Renewable energy is often suggested as a possible solution for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and decreasing dependency on fossil energy sources. The most readily available renewable energy sources in Europe, wind, solar and biomass are dispersed by nature, making them ideally suited for use within Decentralized Energy Systems. Decentralized energy grids can help integrate renewable production, short lived by-products e.g. heat, minimize transport of energy carriers and fuel sources and reduce the dependency on fossils, hence, possibly improving the overall efficiency and sustainability of the energy distribution system. Within these grids balance between local renewable production and local energy demand is an important subject. Currently, fluctuations between demand and production of energy are mainly balanced by input from conventional power stations, which operate on storable fossil energy sources e.g. coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear. Within the long term scope of transition towards a low carbon intensive energy system, sustainable systems must be found which can replace fossil energy sources as load balancer in our energy supply systems.
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Abstract The Government of the Netherlands wants to be energy neutral by 2050 (Rijksoverheid, sd). A transition towards non-fossil energy sources also affects transport, which is one of the industries significantly contributing to CO2 emission (Centraal Bureau Statistiek, 2019). Road authorities at municipalities and provinces want a shift from fossil fuel-consuming to zero-emission transport choices by their inhabitants. For this the Province of Utrecht has data available. However, they struggle how to deploy data to positively influence inhabitants' mobility behavior. A problem analysis scoped the research and a survey revealed the gap between the province's current data-item approach that is infrastructure oriented and the required approach that adopts traveler’s personas to successfully stimulate cycling. For this more precisely defined captured data is needed and the focus should shift from already motivated cyclists to non-cyclers.
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The traditional energy industry is transitioning from a centralised fossil fuel based industry to a decentralised renewable energy industry for several reasons including climate change, policy, and changing customer needs. Furthermore, renewable sources, such as wind and solar, are intermittent and unpredictable. This has implications for the business models of energy producers, such as increased mismatch between demand and supply, increased price volatility, shift in drivers of value creation. Due to the low marginal cost of production and the intermittent nature of renewables, the price volatility on the electricity markets, in particular the imbalance market, are expected to increase. However, there is potential for market parties operating in the electricity sector to profit from this development by providing flexibility to balance electricity supply and demand. Therefore, new business models are needed that can harness and exploit flexibility in a viable manner. In these business models, flexibility becomes the key driver of value creation.
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The 'AgroCycle' project investigates whether a cooperation of farms can become self-sufficient in energy and fertilization by using manure and organic waste streams for the production of energy, green fuel and green fertilizers by means of anaerobic digestion (AD). In the project, the project partners aim to link the nutrient cycle (from manure to digestate to green fertilizer) to a self-sufficient energy system (biomass to biogas to green fuel for processing the land) through the combined production of biogas and green fertilizers. The financial feasibility of a bio-digester is highly dependent on the use and economic value of the digestate. This combined approach increases both feasibility and sustainability (environmental impacts and CO2 emissions). To explore the feasibility of the aforementioned concept, use is made of the existing 'BioGas simulator' model developed by Hanze UAS to simulate the technical process of decentralized production of biogas and the economic cost.
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Book review of J.B. Fressoz (2024). More and More and More. An All-Consuming History of Energy, Penguin Random House, 400 pp. First published on: https://vbds.nl/2025/11/01/more-and-more-and-more/. A Dutch version of this review has been added. This translation is also published on: https://vbds.nl/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Meer-en-Meer-en-Meer.pdf.
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Lectorale redeboekje naar aanleiding van de intrede in het lectoraat Systeemintegratie in de energietransitie
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This century, greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane and nitrogen oxides must be significantly reduced. Greenhouse gases absorb and emit infrared radiation that contributes to global warming, which can lead to irreversible negative consequences for humans and the environment. Greenhouse gases are caused by the burning of fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal, and natural gas, but livestock farming, and agriculture are also to blame. In addition, deforestation contributes to more greenhouse gases. Of the natural greenhouse gases, water vapor is the main cause of the greenhouse effect, accounting for 90%. The remaining 10% is caused from high to low by carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides, chlorofluorocarbons, and ozone. In addition, there are industrial greenhouse gases such as fluorinated hydrocarbons, sulphurhexafluoride and nitrogen trifluoride that contribute to the greenhouse effect too. Greenhouse gases are a major cause of climate change, with far-reaching consequences for the welfare of humans and animals. In some regions, extreme weather events like rainfall are more common, while others are associated with more extreme heat waves and droughts. Sea level rise caused by melting ice and an increase in forest fires are undesirable effects of climate change. Countries in low lying areas fear that sea level rise will force their populations to move to the higher lying areas. Climate change is affecting the entire world. An estimated 30-40% o f the carbon dioxide released by the combustion of fossil fuels dissolves into the surface water resulting in an increased concentration of hydrogen ions. This causes the seawater to become more acidic, resulting in a decreasing of carbonate ions. Carbonate ions are an important building block for forming and maintaining calcium carbonate structures of organisms such as oysters, mussels, sea urchins, shallow water corals, deep sea corals and calcareous plankton.
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The dairy sector in the Netherlands aims for a 30% increase in efficiency and 30% carbon dioxide emission reduction compared to the reference year of 1990, and a 20% share of renewable energy, all by the year 2020. Anaerobic Digestion (AD) can play a substantial role in achieving these aims. However, results from this study indicate that the AD system is not fully optimized in combination with farming practices regarding sustainability. Therefore, the Industrial Symbiosis concept, combined with energy and environmental system analysis, Life Cycle Analysis and modeling is used to optimize a farm-scale AD system on four indicators of sustainability (i.e., energy efficiency, carbon footprint, environmental impacts and costs). Implemented in a theoretical case, where a cooperation of farms share biomass feedstocks, a symbiotic AD system can significantly lower external energy consumption by 72 to 92%, carbon footprint by 71 to 91%, environmental impacts by 68 to 89%, and yearly expenditures by 56 to 66% compared to a reference cooperation. The largest reductions and economic gains can be achieved when a surplus of manure is available for upgrading into organic fertilizer to replace fossil fertilizers. Applying the aforementioned symbiotic concept to the Dutch farming sector can help to achieve the stated goals indicated by the Dutch agricultural sector for the year 2020.
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Two key air pollutants that affect asthma are ozone and particle pollution. Studies show a direct relationship between the number of deaths and hospitalizations for asthma and increases of particulate matter in the air, including dust, soot, fly ash, diesel exhaust particles, smoke, and sulfate aerosols. Cars are found to be a primary contributor to this problem. However, patient awareness of the link is limited. This chapter begins with a general discussion of vehicular dependency or ‘car culture’, and then focuses on the discussion of the effects of air pollution on asthma in the Netherlands. I argue that international organizations and patient organizations have not tended to put pressure on air-control, pollution-control or environmental standards agencies, or the actual polluters. While changes in air quality and the release of greenhouse gases are tied to practices like the massive corporate support for the ongoing use of motor vehicles and the increased prominence of ‘car culture’ globally, patient organizations seem more focused on treating the symptoms rather than addressing the ultimate causes of the disease. Consequently, I argue that to fully address the issue of asthma the international health organizations as well as national health ministries, patient organizations, and the general public must recognize the direct link between vehicular dependency and asthma. The chapter concludes with a recommendation for raising environmental health awareness by explicitly linking the vehicular dependency to the state of poor respiratory health. Strategic policy in the Netherlands then should explicitly link the present pattern of auto mobility to public health. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118786949 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helenkopnina/
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