A relevant quote from this press release: “In 2018, IPCC highlighted the unprecedented scale of the challenge required to keep warming to 1.5°C. Five years later, that challenge has become even greater due to a continued increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The pace and scale of what has been done so far, and current plans, are insufficient to tackle climate change.”
The Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) recently presented an updated version of the ‘Guidelines Total cost of ownership (TCO) calculation for passenger cars’. The costs of the three most common powertrains are compared: battery electric (BEV), petrol and diesel. For more details, click here.
Whether we read the local media, or the international press releases and news releases by the COP, one thing is clear. The transition to a more sustainable energy system is not progressing as one would hope for.
From the COP 27 website, we quote the following:
On 20 November, the 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27), that took place in the Egyptian coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, concluded with a historic decision to establish and operationalize a loss and damage fund.
Welcoming the decision and calling the fund essential, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that more needs to be done to drastically reduce emissions now. “The world still needs a giant leap on climate ambition.” “The red line we must not cross is the line that takes our planet over the 1.5 degree temperature limit,” he stressed, urging the world not to relent “in the fight for climate justice and climate ambition.” “We can and must win this battle for our lives,” he concluded.
From 6 to 20 November, COP27 held high-level and side events, key negotiations, and press conferences, hosting more than 100 Heads of State and Governments, over 35,000 participants and numerous pavilions.
This is a positive result, but scrolling through the statements and comments issued by various media, I conclude that the COP hasn’t resulted in the necessary actions. That only last-minute steps were taken, show an underlying problem: fundamental different views on how to tackle the issue of climate change and how to finance its costly measures.
Few recent quotes from the UN Secretary-General describing the concerns:
“COP27 is scheduled to wrap up in 24 hours but countries remain divided on several significant issues including ‘loss and damage’, the UN Secretary-General said on Thursday, urging parties to rise to the urgency of the moment and agree on real solutions to solve the greatest challenge facing humanity. “
“There is clearly a breakdown in trust between North and South, and between developed and emerging economies. This is no time for finger-pointing. The blame game is a recipe for mutually assured destruction,” António Guterres told journalists at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Conference Centre. The UN chief urged countries to deliver the kind of meaningful action that people, and the planet, so desperately need. “The world is watching and has a simple message: stand and deliver,” he underscored.
For some time now, I haven’t published a blog as I’m wondering more and more about our energy systems and executed approaches in the Western world. Looking particularly at the Netherlands, I’m not so hopeful that we will meet the 2030 targets, let alone the one’s for 2050. My believe in nuclear power is growing by the day, as this will speed up the transition, besides the necessary growth in solar and wind energy, and use of renewable gases. Sure, we’ll introduce other risks, but what’s worse ? But irrespective of the above, our collective focus should be on an integral approach of addressing climate change in a responsible way.
Blog published on the Dutch part of the website with title: Dutch Climate and Energy Outlook 2022 (“Nederlandse Klimaat- en Energieverkenning 2022 (KEV)”)
The article focuses on a report recently issued by PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.
Recent and shocking events in the Ukraine show us once again that safety and security are too often taken for granted. Our deepest sympathy and fullest support go to the Ukrainian people. But the events also show that we must be continuously alert to safeguard our precious freedom.
Our prime focus is on the people in the Ukraine, the injured one’s and those who have lost their lives, whilst defending their country and protecting their family and home. Neighbouring countries are obviously worried what it will do to their safety and security.
And then there is the discussion on security of the natural gas supply, and the impact above changes are having on the supply and price levels.
In some of my previous jobs I worked and gave leadership to companies who gave advice on various gas issues. One thing I clearly remember is, that already over the last 12+ years various advices were given not to be too dependent on the supply of natural gas coming from the East. I obviously comprehend that in the past choices have been made based on numerous criteria; and costs of supply being an important one. But I’m annoyed viewing the current situation of gas supply to Europa and the Netherlands in particular. Why have we manoeuvred ourselves in this situation? And articles in the media, where it’s mentioned that Gas supply firms are now looking into alternatives, doesn’t help to improve my mood either, as this should have been done a long time ago.
Sure, in the Netherlands, the Groningen gas situation has not helped us in recent years. But still, isn’t the role of those ‘in control’ to look way ahead and assess potential risks and come with the correct mitigating actions. And not to work in firefighting mode.
So, the obvious question is: what can we do in the short term to be less dependent on natural gas?
Transition to renewable energies takes time and could bring significant costs. But given the current price levels, the business case for investing in alternatives becomes more and more interesting. This means immediately making available funds for those who can’t finance the investment by themselves. Fortunately, interest rates are still low. Start with energy savings measures, followed by actions focussing on energy generation by other means than natural gas. However, in the Netherlands the lead time for ordering Heat pumps is becoming very long, and hence concentrated action is required here to improve the overall supply chain. Also, it’s noticed that there is a shortage of labour in some installation branches in my country.
A recent message from the IEA is still worth reading. They have issued a so-called 10-Point Plan on how the European Union countries can reduce its reliance on the natural gas imports coming from the “East”. For further details, please click here.
I fully understand if, for the immediate short term, one chooses to continue using coalfired plants and nuclear energy. Of course, I understand the concerns from a climate change perspective, but life doesn’t always provide us with free and easy options, and forces us to take interim steps balancing all sorts of societal aspects. I’ve focused before on the potential role of nuclear energy in the energy transition and welcome an objective fact-based debate on the issue.
We have published various blogs over the years focusing on alternative measures, and I recommend the readers to reflect on them.
I understand it’s not easy to manage energy changes on a regional and global scale. But the current energy crisis could have been better tackled if all of us were better prepared for the next phases of energy transition. We have waisted many years for all sorts of reasons. And one of the most important one’s is not having a clear masterplan and subsequently lacking well defined intermediate annual targets on how to achieve the ultimate goals in line with the Paris agreement. Fortunately, there are many positive and successful initiatives by individual companies. But we need leadership across the board, in order to make an effective connection and affordable implementation ! We owe it to those people fighting for our freedom.
Effective and increased usage of residential sustainable generated energy (mainly due to solar panels) eventually requires home or neighbourhood storage facilities. It’s a subject which we have been focusing on for many years.
According to the latest report of Solar Power Europe – European Market Outlook for Residential Battery Storage 2021-2025:“ In 2020, around 140,000 household battery systems with a combined storage capacity over 1 GWh were installed in Europe”. A remarkable achievement !
Another important quote from the report: “In the Netherlands no major changes are bound to happen in the near future. Here, the net-metering regulation for residential PV systems is still the most important barrier for self-consumption through batteries and will remain fully in force until 2023.” In our opinion the financial preconditions in The Netherlands needs to be tweaked to accommodate better and more sustainability components in order to meet the national climate targets. We realise that discussions on this subject are ongoing and that certain changes can be expected, but how soon? (re. also: https://www.aarten-es.com/blog-post/acm-transmission-tariffs-cannot-be-an-impediment-to-the-construction-of-power-storages/).
The report “European Market Outlook for Residential Battery Storage 2021-2025” also shows some interesting insights into the future cost developments. We expect battery manufacturing costs to reduce further, particularly if the actual installed numbers increase.
Let’s learn from the German experience. As mentioned in our blog “The Sustainable Home: providing insights into various possibilities”, featuring amongst other, Zonatlas, it’s very important to provide useful insights to homeowners so they can assess what the potential of electricity storage can bring to them. Zonatlas works very closely with German based tetraeder.solar, and therefore brings German experience into the Netherlands. (re. https://www.aarten-es.com/blog-post/the-sustainable-home-providing-insights-into-various-possibilities/).
In summary: this very relevant report, with a broad focus, issued by the international organisation Solar Power Europe, once again shows the various current possibilities to accelerate the energy transition. For further details, please click here.
Much is written about the desired sustainability steps in our home or business space. Many owners are already doing well individually; others tackle the actions collectively. But apart from the approach, insights are first needed into the possibilities and the cost consequences. But where do we get the information from? And which sources of information can we trust?
This article focuses on the situation in The Netherlands, but the experiences can obviously be applied elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can we do now, and what later? After all, the ultimate heat supply must also fit into the local/municipal development plans. The last thing any individual homeowner wants to do is invest uselessly. For example: will the natural gas network continue to exist and will we eventually switch to green gas and/or hydrogen? Or is the heating of our building completely realised without the use of natural gas and/or sustainable gases, and what are those options? What about the connection to a nearby heat network? Can we already install a hybrid heat pump, because the savings in natural gas consumption and the resulting cost reductions are already such that a good and affordable sustainability step can be taken, regardless of what the future local/municipal situation will be?
And then there are the questions about the degree of technological development (is the device well developed and will it not cause unnecessary malfunctions) and the associated costs. The positive development of solar panels over the past 20 years shows an enormous improvement in performance and reliability and cost reductions.
Municipal Plans in the Netherlands
The municipal plans will be formulated in a so-called Local Energy Strategy (LES), which will have a close relationship with the Regional Energy Strategy (RES). So it is important to request this information via the relevant municipal website. This gives an idea of the plans for the next 10-20 years. However, regardless of these municipal visions, it always pays to start implementing energy-saving measures as soon as possible (e.g. apply insulation where possible, but consider good ventilation; HR++ glass or better; energy-efficient household appliances). Furthermore, it is always smart to install solar panels where possible.
Various examples
In this context, we would therefore like to refer to “Zonatlas.nl” and “Warmtepompplein.nl” respectively, which currently makes certain information freely available to individual house/building owners in The Netherlands. Please note: Zonatlas.nl = Solar energy information platform. Warmtepompplein.nl = Information portal on heat pumps.
Solar energy – information via Zonatlas.nl
Via Zonatlas, an individual homeowner or company in The Netherlands can easily see for themselves what the electricity generation potential of the property is by means of solar panels. Re. link: https://www.zonatlas.nl/start/
Note: Zonatlas has calculated and mapped the suitability of almost all roofs in the Netherlands. By using, among other things, height data, multi-year weather data, and intensity calculation of solar radiation, the inclination angle(s), orientation points relative to the sun, shadow areas and even more technical data are combined to calculate the solar energy yield of a roof. And accurate to 30cm! Zonatlas has mapped out the solar energy yield of more than 13 million buildings in the Netherlands.
Furthermore, Zonatlas offers additional information if the Dutch municipality, to which the specified postcode with house number belongs, has a membership on Zonatlas. We will give 2 examples in this regard. (1) On the Zonatlas-website one can ‘turn on’ a home battery and see what the effects are. We have already pointed out the importance of home or neighbourhood batteries in separate blogs. Re. link: https://www.aarten-es.com/language/en/news-storage/. The battery developments will be much needed to accelerate the transition in an effective and affordable way. (2) One can also examine the effects of heat generation, of the energy generated by solar collectors/solar boiler.
Another development, available on request, focuses on providing insight into the effects of connecting an electric car to the home solar panel system.
Heat supply – information via Warmtepompplein.nl
With Warmtepompplein.nl, an individual homeowner or company in The Netherlands can discover which heat pump fits best. Re. link: https://warmtepompplein.nl/quickscan/. By entering postal code and house number, one will receive advice for an all-electric and hybrid air-water heat pump. Note. This tool is based on the formulas described in ISSO 51 (Standard Heat Loss Calculation). A heat pump does require electricity, which in turn can be partially or fully compensated by installing (extra) solar panels. Therefore, the link with Zonatlas is important.
Providing more insights through an integrated/holistic approach
The writer of this blog has permission to state here that ‘behind the scenes of Zonatlas and Warmtepompplein’, significant work is being done to link the various sustainability components together in a smart way, so good insights into the sustainability options of one’s own building can be obtained in a simple and effective manner. However, the available tools already provide a good insight!
The title of the article in Solar Magazine reads: “The Dutch grid operators and Energy Storage NL want the central government to adhere to the phasing out of the netting scheme for solar panels (in Dutch: “salderingsregeling”) and to introduce a subsidy of 30 percent for home batteries.” For further information, please refer to this interesting article; click here for more information.
In previous blogs on our website, we have frequently referred to the importance of electricity storage in achieving overall sustainability of the built environment. For example, we refer to:
The COP26 UN Climate Change Conference, hosted by the UK in partnership with Italy, is taking place from 31 October to 12 November 2021 in Glasgow, UK. Let’s see what the outcome of this latest conference will be regarding new climate goals, and required actions on various levels. Despite the past COP’s and pledges made in these conferences by world leaders, is the current assessment of global climate change still extremely worrying.
The report summarized the Outlook as follows: “This annual publication is stipulated by the Dutch Climate Act and regarded as one of the accountability instruments of Dutch climate and energy policy. Taking adopted and proposed policies as the point of reference, Dutch greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decrease by between 38% and 48% in 2030, compared to 1990 levels. This means that the government’s emission reduction target of 49% by 2030 is not yet in view.” For further details, please click here.
The Dutch page of this website provides more summarised information; click here by accessing this page.
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Reference to other articles/blogs
In the past, many blogs have appeared on our website; we would like to refer to our “News and events” section (click here).
A recent article was about the IPCC and Climate Change (click here).
It’s clear that worldwide we pay a lot of attention to “Climate change and its impact on the world and its population”. Fortunately, many good actions are taking place, which are already showing results. And we can also praise all individual actions by citizens, and joint local initiatives by energy cooperatives/energy commons. But it’s still far from enough. So, we are all very curious what will be written in the newspapers on November 13, 2021 when the COP26 has ended, hopefully successfully, the day before.
![[RVO] Total cost of ownership (TCO) calculation for passenger cars](https://www.aarten-es.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/shutterstock_548313280-500x300.jpg "[RVO] Total cost of ownership (TCO) calculation for passenger cars")
