Differences on an European Scale

It took some time to get grip on all the information we got about renewable energy landscapes in Germany and Denmark. We are still impressed about the various possibilities for renewable energy landscapes and a more sustainable energy supply these other European countries showed us. During the last weeks we structured this information to have it in a usable form for our research. Also we studied theories about change and transitions according to energy in a society. This interesting material offers new opportunities and ways to implement new techniques for renewable energy.

Besides these theoretical changes we have to stay in touch with the reality. The new Dutch government has made new regulations according to energy supply. The Netherlands has to be more independent on energy from other countries in the next coming years. Unfortunately the Dutch government don’t want to generate more own energy by stimulation renewables but has started to build two new nuclear power plants. The goals for the generation of renewable energy use are lowered from 20% to 14% in 2020, and again, the subsidy system will be changed. As far as we can say at the moment, this conflicts with our criteria for more renewable energy landscapes. But, of course our work is till in progress and maybe we are wrong...

... and back again

Here we are, back again in the Gaia building at the university of Wageningen.
Back from our trip from Germany and Denmark.
With a huge amount of information in our heads,
and piles of information on our desks,
trying to select the most important bit's and pieces.

It is nice to see that everybode has got an opinion about renewable energy,
now we have to organize ourselves and write down our own impressions,
figure out what exactly is our own opinion, put it in a scientific box,
with honorable argumentation.
And the job is done! Writing a thesis is so easy!

Of we go...

The coming two weeks will be ‘field work’ for us. We travel to Germany and Denmark to learn more about the realization of renewable energy landscapes. In the first week the main subject will be: Energielandschaften!? Fallen oder Chancen für ländliche Räume (Energy landscapes!? Failures or chances for rural areas). In the second week we will go to Samsø (DK). This is a good example of a realized renewable energy region. We try to talk to a various people here which have something to do or to say about the switch to a 100% energy self-sustaining area and their opinion about this. On the website of the Samsø Akademi there is available a lot of information about this ‘project’. http://www.energiakademiet.dk/default_uk.asp

When back in the Netherlands, we hope to have a new chapter for our book: Building 100% Renewable Energy Regions for Dummies...!

The European Context

In our research the European context of (100%) renewable energy landscapes plays a very important role. There are positive and negative differences in the realisation of renewable energy projects between the EU member states. This is underlined by a trip to Germany I made last week.

I went to Bundesland Brandenburg, historically famous for its energy production by brown coal. This is a process which is till going on in these days and leaves big marks in the landscape. Although this practice is not a very sustainable way of producing electric energy and therefore get lots of critics, the practices are still going on in these days. In Brandenburg there is also another change going on, a change towards a more sustainable way of producing electric energy and well by wind turbines. About 60 wind turbine parks are realized and produce renewable energy. Also the solar panels market is good developed and everywhere you see houses with solar panels on their roofs. This is not only the case in Brandenburg but also in the rest of Germany. The German government has stimulated this solar energy market very much during the last years. This has resulted in a success story. Member of the German Bundestag (Parliament), Mr. Hermann Scheer (often mentioned as the European Al Gore) explains the reasons for this success in the Dutch Tegenlicht documentary of April the 12^th 2010 (Available on http://tegenlicht.vpro.nl/afleveringen/2009-2010/de-groene-transitie/de-groene-masterclass.html). Mr. Scheer presents his story not only by scaring us with doom scenarios about enormous environmental problems caused by the use of fossil and nuclear power but he puts the renewable energy sector into a new light. Renewable energy production is very economically profitable. An interesting point of view and we are triggered to find out more about this.

I’d like to conclude with a movie of the German energy company RWE: Energieriese.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhMV0e_cFAI

In the movie RWE shows some of the current day methods of energy production in a fairy-tale way. That it is in real life maybe not such a happy ending story is reflected by the critical reactions on this movie. But the critics that only 15% of the electric energy in Germany in 2008 is produced by renewable energy sources (Greenpeace) gives the people in the Netherlands something to think about (in the Netherlands the percentage of electric energy was 7,5% in 2008. The amount of renewable energy in the total energy use was 3.4% of the total energy use in 2008. Source: CBS http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/9BD7922E-03BC-412E-92F3-EA13DFAD4FD1/0/2008c89pub.pdf).

The question which remains for the Netherlands: how come the developments towards a more sustainable way of producing energy are going so slowly? We hope to find an answer on this question within the next coming months.

The research continues…

We have used energy for centuries, for millennia, for lots of thousands years…

The use of energy developed in the last century in a fossil fuel addiction (gas, oil, coal), we can not live without it. Maybe we want to stop, maybe we want to cut back our consumption pattern, but at this moment we can't live with or without it.

But now the time has come for a rehabilitation process. It will be hard work, but if we really try we can do it! Step one is recognition of the problem, and face the problem. The second step will be a transition from the old to the new situation.

Maaike and I hope to guide this process of recognition and transition by evaluation of good processes in other countries. At this moment we prepare a trip to Denmark (Samsø) and Sweden (Gotland). Both islands have walked the line, and don’t use fossil fuels any more. Samsø and Gotland are renewable energy islands and are fully relying on wind, solar power and biomass. These can be an example and inspiration for the Netherlands. A comparing study of the process and physical appearance for the landscape will offer valuable information for the challenge.

Please stay in touch, and if you have questions, please feel free to ask!

THE challenge for Texel

In the last blog it was already noticed that there are a lot of different factors in the total process of the realization of (100%) renewable energy projects and landscapes in the Netherlands and Europe. Last week we went to the island Texel and saw by our own eyes that this pre-assumption was totally correct. The different levels of governments, private companies and groups in society all have their own specific influence in this process and therefore in our research. We met people who were very motivated to change this island into an island which uses energy which is produced for 100% in a renewable way. We also met people who were de-motivated and tired to work on this ‘renewable thing’ any more. People working in a fast gear, people working slowly. Government and entrepreneurs. Power of the multinationals (Dutch gas branch) and power of the public (cooperation TexelEnergy).

Did you know that:
- The goal of the municipality of Texel is to use a 100% renewable energy in 2020?
- TexelEnergy a cooperation is, which means that it is owned by the people of Texel?
- Texel the place is, in the Netherlands, with the most sun hours (= energy!!) each year?
- We planned our visit for this island exactly on the only raining day of the year?

Hmmm, a lot to think about. A big cliffhanger till the year 2020 at least. Most important thing we already found out is: the more you learn the less you know. But when we can contribute a little to the unknown area of the reason that the Netherlands and Texel have problems with realizing their own made energy goals for 2020, we must be happy. We hope to discover some interesting facts that make this Texel cliffhanger not as thrilling anymore.

Will be continued…

Picture: Texelschaap voor bio-energie?!

Foto: www.texelwool.nl

Landscape is Energy

Landscape has a strong connection with energy.  Energy is out there: in the form of anything in the sky, in the earth or the water. Energy generation influences, has influenced and will influence our landscape.

During our thesis, we study the possibilities of new energy, sustainable energy. We will focus on policy and implementation of sustainable energy, and hope to contribute to a more sustainable society. We will research the contribution of a layered government and the (shadow) arena around it.