Densely populated areas are major sources of air, soil and water pollution. Agriculture, manufacturing, consumer households and road traffic all have their share. This is particularly true for the country featured in this paper: the Netherlands. Continuous pollution of the air and soil manifests itself as acification, decalcification and eutrofication. Biodiversity becomes lower and lower in nature areas. Biological farms are also under threat. In case of mobility, local air pollution may have a huge health impact. Effective policy is called for, after high courts blocked construction projects, because of foreseen building- and transport-related NOx emissions. EU law makers are after Dutch governments, because these favoured economics and politics over environmental and liveability concerns. But, people in the Netherlands are strongly divided. The latest provincial elections were dominated by environmental concerns, next to many socio-economic issues. NOx and CO2 emissions by passenger cars are in focus. Technical means and increasing fuel economy norms strongly reduced NOx emissions to a still too high level. A larger number of cars neutralized a technological reduction of CO2 emissions. The question is: What would be the impact of a drastic mandatory reduction in CO2, NOx, and PM10 emissions on car ownership and use in the Netherlands? The authors used literature, scenario analysis and simulation modelling to answer this question. Electric mobility could remove these emissions. Its full impact will only be achieved if the grid-mix, which is still dominated by fossil fuels, becomes green(er), which is a gradual, long-term, process. EVs compete with other consumers of electricity, as many other activities, such as heating, are also electrifying. With the current grid-mix, it is inevitable that the number of km per vehicle per year is reduced to reach the scenario targets (−25% resp. −50% CO2 emissions by cars). This calls for an individual mobility budget per car user.
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The Johan Cruijff ArenA (JC ArenA) is a big events location in Amsterdam, where national and international football matches, concerts and music festivals take place for up to 68,000 visitors. The JC ArenA is already one of the most sustainable, multi-functional stadia in the world and is realizing even more inspiring smart energy solutions for the venue, it’s visitors and neighbourhood. The JC ArenA presents a complex testbed for innovative energy services, with a consumption of electricity comparable to a district of 2700 households. Thanks to the 1 MWp solar installation on the roof of the venue, the JC ArenA already produces around 8% of the electricity it needs, the rest is by certified regional wind energy.Within the Seev4-City project the JC ArenA has invested in a 3 MW/2.8 MWh battery energy storage system, 14 EV charging stations and one V2G charging unit. The plan was to construct the 2.8 MWh battery with 148 2nd life electric car batteries, but at the moment of realisation there were not enough 2nd life EV batteries available, so 40% is 2nd life. The JC ArenA experienced compatibility issues installing a mix of new and second-life batteries. Balancing the second-life batteries with the new batteries proved far more difficult than expected because an older battery is acting different compared to new batteries.The EV-based battery energy storage system is unique in that it combines for the first time several applications and services in parallel. Main use is for grid services like Frequency Containment Reserve, along with peak shaving, back-up services, V2G support and optimization of PV integration. By integrating the solar panels, the energy storage system and the (bi-directional) EV chargers electric vehicles can power events and be charged with clean energy through the JC ArenA’s Energy Services. These and other experiences and results can serve as a development model for other stadiums worldwide and for use of 2nd life EV batteries.The results of the Seev4-City project are also given in three Key Performance Indicators (KPI): reduction of CO2-emission, increase of energy autonomy and reduction in peak demand. The results for the JC ArenA are summarised in the table below. The year 2017 is taken as reference, as most data is available for this year. The CO2 reductions are far above target thanks to the use of the battery energy storage system for FCR services, as this saves on the use of fossil energy by fossil power plants. Some smaller savings are by replacement of ICEby EV. Energy autonomy is increased by better spreading of the PV generated, over 6 instead of 4 of the 10 transformers of the JC ArenA, so less PV is going to the public grid. A peak reduction of 0.3 MW (10%) is possible by optimal use of the battery energy storage system during the main events with the highest electricity demand.
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Het tekort aan handjes in de accountancy neemt toe. Tegelijk groeit de maatschappelijk druk om bedrijven zo goed mogelijk te controleren, om te zorgen dat ze financieel, fiscaal en qua duurzaamheid in de pas blijven lopen met de (toenemende) regelgeving. Gelukkig komt er steeds meer technologie voorhanden die de accountant kan helpen bij het controleren van de boeken, schetst Eric Mantelaers, hoofd Bureau Vaktechniek, RSM Accountants. Medio juni is hij aan de Open Universiteit gepromoveerd op zijn proefschrift ‘An evaluation of technologies to improve auditing’.
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SEEV4-City is an innovation project funded by the European Union Interreg North Sea Region Programme. Its main objective is to demonstrate smart electric mobility and integration of renewable energy solutions and share the learnings gained. The project reports on the results of six Operational Pilots (OPs) which have different scales and are located in five different cities in four different countries in the North Sea Region.Loughborough OP (United Kingdom) is the smallest pilot, being a household with a bi-directional EV charging unit for the Nissan Leaf, a stationary battery, and a PV system. In the Kortrijk OP (Belgium), a battery system and a bi-directional charging unit for the delivery van (as well as a smart charging station for ebikes) were added to the energy system. In Leicester (United Kingdom), five unidirectional charging units were to be accompanied by four bi-directional charging units. The Johan Cruyff Arena OP is a larger pilot in Amsterdam, with a 2.8 MWh (partly) second life stationary battery storage for Frequency Control Regulation services and back-up power, 14 fast chargers and one bi-directional charger. Integrated into the existing energy system is a 1 MW PV system that is already installed on the roof. In the Oslo OP, 102 chargers were installed, of which two are fast chargers. A stationary battery energy storage system (BESS) supports the charging infrastructure and is used for peak shaving. The FlexPower OP in Amsterdam is the largest OP with over 900 EV charging outlets across the city, providing smart charging capable of reducing the energy peak demand in the evening.Before the start of the project, three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were determined:A. Estimated CO2 reductionB. Estimated increase in energy autonomyC. Estimated Savings from Grid Investment Deferral
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The Power to Flex project aims to promote the development of storage possibilities from sustainable energy sources. Hydrogen is opted to be a feasible energy carrier, which can also be stored for prolonged times without further losses and can be transformed into electricity and heat when needed. Producing hydrogen from electrolysis processes has a low CO2 footprint, however the efficiency at both the system, stack and cell level still increases due to further research and development.Electrolysis is conventionally performed with direct current, of which the energy is usually supplied from the grid. Rectifiers are necessary to provide the energy source for electrolysis, which unfortunately waste some of the efficiency, albeit becoming more efficient. Although it is known that distortions, harmonics and ripple, in the current supply can cause decreased performance of the electrolysis, a fundamental understanding is often not provided in published research. Controlled modulation of the electrolysis process can however form a possibility to enhance the performance of electrolysis
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A replacement of cars with conventional internal combustion engines (ICEs) by electric vehicles (EVs) is seen by many as a means to improve local air quality, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and CO2 emissions. The market for EV is slowly developing with a growing number of (subsidized) manufacturers offering EV models in different market segments to (subsidized) car owners. The number of EVs is still small in most countries, but policymakers and manufacturers see partial or even full replacement of ICEs by EVs as realistic in the coming decade. EV engines are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Li-ion is produced from precursors, either liquid (brine metal salt) or solid (hard rocks). Lithium mining is still concentrated in a few countries. Lithium is used for batteries, ceramics, grease and medicine. This reliance comes at a cost, as conventional lithium mining creates several externalities. The following main question will be addressed: How to source a required volume of lithium in a way that reduces the environmental and social-economic impact of mining this resource? To address this question, we will use a combination of relevant literature and a local case study supported by a model-based estimation. The focus is on the Netherlands, an EV user country, but the approach is generic.
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A (semi-)closed greenhouse is a novel greenhouse with an active cooling system and temporary heat storage in an aquifer. Air is cooled, heated and dehumidified by air treatment units. Climate in (semi-)closed greenhouses differs from that of conventional open greenhouses. The aims of our research were first, to analyze the effect of active cooling on greenhouse climate, in terms of stability, gradient and average levels; second, to determine crop growth and production in closed and semi-closed greenhouses. An experiment with tomato crop was conducted from December 2007 until November 2008 in a closed greenhouse with 700 W m-2 cooling capacity, two semi-closed greenhouses with 350 and 150 W m-2 cooling capacity, respectively, and an open greenhouse. The higher the cooling capacity, the more independent the greenhouse climate was of the outside climate. As the cooling ducts were placed underneath the plants, cooling led to a remarkable vertical temperature gradient. Under sunny conditions temperature could be 5°C higher at the top than at the bottom of the canopy in the closed greenhouse. Cumulative production in the semi-closed greenhouses with 350 and 150 W m-2 cooling capacity were 10% (61 kg m-2) and 6% (59 kg m-2) higher than that in the open greenhouse (55 kg m-2), respectively. Cumulative production in the closed greenhouse was 14% higher than in the open greenhouse in week 29 after planting but at the end of the experiment the cumulative increase was only 4% due to botrytis. Model calculations showed that the production increase in the closed and semi-closed greenhouses was explained by higher CO2 concentration.
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Author supplied: Within the Netherlands the interest for sustainability is slowly growing. However, most organizations are still lagging behind in implementing sustainability as part of their strategy and in developing performance indicators to track their progress; not only in profit organizations but in higher education as well, even though sustainability has been on the agenda of the higher educational sector since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, progress is slow. Currently most initiatives in higher education in the Netherlands have been made in the greening of IT (e.g. more energy efficient hardware) and in implementing sustainability as a competence in curricula. However if we look at the operations (the day to day processes and activities) of Dutch institutions for higher education we just see minor advances. In order to determine what the best practices are in implementing sustainable processes, We have done research in the Netherlands and based on the results we have developed a framework for the smart campus of tomorrow. The research approach consisted of a literature study, interviews with experts on sustainability (both in higher education and in other sectors), and in an expert workshop. Based on our research we propose the concept of a Smart Green Campus that integrates new models of learning, smart sharing of resources and the use of buildings and transport (in relation to different forms of education and energy efficiency). Flipping‐the‐classroom, blended learning, e‐learning and web lectures are part of the new models of learning that should enable a more time and place independent form of education. With regard to smart sharing of resources we have found best practices on sharing IT‐storage capacity among universities, making educational resources freely available, sharing of information on classroom availability and possibilities of traveling together. A Smart Green Campus is (or at least is trying to be) energy neutral and therefore has an energy building management system that continuously monitors the energy performance of buildings on the campus. And the design of the interior of the buildings is better suited to the new forms of education and learning described above. The integrated concept of Smart Green Campus enables less travel to and from the campus. This is important as in the Netherlands about 60% of the CO2 footprint of a higher educational institute is related to mobility. Furthermore we advise that the campus is in itself an object for study by students and researchers and sustainability should be made an integral part of the attitude of all stakeholders related to the Smart Green Campus. The Smart Green Campus concept provides a blueprint that Dutch institutions in higher education can use in developing their own sustainability strategy. Best practices are shared and can be implemented across different institutions thereby realizing not only a more sustainable environment but also changing the attitude that students (the professionals of tomorrow) and staff have towards sustainability.
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The Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector is responsible for a large part of the total worldwide energy consumption, a significant part of which is caused by incorrect operation of controls and maintenance. HVAC systems are becoming increasingly complex, especially due to multi-commodity energy sources, and as a result, the chance of failures in systems and controls will increase. Therefore, systems that diagnose energy performance are of paramount importance. However, despite much research on Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) methods for HVAC systems, they are rarely applied. One major reason is that proposed methods are different from the approaches taken by HVAC designers who employ process and instrumentation diagrams (P&IDs). This led to the following main research question: Which FDD architecture is suitable for HVAC systems in general to support the set up and implementation of FDD methods, including energy performance diagnosis? First, an energy performance FDD architecture based on information embedded in P&IDs was elaborated. The new FDD method, called the 4S3F method, combines systems theory with data analysis. In the 4S3F method, the detection and diagnosis phases are separated. The symptoms and faults are classified into 4 types of symptoms (deviations from balance equations, operating states (OS) and energy performance (EP), and additional information) and 3 types of faults (component, control and model faults). Second, the 4S3F method has been tested in four case studies. In the first case study, the symptom detection part was tested using historical Building Management System (BMS) data for a whole year: the combined heat and power plant of the THUAS (The Hague University of Applied Sciences) building in Delft, including an aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES) system, a heat pump, a gas boiler and hot and cold water hydronic systems. This case study showed that balance, EP and OS symptoms can be extracted from the P&ID and the presence of symptoms detected. In the second case study, a proof of principle of the fault diagnosis part of the 4S3F method was successfully performed on the same HVAC system extracting possible component and control faults from the P&ID. A Bayesian Network diagnostic, which mimics the way of diagnosis by HVAC engineers, was applied to identify the probability of all possible faults by interpreting the symptoms. The diagnostic Bayesian network (DBN) was set up in accordance with the P&ID, i.e., with the same structure. Energy savings from fault corrections were estimated to be up to 25% of the primary energy consumption, while the HVAC system was initially considered to have an excellent performance. In the third case study, a demand-driven ventilation system (DCV) was analysed. The analysis showed that the 4S3F method works also to identify faults on an air ventilation system.
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