine the solar and wind energy systems, it would not be a
problem to achieve our goals. If entrepreneurs should invest in green energy, then we could even
have a higher budget, with higher yields. The example was set in the borough Greenland.
But even without solar and wind energy, we could achieve our goals. Biomass could be capable of
huge energy savings. If every company that produces dry dung, should place a biomass installation,
the energy savings would be huge. Combine it with a wind turbine in the garden and solar panels on
the roof, and you would be completely sustainable in terms of energy.
The bigger investors can look on a bigger scale. They could build a new type of nuclear reaction to
increase the energy sustainability. To keep it safe, the government could control the stations and
innovations will increase safety. Instead of the common reactors, we can now build thorium reactors
which are much safer than the previous one.
We are also prominent in blue energy. We have many sea-walls where there is a division between
salt and sweet water. All these walls can be used for blue energy. The only problem here is again the
finance. While it is in a testing phase, investing now is very pricy. But the more money spent on
investigations, the better the systems will work and the lower the prices will become.
Even without all these expensive ways of sustainable energy we could also take a look at ourselves.
Are we willing to spent a lot of money for solar panels on our roofs? Do we want wind turbines
everywhere? Do we want another nuclear power station? People should be more aware of their
future and the public support should be bigger. If people could use less energy, by reusing hot water
in their house for example, less energy would be needed. If less energy is needed, sustainable energy
could come in quicker.
Overall, the government is able to achieve its goals, the only problem is the finance. Investing in the
future is of course risky: what will the future bring us, what will the world look within 40 years?
However, with the combination of blue energy, wind energy, solar energy, nuclear energy and
biomass energy, these goals will not be the problem. The problem is the public support and the
finance.
49
Part [2]
How are we going to
realize our goals?
Chapter 2.2
What can the cyclic economy do to help us realize
our goals?
_____________________________________________
2.2.1
2.2.2
2.2.3
2.2.4
2.2.5
2.2.6
2.2.7
2.2
What is cradle to cradle?
What is urban mining
What can we do with urban mining?
What non-recyclable materials do we use
most, and how can we still recycle them?
In what ways do we have to change our
behaviour so that we would only have
recyclable garbage left?
What potential does the Netherlands have of
becoming significant in the recycling of
products?
How can we reuse the plastics in the oceans in
a profitable way?
Conclusion
50
2.2.1
What is cradle to cradle?
Cradle to Cradle design (also referred to as: Cradle to Cradle, C2C, cradle 2 cradle or
regenerative design) is a different way of thinking about, and the design of, durable
solutions in terms of products and processes. The core of this philosophy is that the
materials that are used in the one product can be reused in a high quality form in
the next product, in a technical or in a biological cycle.
The term Cradle to Cradle is a registered trademark of McDonough Braungart Design
Chemistry (MBDC) consultants. Cradle to Cradle product certification began as a
proprietary system; however, in 2012 MBDC turned the certification over to an independent nonprofit called the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute. Independence, openness, and
transparency are the Institutes first objectives for the certification protocols. The phrase "cradle to
cradle" itself was coined by Walter R. Stahel in the 1970s. The current model is based on a system of
"lifecycle development" initiated by Michel Braungart and colleagues at the Environmental
Protection Encouragement Agency (EPEA) in the 1990s and explored through the publication “A
Technical Framework for Life-Cycle Assessment.”
Figure 51: cradle to cradle
Examples of Cradle to Cradle projects:
- The original English book “Cradle to Cradle” is not made from paper, but instead it is made from
recyclable plastic that can be used as clear, glossy paper after a simple process. In hot water the ink
will dissolve, and leave the plastic clean. Also the ink can be used again as normal ink.
- The River Rouge car factory owned by Ford had to be abandoned because the soil was too polluted.
On that site, Braungart and McDonough have made a new factory that purifies the soil and the river,
creates habitat for birds and makes cars as well.
Figure 52: the original English book “Cradle to Cradle"
51
2.2.2
What is urban mining?
Urban mining is the reusing of materials so that they do not need to be made again. According to the
website of urban mining [1] , the definition of urban mining is: “The process of reclaiming compounds
and elements from products, buildings and waste.” Just like the first sentence, it says that the
reclaiming of usable compounds and elements is needed to decrease the production of that material.
For example: when you want to build a new house, you can reuse the bricks of the old house for the
new house. This saves you money, and it saves the environment pollution from the manufacturing of
the otherwise used new bricks.
On the site of urban mining[1] you immediately see a lot of examples of urban mining. In the list
below are some examples explained:
The North Face will use 100% recycled polyester fabric by 2016
Basically what the article said: The North Face will be using a clothing takeback program, called Clothes the Loop. In this way The North Face will recycle
their polyester fabric which is of course practical for The North Face, but also
very good for the environment. The fabric The North Face cannot use for
clothes, will be used for insulation, carpet padding and stuffing for toys.
Figure 53: The North Face
The US could get 12% of electricity from municipal waste
According to Columbia University´s Earth Engineering Center[2],
the US could get 12% of its electricity from municipal waste. That
can be realized by sending the waste to incinerators instead of
sending it to landfills. The article names a couple of advantages: it
would keep 123 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions from
entering the atmosphere. It would save 100 million tons of coal
annually. And instead of sending plastic to the dump, it
could/should be converted into oil. If so, it could provide 6 billion
gallons (±23 billion liters) of gasoline.
Figure 54: municipal waste into energy
Recover gold from e-waste
First of all, e-waste is waste such as used phones, old medical equipment and telecommunication
devices. All these devices have electronics inside, which contain gold, and other precious metals.
Scientists at the national Metallurgical Laboratory have successfully developed the process of
extracting gold out of this e-waste. A very good reason to do this is to protect the environment and
conserve natural resources and energy. Also the process itself is not harmful to the environment. Of
course this makes clear that this process is very durable.
Typically, Dr. Manis Kumar Jha the lead scientist of the team, says: One could extract 350g of gold
from 1000 kg of PCB(printed circuit boards) of mobile phone.[3]
52
2.2.3
What can we do with urban mining?
In this sub-question we will explain something about the recycling of a number of machines/devices.
Wind turbines
It is hard to find solid information on the internet about the recycling or re-usage of wind turbines.
To find more about it, an email was sent to Darwind (supplement 3). They replied with a nice email
and informed us about their company. Most of the time, a wind turbine is not at the end of their
´life´. These turbines will get totally dismantled and resold on the second hand wind turbine market.
However, depending on the age of the wind turbine, it may of course be that the turbine is eligible
for demolition. Then also the reusable parts are taken off and sold on the second hand wind turbine
market.
For this recycling we sent an email to Windbrokes (supplement 4).[10] They replied to us with the
message that the old wind turbines that cannot be used again are dismantled and sold as scrapmetal. The rotor blades must be processed by a specialised company. Replacing 10-13 year-old wind
turbines by bigger ones (repowered) is the kind of business Windbrokes does. A lot of wind turbines
still have enough remaining technical life left, and can be reused after revision.
Solar panels
Most parts of a solar module can be recycled including up to 97%
of certain semiconductor materials or the glass as well as large
amounts of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.[2]
However, the recycling possibilities depend on the kind of
technology used in the modules. Possibility one is: silicon based.
These solar panels provide electricity due to some specific
properties of the silicon. Possibility two is: non-silicon based. These
modules work without the use of silicon.
The recycling of silicon based modules
Figure 55: crumbled/crushed solar panels (silicon)
First, the aluminium frames and junction boxes are dismantled
manually. The module is then crushed in a mill and the different fractions are separated: glass,
plastics and metals. [3] It is possible to recover more than 80% of the weight in recyclable products of
the initial weight. [4] The recycled glass is perfect for making glass foam and glass insulation. A perfect
example for C2C. The other materials are of course also re-used in all kinds of products. The metals
can be melted down again, and also the plastic can be reused.
Non-silicon based modules
These non-silicon based modules require specific recycling technologies such as the use of chemical
baths in order to separate the different kinds of semiconductor materials from the panel. [5] For the
specific cadmium telluride modules, the recycling process begins by crushing the module and after
that separating the different fractions. This process has an efficiency of recycling up to 90% of the
glass and 95% of the semiconductor materials.[6] The other 5 and 10% cannot be recycled because
they have lost their necessary quality. In the paragraph before is explained in what ways the products
can be recycled.
In recent years, private companies have created some commercial-scale recycling facilities, more
about this in “companies”
53
Phones
Most cell phones contain precious metals and plastics. When placed in a landfill, these materials can
pollute the air and contaminate soil and drinking water.[7] The toxic heavy metals can end up in
ground water, and so be dangerous to humans. This is
because we use ground water for agriculture, and also for
drinking water. The coatings of cell phones are typically made
of lead, which is also a toxic metal that can result in adverse
health effects when exposed to it in high concentrations. The
circuit board of cell phones can be made of lead, gold, zinc,
copper, beryllium, coltan, tantalum and other raw materials
that would require significant resources to mine and
manufacture.[8] This is why cradle to cradle is so important. In
the first place, it reduces the amount of toxic materials that
otherwise would be on a landfill. Instead those materials are
re-used in new cell phones. In the second place, this re-using
of the ´old´ materials is making mining for more (precious)
Figure 56: recycling phones
metals unnecessary.
The recycle process is in theory the same as the recycle process of solar panels. The parts with
recyclable elements are crushed and filtered out by for instance a magnet, or dissolved in an acid.
Then the product can go to a company that uses that plastic, glass, or metals to produce products.
Broken phones can also be recycled in another way. For instance; phone A´s screen is broken and
cannot be fixed, and phone B´s 3.5mm input jack is broken but the phone works just fine. Then
instead of throwing both phones away, phone A´s 3.5mm jack can be put in phone B. This saves one
cell phone at the dump.
The 3.5mm jack is just an example for a part of a phone. In theory almost all parts of a phone can be
pulled out, and be installed in another phone. This is in fact an ´old´ method. It has been used a long
time for cars, or other vehicles. The working parts are picked out, and stored to be reused later on.
Companies
There are some companies that recycle all kinds of materials, mostly metals. One of those companies
is Urban Mining Delft (UMD) in The Netherlands. This company was established in 2012 in order to
develop and market its new, unique and patented MDS separation technology. The technique
separates metals by the use of ferromagnetic fluids and special designed magnets. [9]
It would be a very good thing if, in a few decades, all products could be recycled. It is thought that
there is good money to be made by setting up a recycle-company, just as UMD. It would decrease the
costs of materials, because those can be re-used and do not need to be for instance mined out of the
ground.
Future
Will urban mining be an important factor in the future? Yes, it is. To summarize the whole account
above: ´We need to recycle, because it saves energy in multiple ways, and reduces the amount of
waste.´ This is extremely durable. If we realize all the ideas of urban mining, the world would become
a better place, for humans, as for all other living creatures.
54
2.2.4
What non-recyclable materials do we use
most, and how can we still recycle them?
Non-recyclable product (as the name says) are those that cannot be broken
down and reused into another item. The items may still be biodegradable
and broken down in to earth eventually, even though they are nonrecyclable.[1]
Some non-recyclable materials in five categories.
Figure 57: non-recyclable waste
These items cannot be recycled because if they are melted/broken down, they lose their ability to
form a proper structure. Paper for instance can only be recycled four to seven times.
Non-recyclable
paper
Non-recyclable
wood
Wrapping paper
that is laminated
or contains
foreign materials
such as foilcoatings or glitter
Treated or
contaminated
wood → wood
treated with
preservatives or
attached to other
materials like
sheetrock or
window glass
Microwave
containers
Aluminium foil
boxes
Blueprints
Photographic film
Frozen food
boxes
Thermal fax
paper
Hardcover books
Binders
Carbon paper
Non-recyclable
plastic (consumer
items)
Plastics attached
to other materials
such as
kitchenware or
auto parts
Non-recyclable
glass
Some food
storage containers
Disposable
diapers
Foam materials
Formatica
Fiberglass
Cookware
Furniture
Window glass
Matrasses
Mirrors
Insulation
Ashes
Dirt
Dishware
Light bulbs
Other nonrecyclable
waste
Animal feces
and carcasses
Soil
Vinyl
“Some industry sources estimate that an ordinary sheet of paper made from cellulose fibres derived
from wood can survive only four to six trips through the recycling process. The Environmental
Protection Agency puts the figure at five to seven times.” [3] The best thing to do with paper that
cannot be recycled anymore is to turn it into compost, and use it to grow more trees. In this way, a
perfect circle of recycling is made. From tree, to paper, into tree again.
55
In the table below is described how much non-recyclable materials we are using, based on some
common-knowledge, -sense and the website of an environmental protection agency[6].
Non-recyclable
paper
Non-recyclable
wood
+
When looking at
the table above,
you can conclude
that most of
these materials
are used in an
average
household, and
so a decent part
of non-recyclable
materials.
This category is
less used in an
average
household, but
still a little bit.
Non-recyclable
plastic
(consumer
items)
++
The amount of
plastic we throw
away is very
significant. If you
see in the table
below how much
is actually nonrecyclable, this is
the biggest
category.
Non-recyclable
glass
Other nonrecyclable waste
-This category is
thought to be the
least big, because
most glass is very
recyclable.
´Normal´ glass
can by melted
and formed over
and over again.
+The materials
from this
category are
used/produced,
but not that
much. So you
could say that
this is ´average´.
How to recycle non-recyclable materials
One of the reasons why for instance pizza boxes cannot be recycled, is that they are contaminated
with food stains. If this was put with the recyclable paper, it would ruin the recyclable paper so that it
cannot be recycled anymore.
But.. before you throw that pizza box out, see if you could re-use/salvage some of it. Perhaps the
scraps could be used as Christmas tree decorations after you have cut them into shapes and painted
them. Or even; you could use it to clean up some what your dog has littered.
Also, there are ways to re-use napkins or paper towels that have been used. For instance; you could
use a wet paper towel to wipe down the table after a meal. And if you have children, you could wipe
their dirty fingers after they have made artwork by finger-painting.
This prevents you from having to use a brand new, clean piece of towelling from the box every time,
which would waste a lot of paper!
This also yields for non-recyclable plastics. When you have some non-recyclable bottles, because
there is not listed a number on it, try to turn them into nifty key holders. You can make them by
cutting off the bottoms of the bottles. Some spare change, keys and other items can be put in them.
The bottles can also be used as vases for flowers. [4]
You just have to be creative.
56
Figure 58: Recycled "non-recyclable" plastic
bottle
2.2.5
In what ways do we have to change our
behaviour so that we would only have
recyclable garbage left?
First of all: most paper waste cannot be recycled because of food stains and because it is laminated,
or contains foreign materials such as foil for instance. We, as consumers, could make those items
recyclable by separating those two materials from each other. This is not realistic, because it takes a
lot of work and it will not separate well.
These items wóuld be recyclable if the foreign materials were not put in there. As a result, the paper
may not contain liquid as well. There should be some research done about that, but I think it will not
work. Another way to solve this problem is to use metals or glass, instead of paper laminated with
foreign materials. Metal and glass is always recyclable and is so, a potential option to reduce nonrecyclable paper.
We do not use metal and glass as liquid containers because it is heavier than paper and plastic. When
people become aware of the fact that glass and metal are much more durable, they will accept
heavier products I think. The benefit of durable materials is much more important than the weight of
the products.
It will also help if we bring our garbage to a waste management company. Such a company will
collect our stuff we do not need anymore and takes care of proper recycling of the items. This way
some materials could be reused and that is very helpful for the environment. To make this happen, it
would be a good idea to add a kind of tax on all products that consumers can get back when they
bring it to a waste management company. In the list below is stated what improvements could be
made to produce less waste, in for instance an office or school.
Old computers
If you have a computer that is younger than four years, you could sell it to a company that reuses
parts of your computer in new ones. Such a company also checks if there are still harmful documents
left and removes them. In this way other computers can operate safe. You must realize that you get a
much lower price for your computer than what you paid for it.
Computers that are older than four years can be recycled in another way. Those computers are
disassembled to be used as raw materials.
Fluorescent tubes
Fluorescent tubes contain chemical elements. A little bit more precise: a fluorescent tube consists of
90 percent glass, 8 percent metal and 2 percent phosphor powder. After the recycling process 0.5
percent phosphor powder remains. With the up-to-date recycling methods, more than 98 percent
can be recycled! For the environment it is very important that these tubes are handed in at the right
places.
Paper tray
In for instance an office, there is a lot of paper in circulation. Think of sticky notes, A4sheets, but also
advertising flyers. We tend to throw these away once it has no use anymore. But remember that
those things could be used again! Therefore, place paper trays where it is needed, so people can
throw it in there. In this way people will get more conscious of making choices that are related to
recycling paper.
57
Avoid the use of paper - go online!
To reduce the amount of paper waste, you can choose to publicise your publications online. Your
employers, students and other people can download it and read it online. There are also examples of
companies that do not use any paper at all. Of course that is really hard to accomplish, but when you
send your files etc. by email it would be an improvement.
Conclusion
The government could help the recycling process by adding taxes on all packaging products. When
the products are brought to a waste management company or to the supermarket, the consumers
get the tax back.
There is a way to recycle almost all machines, devices, materials etc. We all should try to make sure
that it happens! The government can ´force´, or at least provide an attractive way to make people
recycle. Also the government could make sure that producers make recyclable products or
packaging. This can be done by subsidising the production process.
58
2.2.6
What potential does the Netherlands
have of becoming significant in the
recycling of products?
First of all, some facts and figures.[1]
Less than ten percent of all waste is put in landfills.
In 2006 the average Dutch household recycled 60 percent of its waste.
In 2003 about 50 percent of the organic household waste was gathered separately. This
equalled 1500 kilotons or 1.500.000.000 kg. This was processed to 600 kilotons (600.000.000
kg) of compost.
In 2005 the Netherlands recycled 75 percent of its annual paper consumption. This equals 2.5
million tons. (2.500.000.000 kg) This in contrast with the EU, which recycled over 50 percent
of its annual paper consumption.
What materials are already separately collected in the Netherlands
Paper
All types of paper/paperboard
Glass
Glass jars and bottles
Beer bottles (deposit systems in supermarket)
Plastic
Plastics (type 1 and 2 PETE)
Plastic soda containers (deposit systems in supermarket)
Ink cartridge
Synthetic
Motor oil
Tires
Organic
Compostable materials
Metal
Metal cans (also separated by separation techniques)
Chemical
All types of batteries
Fabric
Clothing and toys (for second hand use)
Wood
Construction timber
Construction Concrete and bricks (road fill, grinded down and mixed as new)
Appliances
Household appliances
59
What recycling companies does the Netherlands have at this moment?
(2014)
Name companies
Steenhuis recycling
Website
www.steenhuis-recycling.nl
HERMION
www.hermion.nl
Holland recycling
www.hollandrecycling.nl
Revema (Utrecht)
Vlakglasrecycling
Polyplastics
Shanks
www.revema.nl
www.vlakglasrecycling.nl
www.polyplastics.nl
www.shanks.nl
Materials the company recycles
Iron, metals, batteries, computers, wood,
paper and plastics
Plastic- metal- and electronic wastes,
contaminated and mixed plastic
Asbestos, confidential paper,
construction/demolition waste, electronics,
flat glass, foil, garden waste, paper cardboard,
residual waste, scrap metals and wood
Paper and cardboard
(sheet) Glass
Plastics
Paper, glass
This is just a short list of recycling companies in the Netherlands. With the help of Google you can
find loads of them and also very specific ones that only recycle plastic for instance. Seeing this, we
can see that the Netherlands has a great potential of recycling products. Also the Netherlands has a
lot of opportunities for people to dump their waste where it
will be recycled.
In the Netherlands, waste is collected by local authority
cleansing departments or waste collection companies. There
are also numerous municipal waste recycling centres where
people can take their waste. Each municipality operates its
own waste collection system: some work with wheeled bins
and underground containers, in other municipalities waste
bags can be put out.[2] This figure shows an underground
container where glass can be recycled. People have to
separate their glass by colour (white, brown and green). This
helps the recycle company.
Figure 59: recycling glass in the
Netherlands
The Netherlands is also one of the leading countries in terms of recycling. All sorts of products and
materials are recycled, such as glass, paper, garden and household organic waste, construction and
demolition waste, electrical appliances and many more other materials. It is always trying to raise
recycling rates and optimise processes.
Also, the Dutch government and industry have agreed that by the end of 2010 42 percent of all
plastic packaging will be recycled efficiently. [2]
60
Other counties
So now we know that the Netherlands is busy recycling all sorts of products as much as possible.
When it is possible to handle even more waste, it would be possible to recycle also other counties´
waste. For instance: the UK´ s waste. In 2009 and 2010, compost was the largest component of
recycled waste, comprising 40 percent of the total.[3] This is of course much less than what the
Netherlands is recycling. 50 percent of the organic waste is recycled, and 75 percent of all paper is
recycled in the Netherlands. The maximum percentage of recycling that in the UK 40 percent is, is
therefore much lower than the 75 percent in the Netherlands.
If it is possible, both counties can benefit by it. The UK gets rid of it’s waste, and we can recycle their
waste and save a lot of raw materials. Also the government will be happy with some extra money
that they can get by selling the recycled products. All materials that can not be recycled can be used
to generate electricity. This may (hopefully) lead to more electrical cars for instance. In that way we
can use less fossil fuels and save the environment. Very durable!
Upgrading the recycle factories in the Netherlands causes more employment. More and more people
will get in touch with recycling and get familiar with it. This probably will have a positive effect.
People will think more about recycling, and therefore boost the national knowledge about recycling.
Also the transport of the waste is very realisable. Big ships can be filled with the UK´s waste and
transported to the Netherlands by its large rivers. This is the most durable way of transporting the
waste.[4] This is not only applicable for the UK, but also for many other countries that have a surplus
of waste, and cannot recycle it as thorough as the Netherlands.
Conclusion
As indicated above: the Netherlands has a lot of (specialised)recycling companies and is very busy
recycling all kinds of products and materials. Also the government is involving itself in recycling
because it is very durable of course. It can provide them with extra money.
The prospect is that in the future, the Netherlands will be increasingly busy with recycling. Maybe at
one point it can even recycle other counties´ waste. This would be great for the Dutch population
because it provides employment and it gets the people more in touch with recycling.
61
2.2.7
How can we reuse the plastics in the
oceans in a profitable way?
First of all, we need to know something about the plastic soup.
This information comes from the website from adventurescience.org: [1] Although micro plastic
particles are smaller than five millimeters in size,
they likely pose a massive environmental and human
health risk.
Ocean researchers have found them in nearly every
litre of ocean water they have examined, from places
including Maine, Alaska, Argentina, Thailand and
Antarctica. Toxins including DDT, BPA and pesticides
adhere to the particles. Because they can resemble
plankton, the particles are often ingested by small
aquatic life. The toxins bio magnify as they move up
the food chain, accumulating in birds, sea life and
humans.
Micro plastics have several sources: They weather
from debris like drink bottles and shopping bags;
Figure 60: an albatross carcass filled with plastic, Midway
they are laundered from nylon clothing; and they
Atoll, Pacific Ocean
wash down the drain with many common cosmetics
and toothpastes.
How can we filter the plastic out of the oceans in order to be able to
reuse it?
A 19-year-old Dutch boy called Boyan Slat has invented an innovative concept about cleaning the
plastic soup. While diving in Greece he became frustrated. Why?, would you think. Well, he came
across more plastic bags than fish. This made him wonder: “Why can we not clean this up?”
The circulating ocean currents float the drifting plastic soup into a giant catching system. Eventually
all plastic gets to the container in the ocean, you
can see this in figure 60. With a conveyor belt the
plastic is lifted and put in a container. The
conveyor belt is driven by power from solar cells
on top of the device. No harm is done to any
animal life with this idea.
Figure 61: Boyan Slat, The Ocean Clean-up
62
How can we reuse the plastic in a profitable way?
The people that work with the ocean cleanup have researched that the plastic recovered from the
oceans is suitable to be turned into oil.[2] They have also been testing whether or not the plastic can
be turned into new materials through mechanical recycling. This had promising results.
Mechanical recycling is a process in which the plastic is melted down and formed into other
products. It can also be melted down into pellets. Factories can use these pellets to form products by
melting them down and forging them into a mold. The pellets are easy to transport to factories that
need them.
Turning plastics into oil
Nowadays it is possible to turn plastics into oil. First, the plastic is cut into small pieces and mixed
with water so they can pump it through pipes. Then they apply heat and pressure to begin breaking it
down to molecular level. Next, they separate the mixture into oil, gasses and solids. Finally they
convert the oil into gasoline and diesel. This diesel can be put straight into a diesel car.
This process is called thermal depolimerization or TDP. It is a thermal process (it uses heat) that
breaks down material at a molecular level. Water is used to do that. It copies the natural process for
making fuel. It does in minutes what the earth naturally would do in thousands and thousands of
years.[3]
In the future we will see more and more about the depolimerization of plastic. It can be realized
everywhere and it is a very practical idea.
Figure 62: plastics in the seas
63
Prevention
We have spoken about how to clear the mess up, but it is just as important to also know how to
prevent it from happening. We will share a few examples of how to prevent plastic coming into the
oceans.
1.
Shopping bags. 1 trillion plastic bags are used and discarded every year!
Possible solutions:
reusable bags preferably made of post-consumer recycled materials
or biodegradable, natural materials.
Biodegradable bags made from bio-based materials.
2.
Bottles and their caps.
Possible solutions:
use a refill bottle, a Dopper for example.
100% bio-degradable and recyclable.
3.
Textiles. An important source of micro plastics appears to be sewage contaminated by fibers
from the washing of clothes. Experiments with sampling of wastewater from domestic
washing machines demonstrated that a single garment can produce more than 1900 fibers
per wash.
Possible solutions:
make clothes from biodegradable fibers, such as: cotton, bamboo
and hemp.
4.
Consumer packaging. The market for rigid packaging for food and drink in Europe is expected
to achieve above average growth in volume between 2010 and 2015.
Possible solutions:
no packaging, reusable packaging, use 100% bio-degradable
materials such as paper foam.
5.
Balloons. You probably know the saying: what goes up must come down. Balloons return to
land and sea where they can be mistaken for prey and eaten by animals. Sea turtles,
dolphins, whales, fish and seabirds have been reported with balloons in their stomachs. It is
believed that they mistake balloons for jellyfish which are their natural prey.
Possible solutions:
do not release balloons but blow bubbles. Balloons should be 100%
(marine-)degradable.
Conclusion
Can we use the plastics in a profitable way? Yes, we can. Very profitable, because the plastic can be
used to produce fossil fuels. Also it can be recycled mechanically. This way we reuse plastic just like
the way we reuse for instance glass. It just can be reused time after time.
The ocean cleanup provides us with plenty of plastic. With the help of Boyan Slat’s inventive idea we
can realize to get the plastic out of the oceans. In this way, we help the environment because we
take the plastic out of the habitats of the animals. There is no harm done to animals with this system.
At the same time prevention is just as important. All products should be biodegradable so animals
and the environment are not harmed.
64
2.2 Conclusion
Can we achieve our goals within 40
years in terms of the cyclical
economy?
It is important to recycle. This is also called cradle to cradle. ´The materials that are used in the one
product can be reused in a high quality form in the next product, in a technical or in a biological
cycle.´ When we do this, we do not need to get raw materials out of the earth. This is good for the
environment in two ways. 1. It leaves the earth untouched so that animals and organisms are not
disturbed. 2. It saves CO2 emissions. While excavating, pumping or drilling resources out of the
ground, CO2 is released into the atmosphere and so causes an increasing greenhouse effect.
This also yields for urban mining. That is almost the same, but a little different. Urban mining is for
instance reusing bricks from an destroyed building in a new house. The materials do not need to be
made again. The difference with cradle to cradle is that that is about mining, drilling and so on, and
urban mining is reusing already made objects or materials.
We have talked about reusing existing parts from wind turbines, solar panels and phones. This is also
an example of urban mining. In the future we must concentrate more on reusing existing parts. You
can salvage working parts from a broken device. Then we do not need to produce them again.
We have also discussed what non-recyclable materials we use most. Those materials for example
cannot be melted or broken down. But there is still another way to still recycle those materials. Make
a vase from a bottle, or make key holders! Then these items will still have a good use and do not
have to be thrown away. This saves the environment and the consumers´ wallet.
Does the Netherlands have the potential to become significant in the recycling of products? Yes is
the answer. We already are very busy recycling all kinds of materials. From plastics to metals. We
think it is even possible to have such a capacity to even recycle other countries´ waste. This causes us
to burn less fossil fuels for energy and import less or no energy. The plastics can even be
depolymerized. Plastic is turned into oils which can be refined into gasoline, diesel and oils. This
reduces the amount of fossil fuels pumped out of the ground.
Plastic can be fished out of the oceans. All that plastic in the oceans is a major problem. With a
genius idea from Boyan Slat we can take the plastic out of the oceans. This should happen because all
kinds of animals are being poisoned. Seabirds mistake plastic for food. They are full of plastic, but die
of starvation. The fish can mistake the plastic for algae for example.
In the future the Dutch citizens will recycle most of their waste. Recycling companies can recycle the
waste optimally that way. Most products will be used again so that we do not need to mine raw
materials. Maybe the Netherlands will also recycle more than all inhabitants of the Netherlands
produce.
All by all: the Netherlands is very aware of the need to recycle. It can recycle most of its own waste
and when possible even more imported waste.
65
Part [2]
How are we going to
realize our goals?
Chapter 2.3
How will the economy/government react to
sustainability?
_____________________________________________
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
2.3.4
2.3.5
2.3
In what ways can the government help us
with the realization of the Netherlands in
becoming sustainable?
Why or why not should the government give
grants to companies that produce in a green
way?
Which jobs/education can/will help us in the
development of a sustainable society?
Should companies manufacture in a durable
way?
Why would a sustainable country be positive
for the economy?
Conclusion
66
2.3 Introduction
Economy
The quality of life in the Netherlands is high these days. However, in some areas question marks can
be placed whether this is maintainable/sustainable. The most important worries about the
sustainable developments refer to what future generations can use as resources and refer to
problems on a global scale. One of the biggest global challenges lies in decreasing the tension
between economy and ecology. Besides that, new uprising economies like China and India cause a
more competitive ambiance in the economy which can lead to increasing scarcity and higher prices.
Making the economy more sustainable is the pursuit of prosperity growth without it being at the
expense of the quality of life and environment: economical growth with strict measures for
environment and nature. Doing this is an important way to realize sustainable developments like
raising the efficiency of the usage of energy and resources dramatically. The most important
challenge of all is to generate more value with less energy and resources. Innovation and rewards are
for example important instruments to realize this. Even though all of this will demand high
investments in the next couple of years, it will not only contribute to an economical growth, but a
better environment and nature as well.
The following part of this chapter is about how the economy will effect sustainability and otherwise.
Figure 63: economy and the environment
67
2.3.1
In what ways can the government help us
with the realization of the Netherlands
becoming sustainable?
Everyone knows that the society we live in nowadays is controlled by money. Most of us want the
cheapest of the cheapest whether it is quality or not and this is a shame. If something can save the
world but it is too expensive, then still no one would buy it and/or use it. This also counts for energy.
All commercials on the television about energy are telling you that they are the cheapest so you
should buy their energy. Commercials about sustainable energy are rare. This is because commercials
cost money which will result in a higher cost price while sustainable products are already expensive
enough. It is even so expensive that almost no one consumes it. If we want the citizens of the
Netherlands to buy sustainable products, then we need help to lower the price of durability. The
companies that produce these sustainable products cannot do it alone, otherwise they would already
have done it do you not think so? But as was said in the beginning, our society is controlled by
money, and so is our government. If we want the government to help us, then it has to be worth it.
The question is now: is it? And even more important; why is or is it not?
In what ways is the Netherlands becoming sustainable worth it?
Positive external effects
A very important thing
to start with, is that the
more durable a country
is, the more prosperous
it is (or the other way
around, depends on how
you see it). Normally the
prosperity of a country is
measured by the gross
domestic product (GDP):
all the value added from Figure 64: nominal GDP across the world
institutions engaged in
production. Value added means the turnover minus the purchase value, not to be confused with the
turnover minus the costs which results in the profit. The GDP however does not include the positive
and negative external costs, even though it should, because also these indicate the prosperity of a
country. This is a reason for the government to help sustainable companies reduce their price and
get more market share. It will result in more people buying and using sustainable products and thus a
more sustainable and prosperous country. Therefore it is worth it for a government to increase the
share in sustainable energy/products.
Profitability
It is most likely that if the government spends money on innovation in sustainability the profitability
of sustainable energy shall rise because of better techniques. It is an investment which will pay itself
back in the (near) future. More innovation means a lower cost price so that prices can drop which in
return means a higher demand for that certain product (which in this case is sustainable energy).
Eventually it will result in an equilibrium price where the turnover for companies providing green
energy is at its maximum level. To make a long story short: innovation ensures companies grow and
68
thus strengthens the economy. A stronger and well working economy will contribute to a more
prosperous country. Therefore it is worth it for a government to increase the share in sustainable
energy/products.
Options [1]
Sustainability is partly about leaving the options open for further generations. Our society consumes
resources much quicker than mother nature can regenerate itself. We have a lot of needs, and at this
speed we will end up with nothing left, leaving further generations resource less. Luckily, this
scenario is far from likely from happening, but it is still plausible. It is up to the government to
convert this speed of consuming non-sustainable products into only consuming durable products, so
that the quality of life and the environment in Netherlands can be maintained and preferably even
increased without it being at the expense of developmental opportunities for the future generations.
Therefore it is worth it for a government to increase the share in sustainable energy/products.
Gambling
It is most likely that sustainability will increase rapidly in the near future. We cannot be a 100% sure
though. We do not know how it will be in the future. Maybe the price of fossil fuel will habe dropped
to nil so that it almost cannot be surpassed by sustainable energy any more. Maybe the ideas
scientists have are not even possible to fulfil. Maybe the civilians will keep on protesting. We do not
know anything for sure. Spending money on innovation is a kind of gamble. Even though things do
look so optimistic. Therefore maybe it is not worth it for a government to invest in sustainable
energy/products.
How will the government help?
Stimulating scholars
One has to think of many things to improve durability, like more efficient harvesting of energy, more
ways of doing so and of course making it less expensive. We cannot achieve this if no one knows a
thing about sustainability. This means we have to train people on a national scale to do so. It is the
task of schools and the government to stimulate students to go green. So a way the government can
help us realize our goals is to make sure lots of people get an interest in sustainability.
Innovation
Stating that a lot of scholars will indeed study something that has to do with sustainability means we
indeed think of things to improve durability, like more efficient harvesting of energy, more ways of
doing so and of course making it less expensive. The next step is to actually make it happen, which
requires money. Partly this money can be derived from the people, but mainly it has to come from
the government. So one way the government can help us realize our goals is to spend money on
innovation in the field of durability to develop ideas thought up by
scholars/entrepreneurs/engineers/etc.
Electricity network [3]
One clear thing is that the more sustainable we become, the more fossil fuels will be exchanged for
electricity. Our electricity network as it is today cannot cope with the estimated amount of
electricity. Therefore we have to adjust it. There are two main ideas about how to do this. The first
option is the international grid; a grid (network) which connects multiple grids of multiple countries
together making it simply a whole lot bigger. The second option is the smart grid; a grid that
connects energy sources to the network and regulates them in a smart way. For example, when you
produce more electricity with your solar panels than you use, you normally release that surplus to
the grid. But when the grid is already overloaded, the smart grid can cut you off preventing you from
69
damaging it. (the surplus will be stored in your own personal ´energy safe´) Which network is to be
chosen remains a question for now. That it has to be adjusted, or maybe even fully replaced by our
government, is surely contrary to that.
Impositions
Making sure all (most) of the companies produce in a green way takes a lot of time if we let them
choose for themselves. This is caused by non-sustainable products still being less expensive.
Therefore the government has to impose sustainable actions and development upon those
companies. As durability becomes less expensive these impositions will increase until all companies
are forced to produce green. This will not be bad at all for the economy because the government also
has to make sure that the impositions increase simultaneously with the decreasing price of
sustainable products so that a balance will be maintained.
Excise duty
A form of imposition which is not laid upon companies only, but upon all users (companies, citizens,
etc.) of a certain non-sustainable product, is the excise duty, a form of tax. The most famous example
of excise duty is the one used on gasoline and petrol. In some cases it changes people’s minds
because it makes the product too expensive. Instead of using the non-durable product they change
to an environmental better (more sustainable) alternative.
Rewarding
Companies, civil society organisations (CSO´s), civilians themselves, co-governmental institutions,
sport clubs, you name it. All of these have started working voluntary on sustainable ideas more and
more. The government is already supporting this by rewarding them with a certain amount of money
but is planning to do this even more to increasingly stimulate these ideas. Later on, when enough
stimulation is achieved, these rewards will be withdrawn again.
Environmental damaging subsidies [4]
Lots of fishing fleets get subsidies in order to exist because they cannot do it alone. However, those
fishing fleets damage our environment because there are too many of them. In the end it comes
down to us paying fishing fleets do damage
our environment. And not only fishing fleets
get those subsidies. It is hard to stop
subsidising these kind of organisations
because some of them will probably go
bankrupt which will damage our economy.
The Green Deal
Making the economy more sustainable lies
not only in the hands of the government. The
government wants civilians, companies and
organisations to be capable of thinking of and
developing durable solutions on their own.
Figure 65: Green deals. Stimulating sustainable initiatives.
The government does this by taking
bottlenecks out of the way. For example in
the legislation and regulation or by ensuring companies get in touch with each other. This
cooperation between government and society is established in a contract called ´´The Green Deal´´
[2]
.
70
Carbon capture and storage [2]
A wonderful, but yet limited, method of decreasing the amount of carbon in the air is Carbon
Capture and Storage (CCS). It is simply the capturing and saving of carbon, mainly underground. It is
however limited and therefore it must be used very efficiently and thus carefully. It is up to the
government to regulate this method and use it as efficiently as possible.
Promoting
Rewarding is the main form of promotion to get people to work and study in the sector of durability.
Impositions and excise duty do not raise that much popularity for green energy and products. That is
why the government not only has to lower the demand for non-sustainable products but it is really
important as well to get people actually wanting to buy sustainable energy. Promotion is also
necessary for the innovation. Without promoting sustainability, civilians will most likely disagree to
spending that much money on something they do not even like. After all, it is partly their money the
government is spending.
Increase prosperity
It is not difficult to understand that people who
suffer from the low level economy at the moment,
rather see the government save the economy than
spend it on something that may be optional for in
the future, nor do people that do not have the
access to health care or education. Therefore it is
important to raise the (overall) prosperity so that
more support can be expected. Money spent on
innovation will logically increase gradually with the
prosperity.
Figure 66: money for innovation
Conclusion
So, will the government help us? Yes the government should and will help. Sustainability and it’s
needed investments and innovation will pay itself back in the form of a more prosperous country
with a better and more varied economy and higher life standard.
How will the government help us? By stimulating scholars to do something with durability and by
promoting durability itself, by means of rewarding and the increasing prosperity, great opportunities
will open up for sustainable companies to grow and become more significant. In combination with
lots of innovation and The Green Deal, sustainability will develop in a fast speed making it most likely
cheaper and giving it more market share. Because of that, the government can increase their excise
duties, increase the amount of impositions and lower the environmental damaging subsidies, giving
sustainability again a higher market share. Besides all of this, the government has to regulate CCS
and a new electricity network in order to give sustainability (even) higher chances of succeeding.
Whether the government will actually proceed in helping us remains a question to everyone but the
government itself and how it will help is even harder to say. Because of not knowing what lies in the
future it remains hard to tell what will happen. However, that sustainability has good chances and
that the government is highly likeable at our side is quite clear.
71
2.3.2
Why or why not should the government
give grants to companies that produce in
a green way?
In 2005 the Dutch government gave grants to any company that produced green energy or
companies that just used it. Because of this green energy was almost as cheap as the so called ´´grey
energy´´, energy produced in a non-green way. Both types of energy work just as good. At the
moment only companies that produce the green energy itself get grants, or subsidies. Also, they get
green energy certificates. These certificates show that these companies produce green energy. If
obtained, they hold a certain value. The company
can keep it, but could also sell it to their electricity
supplier. Receiving subsidies from the
government is getting harder and harder. Our
government wants to cut down the costs of the
grants spent on culture, innovation and green
energy resulting in a lot of subsidies disappearing
(in 2015 the budget will still be 3,5 billion euro).
However, a replacement in the form of an
innovation fund with a budget of 200 million
euros is set up. So if you do something for green
energy in the form of innovation you might
succeed in getting some governmental cash. In
return the government wants to see how you
spend it at the end of the year so you have to be
prepared. The major innovative grants (and thus
Figure 67: giving grants for “green” factories?
grants for green energy) can be divided into 4
groups.
The Innovation Voucher: with this, a company can pay a school or university to solve a problem.
However, sadly enough the government abolished it on 1 January 2011.
Environment and Technology: a program for the development and applying of innovative processes,
products and services with an environmental benefit.
Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR): a program aimed for small businesses that
want to solve a social issue by means of innovative ideas.
Subsidy Social Organisations and Environment: this subsidy is meant for social organisations without
the aim to make a profit.
The question now is; why, or why not, should the government proceed with providing companies
that produce (or use) green energy with grants?
72
Why should they?
Pay back
If the government gives companies that produce green energy grants, they can produce it in a
cheaper way because the cost price will decrease for them. Because of this, the market share of
sustainable energy will increase because the price for consumers will decrease. A higher market
share for sustainable energy together with the result (more users of sustainable energy) will result in
a more prosperous country with a growing economy (see 2.3.1a Profitability). In this way the grants
will not be for nothing, it will eventually give something back to the country even though this might
mainly be on the long term.
Stimulation [4]
If producing green means you get money for it, then logically more companies want to produce
green. For some it might still mean a loss, but for others it will become a potential way of producing.
The more companies produce in a green way, the more sustainable an economy or even a country
can become. Besides that, sustainability will grow and develop faster because more companies will
be working in a green way. This faster development will likely result in lower prices, a higher market
share and a higher profit. More companies will become interested in producing green because of this
higher profit. A negative effect is that if more companies start producing green, more grants will be
needed to cover all those companies. On the other hand; a higher profit means less money from the
government (subsidy) is needed to support those companies as they already receive more money
themselves. In this way, subsidising companies to produce green does not cost any more money,
what it does do is help in the development of a sustainable country.
Trias Energetica [7]
The Trias Energetica is the strategy the government uses
currently to stimulate the usage of renewable energy
(energetica), containing three steps (trias). Step 1 is to lower
the demand of energy as a whole, either fossil or sustainable
fuels. Step 2 is to let people use as much renewable energy
as they can to cover the demand for energy that is left. Step
3 is to use the fossil fuels that are still needed in the most
efficient way. If the government stops subsidising green
energy, step 2 will fail miserably because the cost price of
green energy will increase again and the demand will
decrease again.
Figure 68: Trias Energetica
Fossil fuel grants [6]
A report by the Dutch government concluded that the government supported the usage of energy
with €4,6 billion in 2010 while we were still in a crisis. This included tax rebates and exemptions for
large consumers of energy. For the production of energy in 2010 still more governmental money
went to fossil fuels (€1,4 billion) than to renewable energy sources (€1,3 billion), even though it is
only a slight difference. Added up the government spent in 2010 €5,8 billion from the national
treasury on fossil fuels compared to €1,5 billion on renewable energy. ´´So the taxpayer contributes
to a lower consumer price for fossil fuels. The stimulus to save money decreases as the price of fuel
drops. Also the producers of fossil fuels benefited more than the ones of renewable energy. This
mechanism hampers a CO2-poor energy provision.´´ Our government has to proceed with subsidising
companies to produce and use green energy otherwise it will never be able to compete with fossil
fuels.
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Potential
The Netherlands has a huge potential in the field of durability. Because of its location by the sea, the
strong position of seaports, the presence of gas and the gas infrastructure the Netherlands can
become the energy junction of Europe. If our government stops providing grants, our green economy
would most likely collapse. If not given money, companies will not produce green, it just is not
beneficial enough yet. This would ruin our potential of becoming the major country in a green
Europe.
Entering investments of the Top Sector [5]
Renewable energy sources such as wind, bio and solar energy should be able to compete with fossil
forms of energy. Therefore Top Sector Energy invests in innovation. The amount will increase
structurally up to €50 million from 2017 onwards. This means that businesses can show their new
products through pilot shows ensuring new inventions to get on the market faster. For relatively not
that much money the benefits are clearly there, this is because this money is invested with high
accuracy.
Why should they not?
Economic crisis
The most logical explanation is that since the economic crisis began in 2008, our GDP has dropped by
75 billion euros. Since 2012 we are growing again slightly after a second small dip (see figure 69), but
until the consequences have faded, the government is in trouble. There is simply not enough money
anymore to do what we want to do, thus we have to cut down the costs. Why stop the grants
specifically for green energy? Because the economy has to be saved first so that growth and better
chances for green energy can be established again. Green energy is for later concerns, it can wait.
There is no future without a solid base as one might say.
Figure 26: The GDP of the Netherlands from 2005 until 2013 in billions
2
Expensive
Until green energy can be produced and sold cheaply, green energy simply costs a lot more. If the
government gives grants to every single company that produces green energy, green energy will
become cheaper, which is a good thing. As a result of this, more people want to buy sustainable
energy, which is a good thing as well. The negative side of this case, however, is that the government
actually pays a part of the consumers energy bills. Indirectly the government pays the consumer to
go green. Today the government only pays for the innovation and development of green energy, but
as described above it will also pay for using it. As if it was not expensive enough already.
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Green energy certificates [3]
Instead of supporting the innovation of green energy, these green energy certificates [1] (a form of
subsidy) slow it down. As mentioned, you can receive the certificates by using or producing green
energy. However, where the used energy comes from does not matter, nor where it is sold.
Companies buy the energy abroad cheaply and sell the earned certificates somewhere else for
relatively more money. This does not stimulate the development of green energy in the Netherlands
at all. The government should make sure those certificates are not in the way of the evolution of
durability or even stop them.
National policy
´´We must not subsidize the difference between
cost- and market price without limits in the length
of days and years. That costs the government
billions of euros in the time of tenths of years and
makes companies lazy. We have to get rid of that´´
according to Maria van der Hoeven, former
Minister of Economic Affairs. She no longer wants
national goals as a starting point of the policy, but
European goals. Now every country has its own
goals for sustainable energy and numerous
systems of stimulating it.
Therefore the market does not function that good
Figure 70: Maria van der Hoeven
and you are risking a so called subsidy war. ´´The
wind farms are built where the subsidies are the highest. Europe can no longer afford this´´, Van der
Hoeven announces. If the European Union is not in control, our government has to stop subsidising
companies that produce green energy.
Conclusion
Maybe we should cut down the grants for a little while purely for economical reasons. We are in a
crisis at the moment and we cannot just deny that. Green energy is expensive. To make it even
worse, some subsidies do not even stimulate the development of sustainability but slow it down or
make companies lazy, especially when it is not managed on a European scale.
On the other hand, it will pay itself back and most of the grants do actually stimulate the
development of green energy, especially when the Top Sector invests the subsidies very accurately.
Besides that, if any country in Europe should invest in green energy then we are the perfect nation
for that with the perfect position and the perfect natural energy sources like wind and water. Plus, if
the government stops subsidising their main strategy of developing green energy will be overthrown
and green energy will not be capable of competing against fossil fuels.
We are already in the recovery period of the economical crisis. Soon we will overcome it and then
there should be enough money to invest in green energy. Grants for companies that produce green
should increase when our government has enough money.
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2.3.3
Which jobs/education can/will help us
in the development of a sustainable
society?
The basis of a green and sustainable society is when people are thinking about it, working on it and
people studying about it. Without human beings being interested and motivated to develop
something like durability, the development would be nowhere. Just take a look at any product on the
market. Before it is actually for sale, someone had the demand for it, someone had the brains to
think of it and someone had the skills to develop it. This is the same for green energy. Right at this
moment we already have the demand for renewable energy, even though this is in our eyes not yet
enough, because fossil fuels are running out. We also have the brains to think of ideas how to fulfill
this demand and right now we are in the phase of developing it (and coming up with even more
ideas). To complete this phase we need people with knowledge of sustainable energy and
sustainability as a whole. We also need people who know a lot about economical aspects of
sustainability as well as of the construction of it. But which education and which jobs can lead us to
complete the third phase? What knowledge do we actually need to develop a sustainable society.
It is simply impossible to name all the jobs and educational programs which would contribute to a
society that functions greenly. Therefore this sub question will be naming the jobs divided into large
groups with some examples to give you an idea and the education part will be focusing on what is
done to get more students studying something that has to do with sustainability. Besides, a lot of
jobs mentioned can be performed in multiple areas, of course we are only looking at the form in
which it can help to develop a sustainable society. Only the top 5 most beneficial jobs and education
courses will be named.
Jobs
If you are looking for a job with which can help to develop a
sustainable society, then there are numerous things to think
about. You could for example become a designer for more
efficient turbines. You could also become the head of a wind
farm, or you could be that guy/woman installing the solar
panels on a newly built house. Because sustainability is
becoming more and more important, more jobs will increasingly
come in. The Dutch government plans to create approximately
15,000 jobs before 2020 in the area of durability. Here is a list
with the major jobs involved in the creation of a sustainable
society:
Figure 71: windturbine engineering
Engineer
An important step to take, if looking at structures like wind
turbines, is to design a structure which functions well. Much of
an engineer´s time is spent on researching, locating, applying,
and transferring information. Scientific knowledge and
mathematics are crucial. How big, long and/or wide do things
need to be and how are we going to include the needed devices
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like turbines? Also you need to know a lot about materials like simple wood or more modern plastics.
What is best for your structure? How much do you need of that material? Ingenuity is also of
importance for technical, societal and commercial problems.
You have to overcome these obstacles before you can deliver your structure with success.
Engineering something sustainable is the link between the ideas and the delivery of those ideas to
society. Designing a wind farm or even a nuclear reactor is not something any laic can do. It is more
complicated than just designing a building as you have to take things into account like radiation or
wind speeds.
Researcher
Even though the engineer does some of the research, the researcher does the most work. Research
provides scientific information and theories for the explanation of questions needed to be answered
in case someone wants to do/build/design something. It makes practical applications possible. An
example, returning to the previous named job, is that researchers specialized in science can research
how strong the radiation of the power plant will be. Another example is that researchers specializing
in meteorology can research which wind speed is most beneficial for wind turbines depending on
height. On the other hand, researchers specialized in society can research if building a certain
structure in a certain area will bring up lots of problems. Lots of research is still needed in the field of
durability. It is crucial for the
development of any kind of
sustainable idea.
Manager
As in every project there has to be
someone in charge. This could be
you. Before you can really make a
change for a sustainable society
you have to know how to manage
things in such a way that you do
not harm the environment.
Figure 72: searching for green solutions
Managing something that has to
do with sustainability has lots of comparisons to managing anything else. You develop vision and
strategy, create new possibilities and guarantee the relationships of the company. However, you aim
for the developments in the technology and engineering of sustainable structures and ideas. Before
you can do some managing in the field of sustainability you need to have some experience in the
field, it is not just for everyone. Basic knowledge about the thing you are managing is needed,
complimented with the knowledge of the experts (researchers) as well as being aware of the benefits
(grants) but also disadvantages (higher costs) of durability.
Politician/Officer
If you want to go deeper into the creation of a sustainable society then you could aim for a job at the
government itself. Instead of following the orders you give them. You can join a political party and
raise your voice for sustainability or you could join the Ministry of Economic Affairs which regulates
not only affairs related to the economy but also to innovation and durability. ´´The ministry stands
for a Dutch undertaking with an eye for sustainability. (...) Through attention for our nature and
environment. Through stimulating cooperation between researchers and entrepreneurs.´´
Sustainability could really use as many people as possible higher up in the government for its
development. Imagine what could be realized if all political parties supported sustainability. It would
mean a development in rapid speed because (way) more money would be spent on sustainability.
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´´Nationale Denktank´´ [1]
In short the “Denktank”, Dutch for Thinking tank, is a group that thinks about social issues including
sustainability. They think of ideas and theories which can help our society and they also try to do
research about the feasibility. Just to name an example, they lately found out that sustainable food
could become the standard. With solutions like this the “Denktank” claims that the Netherlands
could save 25% on environmental taxes. Jobs like these are vital for sustainability. Engineers,
researchers, managers and even officers cannot do anything without the ideas, the second step in
developing a contribute a significant part to sustainability in our daily lives. It would be great if more
people would focus on this step so that sustainability could be used more effectively and also more
efficiently.
Education
Companies that signed the Dutch Energy Agreement [2] (het
Energieakkoord) strive for a dynamic labour market which
responds to changing labour needs and creates
opportunities for new and sustainable employment.
Employees must be able to train themselves continuously so
that they can continue to meet the demands of the
constantly changing job market. There must be sufficient
professionals, especially technically trained ones, for all
positions in the field of energy conservation and renewable
energy (also known as people with green skills).
Figure 73: het energieakkoord
Naming educations is impossible for every education can be used in a
green way. But ´´what does the government do to recruit people with
green skills?´´ is more interesting. Here are some ways how studying
in the field of sustainability is stimulated:
Top Energy sector [4]
The Top Energy sector, together with employers and employees, makes it possible that more
entrants will come. Employees and jobseekers will be educated fast so that they can rapidly and
effectively start in the sector of their vacancy. ´´We as entrepreneurs give employees chances to
have a traineeship in the field of green skills, skills that are needed for developing clean technology
and saving energy. Therefore a test project will be launched where sectors within certain regions will
be connected.´´ More attention will be paid to the importance of knowledge and skills in the field of
saving energy and clean technology. The Top Energy sector wants to realize that these subjects will
get a permanent place in vocations. For employees that lose their job in the sector of energy or the
energy-intensive industry, there will be ´from work-to-work-´-trajectories.
Green Skills [3] [4]
Besides green skills being a term for skills within the field of durability, Green Skills is also a project.
The project is in cooperation with the working group of European Affairs aimed at unemployed
youths and their skills. Their goal is to offer youths more prospects for a job by training them as
sustainable leaders. They want to realize their preconceived goals within Green Skills by short but
intensive education courses in the Netherlands. Not only the awareness and motivation are
discussed here, but also the capacities a sustainable leader needs. By connecting Green Skills to
durable companies they can teach the youths skills that they are missing in their education and
therefore do not match the demand for labour.
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Conclusion
There are many jobs you can do, too many to mention, to help the development of a sustainable
society. But jobs that are in the field of engineering, doing research, managing the whole project,
being partly in charge of the whole development or thinking of ideas are probably the best options
you could have. The jobs themselves are not aimed at sustainability, but the main challenge is to turn
that around and focus on the durable aspects of the job.
With education courses you can study quite everything. Therefore there are some ways the
government and organisations stimulate students to focus on the durable side of their education.
This is done by the Top Energy sector which, together with employers, employees and companies,
gives more chances for students to go green by a variety of projects. Also organisations like Green
Skills stimulate students for sustainability and they do this with the help of the working group of
European Affairs. They aim for the youth in the Netherlands and train them to become sustainable
leaders.
Contributing to a sustainable society is not that hard, you just have to have the right focus.
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2.3.4
Should companies manufacture in a
durable way?
It is not hard to understand that manufacturing in a durable way has its consequences. But the
question is whether these consequences will affect these durable companies in a positive or a
negative way and is it then still worth it to manufacture in a durable way? That there are upsides as
well as downsides is clear. The one is worse/better than the other. But also the aspects that the
consequences have to do with differ. You can economically have a backlog but environmentally have
a benefit. These aspects have to be balanced. Of course the consequences differ per company. For
example the size, area of interest and the product produced affect what will happen with companies
that produce in a durable way. In this sub question we will be looking mainly at the positive side of
manufacturing in a durable way. That companies should manufacture green is a fact, but why? Also
attention will be paid to some negative consequences that should be considered as well.
Positive consequences
Durability is important and we all know it. Companies that produce green know it as well. But after
all it is for most companies not about the environment, but about the money. Helping mother nature
has a positive effect of producing green, but when this process becomes too expensive one has to
stop and think whether it helps the environment or not. That is why it is important for companies to
know that not only the environment benefits from producing green, companies themselves benefit
too, even economically. Here are some reasons why.
Profitable Innovation
Innovative, forward-thinking and creative businesses are gaining
an advantage over their slower-moving competitors and gaining
the support of the public. [1] Public interest in things such as
alternative energy and nontoxic materials is growing along with
government moves toward legislating the use of these things
around the world (together with giving subsidies and grants to
innovative corporations), according to a poll conducted by
studies.me. These two factors herald the arrival of an enormous
green gold rush, and the businesses that are most prepared when
this rush truly hits will be the ones to rake in the greatest profits,
according to the Christian Science Monitor. So in short innovative
companies will receive the most support from customers as well as
the government boasting their market share and position. Also
good to know when considering producing green is that banks are
planning to let sustainability have an effect on the provision on
business loans with the result that these become more affordable
for durable companies.
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Figure 74: green/alternative energy
Reduced Costs [3]
Lighting, heating and cooling are major business expenses for any company. By reducing energy
usage, a company can save money each month and help the environment. A business can reduce
lighting output by installing certain light bulbs throughout the office which use nearly 75 percent less
energy than traditional bulbs. [8] One might say that these expenses are derived from electrical
appliances and thus are sustainable. This would mean that reducing them will not help the
environment because there is not any harm produced by these light bulbs. This is mainly true, but
you have to keep in mind that in the production of electricity fossil fuels are still used. For example
for the construction of the energy plant. Reducing your usage of energy, also in the form of
electricity, will actually help the environment. Besides that it is logically better for the environment
to lower your, or take out, the energy usage in the form of any imaginable fossil fuel. Fossil fuels are
also more expensive than electricity.
Corporate Reputation
Business owners put effort into maintaining a positive public image of their brands. Large
corporations spend millions of dollars every year strategically placing their logos in the public eye and
training the public to see them in a benevolent light. People who are worried about the environment
want to support businesses that they see as environmentally responsible. Businesses are happy to
comply by undertaking environmental initiatives to maintain an image that is appealing to the
public.[1] Being known as ´green´ benefits your brand´s reputation and develops brand loyalty in
environmentally aware shoppers who delve into how a product is made before making their
purchasing decisions. The latest trend pushing companies to become greener is green stock
investment. Also a better reputation helps to improve the connection between the company and her
customers. Customers will return to a company faster if they know that the company is doing a good
job for the environment. But not only the customers will be positively influenced by the improved
reputation, the employees will as well feel better about working at a green company (it is therefore
easier to attract new employees and to retain the ones that already have a contract). More
motivated employees equals higher efficiency and also a healthier corporation.
Tax Incentives
Companies can receive deductions on their business taxes for going green. The tax incentives apply
to both rented and owned commercial business spaces that upgrade their electrical and gas systems
to save energy. In an article entitled "Tax Incentives for Businesses Going Green" from Green
Business Bureau News [6], it states that
commercial companies that reduce their energy
expenditures by at least 50 percent can receive
a $1.80 tax deduction per square foot of space
(± €14,14 per square meter). The article goes on
to say that companies can also earn smaller tax
deductions for less significant changes like the
lighting system. There are both federal tax
breaks and grants available for businesses
investing in solar power including incentives for
putting a wind turbine on your property. In
most countries you can sell any excess power
back to the utility company.
Figure 75: taxes for producing green
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Environmental Concern
Some business owners are trying to make their businesses greener out of a genuine concern for
environmental health and sustainability. Individuals within those companies have consciences, and
these individuals can sometimes have a huge impact on the behavior of the corporation resulting in
an environmentally responsible company. [1] The positive effect of this is that it simply, and logically,
helps the environment a lot. Less fossil fuels because of a better management of transport, less
energy usage because of better electronics and less plastic that is included in the packaging are just
three easy-mentioned ways of how to transfer the environmental concern of a business to reality.
But there is more, way more. For example the information you give the employees and customers
upon sustainability when producing and buying the product or service is a vital part of the
transmission. One should always remember that words can be as strong as actions.
Waste
Wasteful practices have always cost businesses money, but for many years these losses were not
large enough to stimulate action because of the low cost of energy and materials. With fluctuating oil
costs upon them and the threat of penalties for carbon releases, businesses have more motivation to
cut down on the amount of waste they produce. Green initiatives are good for the planet as well as
for the bottom line of a business.
Companies that produce goods typically leave waste behind. A company can sell that waste to a
manufacturer that recycles or repurposes the waste for a profit. For example, General Mills sells the
oat hulls left over after making Cheerios cereal. According to Fast Company, General Mills in 2006
sold 86 percent of their solid waste [7] and made more profit from selling it than they spent on
disposal. Companies spend a lot of time and money dealing with the waste created during the
manufacturing process and buying packaging. Going green can eliminate waste, reduce liability and
cut paperwork. Minimal packaging cuts costs and attracts environmentally aware consumers while
reducing the burden on landfills.
´´Businesses contribute greatly to the world´s energy use, pollution and waste produced. According to
British company Morgan Lovell, offices, factories and retail centers are responsible for 47 percent of
the carbon emissions in the world. Going green can help a business do its part to reduce those
emissions and help the business save money as well.´´
Figure 76: using cheaper waste for a higher profit
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Negative consequences
Logically producing durable products does not only bring positive consequences, otherwise everyone
would have switched to sustainability a long time ago. Not every company can find itself in the world
of the durable production. Some cannot, some will not. Here are the main negative consequences
that will come along with producing in a durable way.
Expensive
Obviously the first thing companies look at are the costs. Switching from producing non durable to
durable is going to cost a lot of money. [4] You have to change for example your light bulbs and
heating system, you have to adjust your machinery and you might even have to replace some
billboards that are for instance not good for the environment. Many things have to be
changed/adapted/adjusted if one wants to start producing green and every change has its costs.
High investments
As a result of this first argument companies have high investments. [4] This is part of why
sustainability is expensive. The thing, however, is that it is not equally divided over the years. In the
first few years your costs will be outrageously high, and slowly it will start to become less expensive
until it becomes even profitable. This takes a lot of time, and time is money. Loans have to be
applied, interest has to be paid and there will not be any beneficial effects in the beginning.
Low profits [4]
The profits will decrease in the first couple of years because of the high investments because it is
expensive. These low profits are not the worst because companies can earn it back later. After all
these extra costs are investments so they pay themselves back in the (near) future. A thing where
companies do have to think about is that potential shareholders will look at the profits you make if
they are interested in investing in you. For example; Coca Cola exists for 96% out of money of
shareholders because it is a company that does well. Producing durably could scare off these
potential shareholders and thus potential profit.
Cut on dividends
Because companies have to make a profit which is as high as possible, they can actually not afford to
spend extra money on shifting to durable production. The profit has to be maximized because partly
the profit goes to the shareholders in the form of dividend. [5] Spending money on adjusting your
company lowers the profit and thus the dividend. The extra money that is spent was actually meant
for the shareholders. This is not exactly fair.
Higher prices
Lower profits could result in higher prices. For
example; the meat of range chicken is far more
expensive than the meat of free battery
chickens. This is because the costs of free range
chickens are higher. The market share of
environmentally friendly products is lower
because of its higher price. Not all customers
have the money to buy durable products.
Figure 77: rising prices
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Conclusion
Chances for companies which produce durably are growing. The green gold rush is coming because
of the increasingly growing reputation of producing green and the government which is trying to
meet these companies. Besides this, producing sustainably can greatly increase your reputation as a
green business. People are becoming more aware and concerned about the environment and even
most shareholders support this because the green stock investments are rising. Also a production on
a green basis can decrease your costs over time by various means. First of all the energy you
produce/use can be lowered, tax incentives make it more attractive to go all the way into the green
way of producing and your waste could actually be worth money.
On the other hand producing sustainably costs a lot of money because a lot has to be changed and
adjusted. This can lead to high investments and therefore low profits which can threaten your
potential of getting more shareholders. Also it can force you to cut down the dividend which might
scare off some shareholders as well. The final negative consequence is that these high costs can lead
to higher prices and so a lower market share.
In the short term it costs a lot of money but on the long term it can definitely be profitable for your
company. Time and patience are key.
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2.3.5
Why would a sustainable country be
positive for the economy?
It is easily said; let´s make our country sustainable. But before saying such things it is good to know
why you would actually want that. Is it actually a good idea to make a whole country sustainable?
There are many reason why it is, but on the other hand there are of course a lot of reasons why it is
not. In this sub question we will look at the positive consequences sustainability has upon a nation
(the Netherlands) because we are pro durability. This sub question has it’s interfaces with 2.3.1 and
2.3.4 because those two sub questions are partly what we will be looking at now, but the main
difference is that we will be broading it a lot. Instead of focusing on a company or government we
will be looking at the whole together. We shall have a look at the full economy and then try to find an
answer to what we want to know in this sub question; why is a sustainable country positive for the
economy?
Stimulates innovation
Sustainability equals a lot of innovation. [5] Traditional approaches to business will collapse sooner or
later, and companies will have to develop innovative solutions. That will happen only when
executives recognize a simple truth: Sustainability = Innovation. New techniques to do certain things
like the production of energy or the way transport is managed have to be invented. Sustainability
brings us a lot of problems we have to overcome. Problems where we work on the day of today. The
thing is, however, that if we really put pressure on becoming sustainable it will go a lot faster
resulting in more solutions and therefore more knowledge about how things work in our country.
More understanding of the environment in combination with the economy will lead to great things
like more efficiency and effectiveness (see next subtitle).
Efficiency [6]
As we just mentioned, stimulating an environmentally healthy economy will
result in the stimulation of innovation which will in its turn cause companies to
be more efficient. ´´Why is efficiency important for the economy?´´ one might
ask oneself. The answer we can give you is the well-known motto of every
economist: ´´time is money.´´ The more efficient a company is, the more it can
achieve. Cutting down on the time spent on the separation of waste could for
example result in spending more time on the marketing which could lead to a
higher market share and profit. However, that counts not for just one company. This
time-efficiency could be applied to all corporations in the country. More focus could
be paid to the more important parts of the production like sales and market share
resulting in a national rise of rivalry.
Figure 78: current
energy (efficiency) labels
New markets
There are now far less companies focusing on sustainable energy than on the ´´normal´´ non-green
energy. When a country becomes more and more sustainable, the amount of green energy focused
companies will slowly overtake the other companies. More companies will join the now existing
companies in the production of green energy because they know they can get something out of that
sector. This will result in more competition in that sector so that prices will drop, green energy in its
whole will get more market share and the rise of green energy will only go quicker and quicker.
Simultaneously with this growth in green corporations, the amount of people than can work in the
sustainable sector will grow as well. Or said differently: there will be more jobs created. So in short
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these relatively new markets could create more competition, more market share for durability and
more jobs.
Prosperity
Something that cannot be noticed in numbers, but can still be seen, is the prosperity that will
improve because of an environmentally healthy economy. Of course the GDP (Gross Domestic
Product) is a way to look at how prosperous a country is. But often people forget to look at other
consequences which cannot be put in numbers but which do contribute to the prosperity of a
country. Other examples are the health of the inhabitants and level of education. These kind of
things are not always put into numbers simply because we cannot do that. This is the same for the
sustainability of a country. The more prosperous, the better.
Higher profits
If the economy of a country is sustainable then the companies that function within it are also
sustainable. This can have multiple positive effects on those companies. In sub question 2.3.4a we
will dive into this aspect somewhat deeper. For now it is important to know that sustainability can
improve the health of your company. It can do this, for example, by sorting the waste better and/or
even selling it, or by a more obvious way like saving energy. This can be fossil fuels as well as
electricity. The main reason why this is good for the health of a company is because it can save or
even earn money. Environmental Leader investigated what sustainability does to a company and
found this also: ´´Sixty-five percent reported that their company´s sustainability efforts benefited from
savings through energy efficiency and 46 percent reported savings through source reduction.´´
Lowering the energy bills can actually save 75 percent of costs spend on the energy. [1] It can save
thousands of euro´s per individual year raising the profits with the same amount you save. Research
by the one and only Harvard University states the following: ´´Our research shows that becoming
environment-friendly lowers costs because companies end up reducing the inputs they use. In
addition, the process generates additional revenues from better products or enables companies to
create new businesses.´´[4]
Unique
There are two things that could
happen if the Netherlands goes totally
green. The first option is that other
countries will follow our steps, the
second option is that we will become
the first and only country functioning
as green as possible. Here we will look
at the second option. What if we are
unique in being sustainable? Being
unique in economical terms is having a
monopoly or at least something very
close to that. In that scenario we have
full power and control because of the
lack of competition and rivalry. If other Figure 79: the Netherlands becoming unique?
countries want something durable,
they will come to us because we are the best at that. As a result of that we can charge them high
prices because we are the only country they can buy it from. Sadly enough this sketch is not even
close to being realistic. Other countries are well as the Netherlands are working on becoming
sustainable. Some worse than us, some better than we are doing. This brings us to the next point.
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Sustainable Europe
In this point we assume that more countries within Europe (but also worldwide) are becoming as
sustainable as possible just like what we are planning to achieve. In that case, all the points
mentioned above, except ´´Unique´´ for that is the opposite of this point, can be applied to those
countries as well. As we already made clear, these points will strengthen the economy of the country
that is able to apply it to itself. The outcome of this is that the economies of (a lot of) European
countries will become stronger. For most countries a stronger economy means a rise in imports and
often also exports. The positive effect for the Netherlands is the rise of imports from the other
countries. The Dutch prosperity largely depends on
exports [2], or said differently, the imports of other
countries. So in short, more countries going green
results in an overall stronger European economy so
that our exports grows and thus our prosperity.
More stability
Companies that produce durably are detectably more
efficient and innovative. Companies with a green
image adapt faster to the fast moving world around it
because of the level of effectiveness and innovation.
Therefore these corporations are less dependant on
the economical fluctuations. [3] These fluctuations
happen more often in our modern society. We as the
human race demand a lot of resources. The demand for recourses is therefore growing. This leads to
higher prices. In combination with the low amount of supply the uncertainty about the development
of the prices grows as well, leading to a growing price volatility (price fluctuations). More price
shocks are expected in the upcoming years, as the media says. In a sustainable country with an
economy full of efficient and innovative companies the fear for these price shocks can be neglected.
Figure 80: Europe
Stimulating sustainability as a whole
As already explained a couple of times, sustainability effects the economy in a good way. If executed
as efficiently as possible then the economically healthy economies will strengthen. Nowadays our
economy is negligibly sustainable and recovering from the latest recession. What we see is that
consumers pass the environmentally responsible products and go for the, still, cheaper nonecological products. When economies get better, more ´green´ products will be bought stimulating
the growth of sustainability within the economy but also on other platforms like education and
agriculture. In the long term, a sustainable economy will strengthen the economy so that customers
buy ´green´ products and thus stimulate the growth of durability as a whole. Because of this the
sustainable economy will, again, get a boost as well and so the circle will be complete.
More money left over
Not being sustainable effects our earth dramatically in all sorts of forms. We notice this especially by
means of the greenhouse effect. The greenhouse effect is there, because we pump way too much
CO2 into the air. CO2 is known to capture heat and thus the average temperature on earth is rising.
Ice on the north pole is melting because of this and our country is threatened by the extra amount of
water. To survive the redundancy of water our government has to invest in, for instance, building
and strengthening dikes. If the Netherlands (and of course other countries as well) act
environmentally responsible, we could save the earth and save the money we have to spend on
saving ourselves. We then have ´extra´ money that we can spend in/on our economy.
87
Conclusion
A sustainable country will provide the nation with innovative companies that are more creative,
efficient, effective and also environmentally friendly. New markets will be launched and jobs will be
created raising the prosperity level. Sustainability itself will make the prosperity rise as well. But not
only the welfare of the country will be improved by sustainability. Also the businesses themselves
will grow tremendously because of higher profits realized by the higher efficiency, more trade with
other sustainable countries and less price shocks. Besides that, the government could save a lot of
money that is now spent on saving the world as people do not think about the environment before
they act. Sustainability as a whole shall grow as well because of all the above mentioned points
helping to increase it. The rise of durability will go faster and faster. It is inevitable.
88
2.3 Conclusion
Can we achieve our goals within 40
years in terms of the economy?
Starting off with the government we now presume that the government will help us in several ways
to become as sustainable as possible for it is definitely worth it. Sustainability and its needed
investments will pay itself back. We can see this in the form of a more prosperous country with a
better and more varied economy and a higher standard of life. The government will try to realize this
by means of stimulating scholars to go green, by promoting durability itself, by rewarding durability
and lots of innovation. A higher prosperity, sustainable corporations getting chances to grow and
cheaper green products are examples of results. Because of this excise duties can rise and
impositions can grow in quantity giving sustainability an even higher market share.
Of all these measures the measure of reward seems to have the most potential because it makes
green products capable of competing against other non-green products. Even though we might not
have the money right now to spend a lot of money on rewarding companies in the form of grants, we
should consider it on the long term. Something else to take into account is that not all grants
stimulate sustainability for some make companies ´lazy´. However, this is only a very small
percentage and most of the grants do actually have the desired effect. So all in all the Netherlands
should (increasingly) continue to reward the green behaviour of businesses. Note as well that if there
is any country where sustainability should be promoted it is the Netherlands. We have the perfect
position with the perfect natural
energy sources like wind and water.
Therefore we should be very focused
on the green job market and green
study opportunities as well. Without
the skilled people to operate in a
green economy one will not come any
further. The best examples of how
someone could be valuable for a
green society are becoming an
engineer, researcher, manager or
even an officer. These jobs are in itself
worthless for sustainability, but
the main
Figure 81: should everything be green?
challenge is to turn these
jobs around
and lay the focus on the durable aspects of the job. Students on the other hand should be stimulated
as well. This is done by the Top Energy sector which, together with employers, employees and
companies, gives more chances for students to go green by a variety of projects. Also organisations
like Green Skills stimulate students for sustainability and they do this with help of the working group
of European Affairs. They aim for the youth in the Netherlands and train them to become sustainable
leaders.
After all sustainability has to be worth it for the economy. So the question remains whether
companies should or should not manufacture in a durable way, otherwise all of the above would be a
waste of time. Luckily it is not a waste of time. Speaking about waste; corporations can earn money
from their waste if they sort it out and sell it to recycling organizations. This is only one of the many
beneficial consequences of sustainability for a company. The reputation of sustainability and the
89
companies that produce green is constantly rising. People are becoming more aware of the
environment and so are shareholders. But even more importantly is that manufacturing in a durable
way can save your company a lot of costs. We already mentioned the waste, but also the energy (e.g.
electricity) and associated costs can be decreased and tax incentives can be claimed. However, it is
not all rosy for the investment costs are high, a lot has to be adjusted and profits can decrease
scaring off shareholders so that prices might have to go up endangering the market share. In the
short term it is expensive, but when time passes by sustainability will become more and more
profitable.
A country running sustainably will cause companies to become more innovative as well as creative,
efficient, effective and also environmentally friendly. The welfare of the country shall rise by means
of new markets that can be launched so that jobs will be created raising the prosperity levels. Besides
the prosperity the businesses will be influenced positively as well for higher profits can be realized.
The government at last will also save some money because the regulations against the deterioration
of the world are not necessary anymore. The rise of sustainability will go faster and faster and cannot
be stopped.
“Sustainability within the economy is inevitable.”
90
Part [3]
Can we realize our
goals?
Conclusion Can we realize our goals?
Advises
How to change the current policy?
What are our goals?
 “To fully replace fossil fuels with sustainable fuels
in the next 36 years (2050)
 “We want the Netherlands to only work with
recyclable products, and that all those products will
actually be recycled”
 “We want all companies to fully support a
sustainable Netherlands. Plus, we would like
education to look more at sustainability.”
91
Conclusion
Can we realize our goals?
Our government, the Dutch government, states that they plan to fully replace fossil fuels with
sustainable fuels in the next 36 years (2050). This is our goal as well. We want to run the Netherlands
on sustainable energy only. With increasing public support, this will not be a problem at all. With the
current production methods for electricity, we are able to achieve our goals of 100% sustainable
energy. Actually, it is very easy to achieve our goals if we use wind and solar energy in combination
with biomass plants or farms. However, to achieve this, a good response to sustainability from the
government is needed. If people want to place solar panels, they will not because of the high price of
solar panels. Individuals will not buy wind turbines, because the investments needed are too high.
This is the same for biomass installations. But if the government would help, bigger projects would
be possible. Wind energy plants, solar panels on costs of the government and biomass installations
for big dung producers. Besides that, the government could invest in blue energy and nuclear energy.
However, even nuclear energy is not needed at all. A combination of solar energy, wind energy, blue
energy, biomass and geothermal energy will fulfil our goals. For the environment, hydrogen will
become important too. If everyone in the Netherlands should place solar panels on their roofs, we
will not need energy for private usage anymore. If 1,500 wind turbines should be placed, we would
be self-sufficient. Combine these two, and the Netherlands could become a leader in sustainability.
And what if you should combine it with for example blue energy, biomass and hydrogen?
Our goals in terms of energy are easily done. The only problem is the lack of money and the lack of
investment.
In terms of recycling and cradle to cradle projects we want the Netherlands to only work with
recyclable products, and ensure all those products will actually be recycled. There are already great
ways to do so. Almost all products can be recycled and also cradle to cradle is possible. Parts of
defect phones that are still in working condition can be placed in new phones and for example glass
is always recyclable.
When the Dutch government realises more recycling facilities, the Netherlands can recycle all its
waste and maybe even waste from other countries. This automatically brings more employment,
resources and energy. There will also be no need to mine raw materials.
The environment will have to endure less stress because of our consumers waste and emission. We
will be able to recycle all the plastic in the oceans and use them again in the form of plastic and in the
form of gas, diesel and other fuels. By recycling the emissions will decrease and less energy is needed
to be generated by fossil fuel power plants.
If we look at the economy, we want all companies to fully support the Netherlands so that it can
become as sustainable as possible. Especially the Dutch government has great influence on a green
environment for all inhabitants of the Netherlands for it can regulate and adjust the behaviour of, in
theory, all corporations within its boundaries. Plus, we want that education looks more at
sustainability so that in the future a sustainable nation is more easily realisable because of more
people will know how to cope with durable-related aspects of the society. This green society can be
beneficial for all companies that put their minds to it, simply because we humans are inventive
enough to think of many solutions to turn being environmentally friendly into the cash that most
companies like to see at the end. Green management will be the new trend within the economy.
There are no valid reasons not to go green in comparison to the benefits.
92
Advice
How to change the current policy?
This investigation is based upon goals set by us. Those goals are in some ways the same as the goals
from the government. For example energy. Our goal is to fully replace fossil fuels by sustainable
energy. A 100% objective is not easily done. Of course, you cannot just go for it straight away, some
things have to be changed. To help the Dutch government, we have composed a list with advice
based upon our research.
This advice is to help and to achieve the goals set by us, as well as by the Dutch government.
*
There should be a higher consumer awareness.
During our research we have gained much information. When we talked about it in our personal
environment, people were surprised. “Do we only have about 70 to 80 years of fossil fuels left?” was
a common reaction. If people should be more aware of the future problems, for example running out
of fossil fuels and global warming, people would place solar panels earlier and they would have a
higher investment in future energy sources.
Besides that, energy is used in every household. If people could decrease their energy usage a little,
this could have a great impact on the environment. If people should use solar boilers instead of
normal heating systems, 1.4% of CO2 emission could be spared. However, some people are against
wind turbines and all kinds of sustainable energy. Mostly because it is ugly or it has, in their opinion,
no positive effects. People are just not aware of the problems that will occur in the future.
This is also the problem for recycling. If people were more aware, they would maybe sort their
phones, their batteries of even clothes. Most people will help others with recycling because it is such
a simple thing to do.
*
The government has to invest more in future energy sources
Blue energy is an energy source that is being developed nowadays. However, investments are high,
investigations are expensive. If the government could provide a “blank cheque” for example, the
results could be more interesting and the research will be done earlier, because money is mostly the
problem. This is the same problem for customers. A few years ago, people could get a
reimbursement if they placed solar panels on their roofs. Today, those payments are not possible. If
a customer buys solar panels, they have to pay the costs all by themselves. If this should change,
people would buy solar panels much earlier.
When new buildings are built, they could have solar panels subsidized by the government instead of
roof-tiles. Also there could be more wind turbines in the North Sea, and a lot of new jobs would be
created. For example jobs like engineering, but also ferries who could bring the engineer towards the
wind turbines.
*
The government should cooperate with more countries, all over the world.
Why not cooperate with Germany for example? Germany has a huge amount of rural areas which
could be used for wind turbines or solar energy. Germany is already producing solar energy in high
numbers, so why not take a look and cooperate? We could cooperate and invest both in the same
techniques. Why investigate the same areas, apart from each other, when you can do it together.
When you do it together, you have a higher budget and your research would be more worth while.
93
List of used figures
Figure 1:
Figure 2:
Figure 27:
wind turbines
the Saphon wind turbine
a large-scale wind farm on the North Sea,
90 km north-west of the island of Borkum.
a Concentrated PhotoVoltaic (CPV) panel
a simplified PV panel
four types of solar panels
the Indak Solar panel
four examples of solar panels
a house full of solar panels
illustration of solar panels using dishes
page 10
page 11
page 13
page 18
page 18
page 19
page 19
page 20
page 21
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
Figure 20
illustration of multi-junction photovoltaic
the Amonix 7700 with an electric Tesla Roadster
an even plate boiler
an even plate boiler in a house
examples of passive solar energy
Ivanpah Solar Power Facility in the California
Mojave Desert
the PS10 solar power plant
a sketch of the solar updraft tower
the Solar Impulse
Stella and the Nuna 7
Figure 21
Figure 22
Figure 23
Figure 24
Figure 25
Figure 26
Figure 27
Figure 28
Figure 29
Figure 30
MS Tûranor Planet Solar
nuclear energy
nuclear fission
a nuclear chain reaction
an illustration of a liquid fluoride thorium reactor
dangers of nuclear fission, a duck with four legs
nuclear fusion
a thorus shaped tokamak (JET)
using a high pressure for nuclear fusion
illustration of blue energy
page 23
page 24
page 24
page 25
page 26
page 27
page 28
page 29
page 29
page 32
Figure 31
Figure 32
a plan for blue energy on the Afsluitdijk
temperatures in the earth,
depending on the depth (the Netherlands)
direct cooling/heating
illustration of KWO
an illustration of a geothermal probe
Petro thermal energy systems (summary)
temperatures in the earth,
depending on the depth (the Netherlands)
geothermal energy in tera joules (CBS)
capacity factors according to the EIA
page 33
page 34
Figure 4:
Figure 5
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Figure 9
Figure 10
Figure 11
Figure 12
Figure 13
Figure 14
Figure 15
Figure 16
Figure 33
Figure 34
Figure 35
Figure 36
Figure 37
Figure 38
Figure 39
94
page 14
page 14
page 15
page 16
page 16
page 17
page 18
page 21
page 22
page 23
page 23
page 35
page 35
page 36
page 37
page 38
page 38
page 39
Figure 40
Green Well Westland
page 40
Figure 41
Figure 42
Figure 43
electrolysing water
Toyota Mirai (FCV)
example of the advantages of hydrogen as a fuel
(theatrical)
examples of biomass
rapeseed and rape-oil
biomass energy in tera joules (CBS
illustration of a circular process
food as a source of biomass
Food should feed people, not fill cars
amount of sustainable energy (CBS)
page 41
page 42
page 43
Figure 51
Figure 52
Figure 53
Figure 54
Figure 55
Figure 56
Figure 57
Figure 58
Figure 59
Figure 60
cradle to cradle
the original English book “Cradle to Cradle"
The North Face
municipal waste into energy
crumbled/crushed solar panels (silicon)
recycling phones
non-recyclable waste
Recycled "non-recyclable" plastic bottle
recycling glass in the Netherlands
an albatross carcass filled with plastic,
Midway Atoll, Pacific Ocean
page 51
page 51
page 52
page 52
page 53
page 54
page 55
page 56
page 60
page 62
Figure 61
Figure 62
Figure 63
Figure 64
Figure 65
Figure 66
Figure 67
Figure 68
Figure 69
Figure 70
Boyan Slat, The Ocean Clean-up
plastics in the seas
economy and the environment
nominal GDP across the world
Green deals. Stimulating sustainable initiatives.
money for innovation
giving grants for “green” factories?
Trias Energetica
The GDP of the Netherlands from 2005 until 2013
Maria van der Hoeven
page 62
page 63
page 67
page 68
page 70
page 71
Page 72
page 73
page 74
page 75
Figure 71
Figure 72
Figure 73
Figure 74
Figure 75
Figure 76
Figure 77
Figure 78
Figure 79
Figure 80
Figure 81
wind turbine engineering
searching for green solutions
het Energieakkoord
green/alternative energy
taxes for producing green
using cheaper waste for a higher profit
rising prices
current energy (efficiency) labels
the Netherlands becoming unique?
Europe
should everything be green?
page 76
page 77
page 78
page 80
page 81
page 82
page 83
page 85
Page 86
page 87
Page 89
Figure 44
Figure 45
Figure 46
Figure 47
Figure 48
Figure 49
Figure 50
95
page 44
page 45
page 45
page 46
page 47
page 48
page 49
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[6]
Green Well Westland (z.d.) green-well-westland projectbeschrijving. Retrieved on 10/11/1412-2014, http://www.green-well-westland.nl/index.php/nl/green-wellwestland/projectbeschrijving
[7]
Geothermie FloraHolland (15-02-2014). Geothermie FloraHolland [Videobestand].
Retrieved on 10/11/14-12-2014, van https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2awqT0dfSU
[8]
National Geographic (z.d.) Encyclopedic Entry - geothermal energy.
Retrieved on 10/11/14-12-2014,
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[9]
U.S. Energy Information Administration (28-01-2013) Levelized Cost of New Generation
Resources in the Annual Energy Outlook 2013. Retrieved on 10/11/14-12-2014,
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[10]
World Energy Resources: Geothermal World Energy Council 2013 (2013) Geothermal.
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99
- 2.1.6 What are the capabilities of hydrogen in terms of replacing it for fossil fuels?
[1]
The National Academic Press (z.d.) Appendix H - Useful Conversions and Thermodynamic
Properties. Retrieved on 21/22/23-12-2014
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10922&page=240
[2]
Wikipedia Foundation (11-2014) The Mirai. Retrieved on 21/22/23-12-2014,
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[3]
AIR LIQUIDE (Planet Hydrogen) (z.d.) Under pressure. Retrieved on 21/22/23-12-2014,
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- 2.1.7 What could the future bring us, in terms of biomass energy?
[1]
Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek (z.d.) Hernieuwbare energie in Nederland 2013.
Retrieved on 25/26/27-12-2014, http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/00DEA034-8FBE-4EFFB488- 18FC4A9BC7BC/0/WebversiefHernieuwbareenergie.pdf
[2]
Rijksdienst voor ondernemend Nederlands (z.d.) Rioolwater levert woonwijk energie op.
Retrieved on 25/26/27-12-2014, http://www.rvo.nl/node/8012
[3]
Doctor Diesel (z.d.) FuelPod 3 Flyer. Retrieved on 25/26/27-12-2014
http://www.doctordiesel.com/FuelPod3Flyer.pdf
[4]
Wikipedia Foundation (20-01-2015). Verbrandingswarmte. Retrieved on 25/26/27-12-2014,
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbrandingswarmte
[5]
LeefbareOmgeving (z.d.) Biomassa: achterhaalde hype. Retrieved on 25/26/27-12-2014,
http://www.leefbarewereld.nl/energie/biomassa_achterhaalde_hype
[6]
Chen C.-Y., Yeh K.-L., Aisyah R., Lee D.-J., Chang J.-S. (2011) Cultivation, photo bioreactor
design, and harvesting of microalgae for biodiesel production: A critical review.
- Chapter 2.2 What can the cyclic economy do to help us realize our goals?
- 2.2.1 What is cradle to cradle?
[1]
Tauw company, 2011, Cradle to cradle, retrieved on 19-09-2014,
http://www.tauw.nl/duurzaamheid/cradle-to-cradle/
- 2.2.2 What is urban mining
[1]
The urban mining site, 2012, URBAN MINING, retrieved on 19-09-2014,
http://urbanmining.org/
[2]
Nickolas J. Themelis and Charles Mussche, 2014, US Could Get 12% of Electricity From
Municipal Waste, retrieved on 19-09-2014¸http://urbanmining.org/2014/08/us-could- get12-percent-electricity-municipal-waste
[3]
Srivastava, V, 2014, Now, a process to recover gold from e e-waste, retrieved on 19-09-
100
2014, http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ranchi/now-a-process-to-recover-goldfrom-e-waste/article1-1221504.aspx
- 2.2.3 What can we do with urban mining?
[2]
Krueger, L 1999. “Overview of First Solar´s Module Collection and Recycling Program” (PDF).
Retrieved on 20-09-2014, geen webadres voor dit PDF bestand. Via Wikipedia.
[3]
Krueger, L 1999. “Overview of First Solar´s Module Collection and Recycling Program” (PDF).
Retrieved on 20-09-2014, geen webadres voor dit PDF bestand. Via Wikipedia.
[4]
Wambach, K 1999. “A Voluntary Take Back Scheme and Industrial Recycling of Photovoltaic
Modules” (PDF). Retrieved on 20-09-2014 Uit: Brookhaven National Laboratory p.15
[5]
Wambach, K 1999. “A Voluntary Take Back Scheme and Industrial Recycling of Photovoltaic
Modules” (PDF). Retrieved on 20-09-2014 Uit: Brookhaven National Laboratory p.17
[6]
Krueger, L 1999. “Overview of First Solar´s Module Collection and Recycling Program” (PDF).
Retrieved on 20-09-2014, geen webadres voor dit PDF bestand. Via Wikipedia.
[7]
Bozowi, 2014, Being Responsible, retrieved on 20-09-2014,
http://bozowi.co.uk/being-responsible
[8]
Price, E, 2014 Recycling Cell Phones, retrieved on 20-09-2014,
http://blog.goinggreentoday.com/recycling-cell-phones/
[9]
Urban mining corp, 2014, The Principle, retrieved on 20-09-2014,
http://www.umincorp.com/technology
- 2.2.4 What non-recyclable products do we use most, and how can we still recycle them?
[1]
Wikipedia Foundation, 2014, Recycling in the Netherlands, retrieved on 18-11-2014,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling_in_the_Netherlands
[2]
Slob, F, 2013, Collection and Recycling in the Netherlands, retrieved on 18-11-2014
http://www.wastematters.eu/about-dwma/activities/collection-and-recycling/activities-inthe-netherlands.html
[3]
Truss, E, 2013, Reducing and managing waste, retrieved on 24-11-2014,
https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-and-managing-waste
[4]
World Shipping Council, 2014, EFFICIENCY, retrieved on 01-12-2014
http://www.worldshipping.org/benefits-of-liner-shipping/efficiency
101
- 2.2.5 In what ways do we have to change our behaviour so that we would only have
recyclable garbage left?
[1]
Chacha, anonymous, 2012, What is the definition of non-recyclable,
retrieved on 10-12-2014,
http://www.chacha.com/question/what-is-the-definition-of-non%26%2345%3Brecyclable
[2]
Jackson, A, 2009, Non-Recyclable Materials, retrieved on 09-12-2014,
http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/garbage-recycling/non-recyclable.asp
[3]
Claiborne, C, 2010, Is there a limit to how often paper can be recycled?, retrieved on
09-12-2014, www.nytimes.com/2010/12/21/science/21qna.html
[4]
Simolo, G, 2013, How to Recycle Those Things You Can´t Recycle, retrieved on 10-122014, http://www.ecopedia.com/how-to/how-to-recycle-things-you-cant-recycle/
[5]
Hoogland, E, 2014, Recycling tips, retrieved on 10-12-2014,
http://www.shanks.nl/web/recyclingwijzer/tips-recyclen.htm
[6]
U.S EPA, 2014, Common Waste and Materials, retrieved on 10-12-2014,
http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/index.htm
- 2.2.6
What potential does the Netherlands have of becoming significant in the
recycling of products?
[1]
Rijkswaterstaat, 2010, Nederlands afval in cijfers, gegevens 2006-2010, retrieved on 1112-2014,
http://www.rwsleefomgeving.nl/onderwerpen/afval/publicaties/downloads/nederlandsafval-0/
[2]
Attero, 2010, Het heldere alternatief van Attero, retrieved on 12-11-2014,
http://www.attero.nl/upload/docs/0086-fo-nascheiding-v6-lr-los.pdf
[3]
Department Environment, food and rural affairs, 2013, Waste and recycling statistics,
retrieved on 12-12-2014, https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/waste-and-recyclingstatistics
- 2.2.7 How can we use the plastics in the oceans in a profitable way?
[1]
Adventurers and scientists for conservation, 2014, About Us, retrieved on 11-12-2014,
http://www.adventurescience.org/
[2]
Slat, B, 2014, The Concept, retrieved on 12-12-2014,
http://www.theoceancleanup.com/the-concept.html
[3]
Hutchins, T, 2008, Thermal Depolimerization, retrieved on 12-12-2014,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtS6K43np9o
[4]
Haffmans, S, 2011, 10 examples of Plastic Soup Prevention, retrieved on 02-02-2015,
http://issuu.com/partnersforinnovation/docs/10_examples_plastic_soup_prevention
102
- Chapter 2.3 How will the economy/government react to sustainability?
- 2.3.1 In what ways can the government help us with the realization of the Netherlands
in becoming sustainable?
[1]
EPA (2010). What is Sustainability? Retrieved on September the 7th, 2014,
http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm
[2]
Rijksoverheid (2014). Duurzame economie. Retrieved on September the 20th, 2014,
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/duurzame-economie/groene-groei
[3]
CBS (2011). Monitor Duurzaam Nederland. Retrieved on September the 21th, 2014,
http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/C5AC3D1F-8479-4B10-8585%20A19166B3DA6B/0/2011a317pub.pdf
[4]
WWF (2014). Schadelijke Subsidies. Retrieved on September the 21th, 2014,
http://www.wwf.be/nl/wat-doet-wwf/impact-verminderen/de-duurzaame-toekomst-devisvangst-verzekeren/schadelijke-subsidies/894
- 2.3.2 Why or why not should the government give grants to companies that
produce in a green way?
[1]
VREG (2013). Groenestroomcertificaten. Retrieved on September the 28th, 2014,
http://www.vreg.be/groenestroomcertificaten
[2]
Google (2014). Bruto Binnenlands Product. Retrieved on September the 28th, 2014,
https://www.google.nl/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_mktp_cd&id
im=country:NLD:BEL:CHE&hl=nl&dl=nl#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gd
p_mktp_cd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:NLD&ifdim=region&tstart
=1127944800000&tend=1380405600000&hl=nl&dl=nl&ind=false
[3]
Wise Nederland (2014). Zo werkt de handel in groene stroom. Retrieved on September 28th
2014, http://wisenederland.nl/groene-stroom/zo-werkt-de-handel-groene-stroom
[4]
Rijksoverheid (2014). Duurzame energie. Retrieved on September the 28th, 2014,
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/duurzame-energie/duurzame-energiestimuleren/subsidieregeling-stimulering-duurzame-energieproductie-sde
[5]
Rijksoverheid (2014). Ondernemersklimaat en innovatie. Retrieved on October the 1st, 2014,
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/ondernemersklimaat-en-innovatie/investeren-intopsectoren/energie
[6]
ECOFYS (2011). Fossiele brandstoffen sterker gestimuleerd dan hernieuwbare energie.
Retrieved on October the 1st, 2014, http://www.ecofys.com/nl/pers/fossiele-brandstoffensterker-gestimuleerd-dan-hernieuwbare-energie/
[7]
VROM (2010). Dossier Duurzaam Bouwen en Verbouwen. Retrieved on October 1st, 2014,
file:///C:/Users/Visser/Downloads/informatieblad-strategien-duurzaam-bouwen.pdf
103
- 2.3.3 Which jobs/educations can/will help us in the development of a sustainable
society?
[1]
Nationale Denktank (2012). ´´Duurzaam voedsel kan de standaard worden´´. Retrieved on
December the 6th, 2014, http://www.nationale-denktank.nl/2012/12/duurzaam-voedselkan-de-standaard-worden-3/
[2]
SER (2013). Energieakkoord voor duurzame groei. Retrieved on December the 7th, 2014,
http://www.energieakkoordser.nl/energieakkoord.aspx
[3]
Jong en Duurzaam (2013). Green Skills. Retrieved on December the 8th, 2014,
http://www.jongenduurzaam.nl/projecten/green-skills/
[4]
SER (2013). Energieakkoord. Retrieved on December the 9th, 2014,
http://www.energieakkoordser.nl/~/media/files/energieakkoord/overzicht-belangrijkstemaatregelen-energieakkoord.ashx
- 2.3.4 Should companies manufacture in a durable way?
[1]
eHow (2012). Why Companies Are Going Green. Retrieved on November 13th, 2014,
http://www.ehow.com/info_8095389_companies-going-green.html
[2]
eHow (2012). How Going Green Affects Consumer Buying. Retrieved on November 13th,
2014, http://www.ehow.com/about_6803367_going-green-affects-consumer-buying.html
[3]
InfoNu (2009). Maatschappelijk verantwoord ondernemen: voor - en nadelen. Retrieved on
December 3th, 2014, http://zakelijk.infonu.nl/diversen/40671-maatschappelijk-verantwoordondernemen-voor-en-nadelen.html
[4]
Novaa (2009). Duurzaam ondernemen. Retrieved on December 5th, 2014,
https://www.nba.nl/Documents/Publicaties-downloads/brochureDuurzaam_ondernemen.pdf
[5]
Green Business Bureau (2010). Tax Incentives for Businesses Going Green. Retrieved on
November 13th, 2014, http://www.gbb.org/news/tax-incentives-for-businesses-going-green/
[6]
Fast Company (2007). 50 ways to green your business. Retrieved on November 13th, 2014,
http://www.fastcompany.com/60952/50-ways-green-your-business
[7]
ENERGY.GOV (2014). Frequently Asked Questions: Lighting Choices to Save You Money.
Retrieved on November 13th, 2014, http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/frequentlyasked-questions-lighting-choices-save-you-money
104
- 2.3.5 Why would a sustainable country be positive for the economy?
[1]
Energy Star (2013). Light bulbs in businesses. Retrieved on October 2nd, 2014,
http://www.energystar.gov/productsredirect/light_bulbs?fuseaction=find_a_product.showProductGroup&pgw_code=LB
[2]
Rijksoverheid (2014). De Nederlandse welvaart wordt voor een belangrijk deel gedragen door
de export. Retrieved on October 2nd,
2014,http://miljoenennota.rijksfinancien.nl/miljoenennota2014/S_1027_Wereldhandel10/a1239_De-Nederlandse-welvaart-wordt-voor-een-belangrijkdeel-gedragen-door-de-export
[3]
Duurzame Hotels Nederland (2014). Waarom duurzaam zijn? Retrieved on October 5th,
2014, http://www.duurzamehotels.nl/home/waarom-duurzaam-zijn/
[4]
Harvard Business Review (2009). Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation.
Retrieved on October 5th, 2014, https://hbr.org/2009/09/why-sustainability-is-now-the-keydriver-of-innovation
[5]
Rijksoverheid (2014). Duurzame economie. Retrieved on November 11th, 2014,
http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/duurzame-economie/groene-groei
[6]
Rijksoverheid (2014). Monitor Duurzaam Nederland 2014: Verkenning. Retrieved on
November 11th, 2014, http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/74B73245-57D5-4D7A-A949844F56114916/0/monitorduurzaamnederland2014verkenning.pdf
105
Supplements
Supplement 1; conversation with Mihael Saakes (blue
energy)
WS Marne
<[email protected]>
Dear Michel Saakes,
We are three exam candidates from 6VWO (Marne College) and are busy making our
PWS (profielwerkstuk). The PWS is a compulsory element for our exam. Via
Worldschool we have signed up to HUGS “Het uitvinden van de groene samenleving”. We
have chosen for bio based: scenarios for energy transition on all levels. This project is
led by the ministry of infrastructure and environment.
The ministry of infrastructure and environment are looking for creative and innovative
ideas that can be turned into policy. Therefore they are working together with reputable
investigation institutes, scientists, and students. Also they find it important to listen to
the younger people, to involve them into their future.
The goal of this project is to sketch a vision of the future, and to think of possible
solutions to make that happen. We focus on energy (100% durable production), cradle
to cradle = recycle products and the economy in the Netherlands over 40 years.
Our question for you is: what do you think about our capabilities over 40 years, with
reference to the blue energy concept.
How much energy can it provide, what does it cost, is it profitable and are there more
locations to install the installation(s) other than the ´afsluitdijk´.
And of course; are there any disadvantages?
We would appreciate it if you could give us even more information.
We look forward to receive your reply.
With kind regards,
Wiebe Veldhuis
Thomas van Zonneveld
Vincent Visser
106
Saakes, Michel
[email protected]
Beste allemaal,
Als Thema coördinator Blue Energy zal ik proberen jullie vragen kort te beantwoorden.
De kostprijs per kWh, opgewekt door Blue Energy, moet lager of gelijk zijn aan die van windenergie
en zonne-energie.
De economische haalbaarheid is alleen mogelijk als de opwekprijs lager is dan de prijs waarvoor de
elektrische energie (kWh prijs) wordt aangeboden.
In Nederland kan in totaal 1000-1500MW worden opgewekt met Blue Energy, dat is dus 5 tot 7,5
maal meer dan alleen de Afsluitdijk (200MW).
Overigens: door een toename van de hoeveelheid IJsselmeer water wat afgevoerd moet gaan worden
in de toekomst, zal ook het aantal MW van de Afsluitdijk stijgen.
Blue Energy: Als vuistregel wordt een vermogen van 1MW opgewekt per m3 rivierwater dat per
seconde wordt afgevoerd.
De praktijk zal leren of deze waarde van 1MW (VOOR 1 M3 PER SECONDE) ook wordt gehaald of dat
er eventueel een correctie op moet worden toegepast (naar beneden).
Op dit moment worden grote stacks getest op de Afsluitdijk.
Nadelen t.o.v. het milieu zijn op dit moment nog niet in beeld. De impact van de filtratie vooraf en de
RED technologie worden wel in beeld gebracht.
Het lozen van brak water is in ieder geval geen nadeel voor het milieu.
Over 40 jaar (en veel eerder dan dat) zal duidelijk zijn of Blue Energy een component zal zijn van
onze elektrische energieopwekking.
Zowel zonne-energie als windenergie zullen qua kWh prijs dan gedaald zijn en het is dan ook
noodzakelijk dat Blue Energy deze trend zal volgen.
Overigens is het zo dat de kWh prijs over 40 jaar heel anders kan uitvallen dan nu.
Tenslotte: in alle vooraf berekeningen is duidelijk dat Blue Energy rendabel moet kunnen draaien bij
een membraanprijs van <5 euro/m2. Die prijs moet haalbaar zijn bij massaproductie van de
membranen.
Hopelijk hebben jullie zo een beeld wat de toekomst ons mogelijk zal brengen.
Met hartelijke groeten,
Michel
PWS Marne
<[email protected]>
Hallo Michel,
Allereerst heel erg bedankt voor de snelle reactie! Hier kunnen we in mooi gedeelte van ons PWS mee
vullen.
Als we nog op onduidelijkheden stuiten, zult u het horen.
Met vriendelijke groeten,
107
PWS Marne
<[email protected]>
Hallo Michel,
Na bezig te zijn geweest met uw mail kwam ik op 3 vragen, namelijk;
Wanneer zal duidelijk zijn of 1MW per m2 per seconde haalbaar is (of niet)?
Is het maken van zo´n membraan schadelijk voor het milieu en/of put het (natuurlijke) bronnen uit?
Stel; het gaat goed en het is rendabel, waar wordt de 1000 tot 1500 - 200(afsluitdijk) = 800 tot 1300 MW
opgewekt? Ook op de Afsluitdijk, of op een andere locatie?
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wiebe Veldhuis
<[email protected]>
Beste Wiebe,
Ik zal proberen je vragen te beantwoorden:
Voor de haalbaarheid is een periode van 3 jaar gereserveerd. Dat betekent dat in de praktijk
een aantal parameters geoptimaliseerd moeten worden en dat kost tijd. En zeker, het genoemde
getal van 1MW per m3 per seconde blijft de leidraad.
-
Het maken van het membraan wordt uitgevoerd met een proces dat in elk facet let op de milieu
impact. Dus zo min mogelijk energieverbruik om de ion selectieve membranen te maken wordt
nagestreefd en de gemaakte anion en kation selectieve membranen zijn milieuvriendelijk (en dat
betekent: geen afgifte van schadelijke stoffen aan het water).
-
Het opwekken van 200MW gebeurt aan de Afsluitdijk. Een andere locatie is bij de Nieuwe
Waterweg en in Zeeland. Overigens heeft de Afsluitdijk prioriteit nummer 1.
-
Ik wil je tenslotte ook nog wijzen op de website www.redstack.nl (Voor actuele stand van zaken).
Met hartelijke groeten,
Michel
108
Supplement 2; Conversation with Gerrit Jan Valk (TNO)
Beste Thomas, Vincent en Wiebe,
Jullie vraag aan Richard Beekhuis is bij mij terecht gekomen. Allereerst leuk dat jullie voor duurzame
energie hebben gekozen als onderwerp voor jullie PWS. Wel zou ik jullie adviseren om het
onderwerp af te bakenen, omdat het anders heel breed wordt. Denken jullie bij duurzame energie
bijvoorbeeld alleen aan elektriciteit of ook aan duurzaam gas?
Misschien kan dit (TNO-)rapport jullie op weg
helpen: https://www.tno.nl/downloads/naar_toekomstbestendig_energiesysteem_nederland_tno_2
013_r10325.pdf
Het verbaast me overigens wel een beetje dat jullie op internet weinig informatie over dit onderwerp
hebben kunnen vinden. Als je bijvoorbeeld googelt op ´toekomstbeeld duurzame energie 2040´ (4
woorden uit jullie mailtje) krijg je honderden hits, waarvan zo op het oog een groot deel ook wel
relevant is. Er is echt meer dan genoeg informatie te vinden op internet, maar zoals gezegd helpt het
als je de onderzoeksvraag iets afbakent zodat je gerichter kunt zoeken. En dan kun je ook met
scherpere vragen organisaties benaderen voor input.
Ik wens jullie veel succes met jullie profielwerkstuk,
Met vriendelijke groet,
Gerrit Jan Valk
Drs. G.J.E. (Gerrit Jan) Valk
Sr. Business Developer
Smart & Sustainable Energy Systems
T +31 (0)88 866 73 01
M +31 (0)65 354 80 30
E [email protected]
109
Locatie
Disclaimer
Supplement 3; conversation with Darwind (Recycling wind
turbines)
Goedemorgen Darwind,
Wij zijn drie jongens van het Marne College in Bolsward. We hebben de opdracht gekregen om een
profielwerkstuk (PWS) te maken. We doen dit in opdracht van het ministerie van Milieu en infrastructuur.
Het doel is om onze verwachting te schetsen over hoe wij denken dat Nederland er over 40 jaar uitziet op
het gebied van duurzaamheid. Hierin verwerken wij ook een stukje recycling.
Daarover hebben wij een paar vragen en we zouden het heel erg op prijs stellen als jullie ons daarmee
willen helpen.
We vragen ons af wat er gebeurt met windmolens als ze om wat voor reden dan ook worden weggehaald.
Komen ze simpelweg bij het oud ijzer, of worden sommige onderdelen hergebruikt of wordt er nog wat
anders mee gedaan?
In afwachting van uw reactie,
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wiebe Veldhuis
Thomas van Zonneveld
Vincent Visser
Berry van Beek ([email protected])
Beste Wiebe, Thomas en Vincent,
Dank je voor jullie mail en zal proberen jullie vraag te beantwoorden.
Zoals jullie misschien al wisten is Darwind een Nederlandse producent en leverancier van wind
turbines. Wij ontwikkelen, ontwerpen, produceren, installeren, beheren en onderhouden onze eigen
wind turbines voor de Europese commerciële markt. In principe is Darwind dan ook niet
verantwoordelijk voor het verwijderen en recyclen van oude wind turbines. Daar is vaak de wind
turbine eigenaar voor verantwoordelijk.
Indien Darwind wind turbines plaats dan is dat vaak op een nieuwe locatie. Indien het een bestaande
locatie bestemd dan is de huidige eigenaar verantwoordelijk voor de afbraak van de wind turbine(s).
Maar het komt ook wel eens voor dat wij als fabrikant die wind turbines dienen te verwijderen. In
het geval dat Darwind de turbines dient te ontmantelen zijn deze turbines vaak nog niet aan het
einde van hun levensduur. Deze turbines worden dan ook in zijn geheel ontmanteld en doorverkocht
op de 2de hands wind turbinemarkt.
Echter afhankelijk van de leeftijd van de turbine kan het natuurlijk zijn dat de turbine voor sloop in
aanmerking komt of dat daarvan onderdelen worden verkocht voor hergebruik. Maar helaas hebben
wij als producent daar geen ervaring mee en kunnen jullie dan ook geen goed antwoordt geven op
deze vraag. Ik denk ook dat jullie de recyclingsvraag beter kunnen leggen bij bedrijven die handelen
in 2e handse wind turbines zoals o.a. het bedrijf windbrokers.
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Tot slot zou ik jullie willen aanraden om het woord ´wind turbines´ te gebruiken. In de wind
turbinemarkt is dit een geaccepteerd woord en windmolens daarentegen niet. Dit even als tip.
Ik hoop jullie hiermee voldoende geïnformeerd te hebben. Mochten jullie nog vragen hebben neem
dan gerust contact met me op.
With kind regards / Met vriendelijke groet,
XEMC Darwind B.V.
Berry van Beek
Sales Manager
11/24/14 PWS Marne
<[email protected]>
to Berry
Goedemorgen,
Bedankt voor uw snelle reactie.
Met deze informatie kunnen wij weer wat verder met ons PWS.
Wanneer wij alsnog relevante vragen voor u hebben, zullen we die u stellen.
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wiebe Veldhuis, Thomas van Zonneveld en Vincent Visser.
111
Supplement 4; conversation with Windbrokers
PWS Marne
<[email protected]>
Goedemorgen Windbrokers,
Wij zijn drie jongens van het Marne College in Bolsward. We hebben de opdracht gekregen om een
profielwerkstuk (PWS) te maken. We doen dit in opdracht van het Ministerie van Milieu en
infrastructuur.
Het doel is om onze verwachting te schetsen over hoe wij denken dat Nederland er over 40 jaar uitziet
op het gebied van duurzaamheid. Hierin verwerken wij ook een stukje recycling, ook het recyclen van
wind turbines.
Wij zijn bij jullie gekomen via het bedrijf Darwind. We hebben hen ook wat vragen gesteld en voor het
recycle-gedeelte stuurden ze ons door naar jullie.
We zouden het heel erg op prijs stellen als jullie ons met onze vragen willen helpen.
We vragen ons af wat er gebeurt met windmolens als ze om wat voor reden dan ook worden
weggehaald. Komen er onderdelen bij het oud ijzer? Zo ja, welke onderdelen dan?
En wat voor onderdelen kunnen worden hergebruikt in andere windmolens?
Zijn er verder ook nog andere handelingen die met de ´oude wind turbines´ wordt gedaan?
In afwachting van uw reactie,
Met vriendelijke groeten
Wiebe Veldhuis
Thomas van Zonneveld
Vincent Visser
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Henk van den Bosch | WINDBROKERS
<[email protected]>
Mijne heren,
Dank voor uw bericht. Ons antwoord is als volgt.
Er zijn reeds tientallen wind turbines in Nederland gedemonteerd en verwijderd. Dit
betreft de volgende situaties:
1. De wind turbines worden vervangen door (veel) grotere wind turbines. Dit betreft het
zgn. ´repoweren´ of opschalen. Hierbij worden turbines vervangen die een leeftijd
hebben van 10-13 jaar. Deze wind turbines hebben nog voldoende resterende technische
levensduur om elders hergebruikt te worden. Dit is met name de markt waar
Windbrokers zich mee bezig houdt.
2. De wind turbines worden niet vervangen en de locatie wordt gesaneerd. Wanneer de
wind turbines niet de moeite waard zijn om te herinstalleren worden deze gedemonteerd
en als oud ijzer en koper verkocht. De rotorbladen moeten door een gespecialiseerd
bedrijf worden verwerkt.
Dit zijn ongeveer de opties. Succes met jullie opdracht.
Met vriendelijke groet,
Henk Van den Bosch
WINDBROKERS EUROPE B.V.
11/24/14 PWS Marne
<[email protected]>
to Henk
Goedemiddag meneer Van den Bosch,
Heel erg bedankt voor de snelle en complete reactie!
Hier kunnen we verder mee.
Met vriendelijke groeten,
Wiebe Veldhuis, Thomas van Zonneveld en Vincent Visser
113