BackgroundThis research study applied the 'Integrated Energy Landscape Approach and the Ecosystem Services Framework' to formulate a pre-proposal for a Positive Energy District in the Hoogkerk Zuid neighborhood in Groningen, the Netherlands.ResultsThe proposed energy saving and energy generation interventions are sufficient to cover the energy usage of the district, while an energy surplus is generated. The pre-proposal has been developed within a participatory process, organized by the authors in close collaboration with key local stakeholders. The identification of local ecosystem services served as a crucial starting point for this study, while it also served for the basis for analysing the subsequent trade-offs and synergies derived from the proposed energy transition interventions. Then, a sustainable business case model was developed based on this Positive Energy District pre-proposal. The main outcome of the model lies in the value creation through cost savings from not using traditional energy sources and selling electricity to the grid. In addition, the economic value of the preserved ecosystem services and of the synergies generated by the pre-proposal are also included in the model.ConclusionsBeyond the local case, the results lay the groundwork for more systematic studies on merging the methodologies of Positive Energy District development, the Ecosystem Framework and the Integrated Energy Landscape approach. Finally, by adding the benefits of ecosystem services and synergies as a significant contributor in the financial analysis and decision-making process, this study opens the door to a new approach to the evaluation of sustainable projects.
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This research study applied the Integrated Energy Landscape Approach and the Ecosystem Services Framework in order to formulate a pre-proposal for a Positive Energy District in the Hoogkerk Zuid neighborhood in Groningen, the Netherlands. The proposed interventions are sufficient to cover the energy usage of the district, while an energy surplus is generated. The pre-proposal has been developed within a participatory process, organized by the authors in close collaboration with key local stakeholders. The identification of the local ecosystem services served as a crucial starting point for this study, while it also provided the transparent information base for analyzing the subsequent trade-offs and synergies derived by the proposed energy transition interventions. Then, a sustainable business case model has been developed based on this Positive Energy District pre-proposal. The main outcome of the model lies within the value creation through cost savings from foregoing traditional energy sources and sale of electricity to the grid, but also through including the economic value of ecosystem services and synergies when integrating the Renewable Energy Technologies. Beyond the local case, the findings lay the groundwork for more systematic studies on merging the methodologies of Positive Energy District development, the Ecosystem Framework and the Integrated Energy Landscape approach. Finally, by adding the benefits of ecosystem services and synergies as a significant contributor in the financial analysis and decision making process, this study opens the door for a new approach of valuing sustainable projects.
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This paper assesses wind resource characteristics and energy yield for micro wind turbines integrated on noise barriers. An experimental set-up with sonic anemometers placed on top of the barrier in reference positions is realized. The effect on wind speed magnitude, inflow angle and turbulence intensity is analysed. The annual energy yield of a micro wind turbine is estimated and compared using data from a micro-wind turbine wind tunnel experiment and field data. Electrical energy costs are discussed as well as structural integration cost reduction and the potential energy yield could decrease costs. It was found that instantaneous wind direction towards the barrier and the height of observation play an influential role for the results. Wind speed increases in perpendicular flows while decreases in parallel flow, by +35% down to −20% from the reference. The azimuth of the noise barrier expressed in wind field rotation angles was found to be influential resulted in 50%–130% changes with respect to annual energy yield. A micro wind turbine (0.375 kW) would produce between 100 and 600 kWh annually. Finally, cost analysis with cost reductions due to integration and the energy yield changes due to the barrier, show a LCOE reduction at 60%–90% of the reference value. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jweia.2020.104206
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The paper describes the first implementation of the Unified Citizen Engagement Approach (UCEA), a newly developed design-oriented framework for citizen engagement in the energy transition. The preliminary testing and evaluation of several of its pathways in Groningen, the Netherlands, show that the role of design in the energy transition is not limited to the adoption of (co)design tools and methods. Instead, design should be integrated in the process in a more holistic way and on multiple levels, taking into account broader issues than energy, the maturity of local initiatives, and effective communication with stakeholders.
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This report is a deliverable of the ESTRAC “Case Studies Regional Energy Transition” project, commissioned and funded by the research institute Energy Systems Transition Centre (ESTRAC). ESTRAC is a joint initiative of knowledge and research institutes in the Netherlands – including TNO, ECN (since April 2018 part of TNO), University of Groningen, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, the New Energy Coalition (NEC) and, more recently, PBL – as well as associated partners including Gasunie, Gasterra, EBN and NAM. In addition to funding from the ESTRAC partners, the Case Studies Regional Energy Transition project has benefitted from funding by the Green Deal program of the Dutch government.
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This working paper is a deliverable of ESTRAC Transforming Regions, a joint initiative of knowledge and research institutes TNO (ECN), Hanze University of Applied Sciences, University of Groningen and New Energy Coalition.
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This is a review of the literature on community energy. We analyze more than 250 studies that appeared in the academic literature in the period 1997-2018. We investigate the timing regarding the appearance of these studies, the geographical orientation of the research, and the journals in which the articles appeared. We also analyse the keywords used to identify the research. Further, we relate the articles to the theoretical perspectives employed. We also analyse keywords used by the authors in relation to the particular approaches employed and reflect on the country specifics of the case studies. We find that the majority of studies on community energy did appear in the last couple of years. Especially the UK, US, Germany and the Netherlands are being investigated. Energy Policy published most of the studies. Different theoretical perspectives study community energy, especially Governance, Sociology, Economics, Planning, Technology, and Transition. We conclude that the study of community energy is still in its infancy as there is little commonality in the terminology and key concepts used. Studying community energy requires further improvement in order to better integrate the different theoretical perspectives and to ground policy decisions.
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Significant factors in the success or failure of energy transition arise from the spatial potential of places and their communities. Scenario planning appears to be an appropriate design instrument to enable architects to unveil, conceptualise, imagine, test and communicate this potential to stakeholders. This paper critically refelcts on the scenario as an architectural design instrument. Inscribed with political intentions, scenario planning may be a far from neutral design instrument. Instead of triggering communities to explore local energy potential, a scenario may have a normative effect on a community's imagination. The paper aims to define guidelines for the deployment of scenarios in an open, participatory planning process. To mediate in a local participatory planning process, we argue, scenarios should be situational, dynamic and open-ended, allowing or even triggering communities to (re)define the issues relevant to a place during the ongoing process of energy-transition. How, when and where should scenarios be deployed in order to enable communities to understand and develop their local energy potential?
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The threat of climate change and the Paris agreement to limit global temperature rise to well below 2?C and to pursue efforts to limit it to 1.5?C has stimulated research on and broad commitment to community energy. We investigate this research. We assess how nine different approaches study community energy over time, which methods they use, which countries and regions they focus on, and where they discuss and publish. We analyze the keywords used to identify the research and investigate how these differ along the approaches. We show that community energy research took off only very recently and that especially ‘developed’ countries, in particular, the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, and the Netherlands, are studied. Different networks contribute to the understanding of community energy; however, the maturity and reach of these networks vary and there is limited exchange between research networks.
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The increasing share of renewable production like wind and PV poses new challenges to our energy system. The intermittent behavior and lack of controllability on these sources requires flexibility measures like storage and conversion. Production, consumption, transportation, storage and conversion systems become more intertwined. The increasing complexity of the system requires new control strategies to fulfill existing requirements.The SynergyS project addresses the main question how to operate increasingly complex energy systems in a controllable, robust, safe, affordable, and reliable way. Goal of the project is to develop and test a smart control system for a multi-commodity energy system (MCES), with electricity, hydrogen and heat. In scope are an industrial cluster (Chemistry Park Delfzijl) and a residential cluster (Leeuwarden) and their mutual interaction. Results are experimentally tested in two real-life demo-sites scale models: Centre of Expertise Energy (EnTranCe) and The Green Village (TU Delft) represent respectively the industrial and residential cluster.The result will be a market-driven control system to operate a multi-commodity energy system, integrating the industrial and residential cluster. The experimental setup is a combination of physical demo-site assets complemented with (digital) asset models. Experimental validation is based on a demo-scenario including real time data, simulated data and several stress tests.In this session we’ll elaborate more on the project and present (preliminary) results on the testing criteria, scenarios and experimental setup.
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