Homer-Dixon, Thomas. Stations are heated using heat exchangers, green gas or green electricity. [1], By December 2013, 1,975 wind turbines were operational on land in the Netherlands, with an aggregate capacity of 2,479 MW. BTW, I have never felt deprived by having 60 Hz instead of 50Hz. Updated [5 February 2019]: Original version of this article attributed this quote to Thomas Homer-Dixon. Consumers in NL can choose suppliers that deliver 100% renewable, or 100% wind, or 100% dutch generated wind, etc. I see the logic behind the options for supply that can be taken, but how can any householder take a contract for 100% wind power when often this is not available, certainly if a large number opt for green power. In this way, the Dutch railways aim to reduce the greatest negative environmental impact caused by CO2 in such a way that its demand actually contributes to the sustainable power generation in the Netherlands and Europe.. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In addition, the use of conductor rails sets a speed limit on trains of about 160kph (100mph) above this, the metal contact blocks (called pickup shoes) can lose contact with the rail and result in a drop in power. The point about this is that it is just PR. For NS to use only wind power from wind farms to power its rail system the wind farms must be connected directly to NSs railways. Consumer unions help by auctioning for grouped members. The virtue signalling fools at NS might then undertsand the impact of intermittent supplies. Especially since there are no green electrons. Train tickets for international journeys can be purchased from NS International. Just whatever serves your agenda. A book co-edited by Thomas Homer-Dixon contained a passage stating that windmills "might never generate as much energy as was invested in building [them]." Either figure comfortably exceeds the amount of electricity NS uses to power its electric trains, which is variously quoted as either 1.2 or 1.4TWh/year. NS is the main public train in the Netherlands. [1] In 2019, the wind turbines provided the country with 12% of its electricity demand during the year, a figure that is growing but somewhat below the average of 15% that wind power provides across the whole of the EU's electricity consumption. And half of Japan, poor devils. According to Thomas Homer-Dixon, wind turbines never recoup the energy it takes to build them. If you would like to know more, click here. I cant help feeling that inexperienced power traders at NS will have been taken to the cleaners at the expense of passengers. The Eneco Luchterduinen wind farm was officially opened in September 2015 and is a 50/50 joint venture between Dutch energy company Eneco and Japan's Mitsubishi corporation. Harried Dutch commuters may not be entirely cognisant of the fact . Not relevant here. from northern Maine to southern Florida, about 1800 miles in 0.01 second. Offsets. And of course no such connections exist. And how does NS justify this lesser claim? When challenged on its claim, NS clarified that only the electrified portion of its system runs completely on wind power. Because Eneco, which contracts to supply NS with wind power, gets a Guarantee of Origin from the exporter under which the exporter confirms that the power came from wind and assigns the rights to it to NS. I would take it, then, that you are not among the poor and elderly who DO give a fig about money? According to Cleantechnica Transmission costs of 1.4 eurocent/kWh is to be added as TenneT is required to take power from sea to shore. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. supply from NSs contracted windfarms,and if their supply drops below the train systems demand, But its a funny read. Furthermore, both solar panels and wind turbines are capable of functioning under cold . http://www.djtelectricaltraining.co.uk/downloads/50Hz-Frequency.pdf. How Dutch and German train and bus firms are taking British taxpayers for a ride, Solar panel researchers investigate powering trains by bypassing grid, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. The largest wind farm in the Netherlands is Noordoostpolder with a capacity of 429 MW. Eneco has agreed to supply 1.4 terawatt hours (TWh) of wind-sourced power by 2018, which is roughly the same amount of energy consumed by all the households in Amsterdam, the capital city. The Dutch government has set a target of 6,000 MW nameplate capacity of onshore wind power by 2020 (not met, as per the data above) and 4,450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023. 90/month for the typical 3 person household. Its production also does not use any natural raw materials or food production resources. The 600,000 daily. In 2006, the Egmond aan Zee Offshore Wind Farm was built, consisting of 36 Vestas V90 3MW turbines, totaling 108 MW, sufficient to light 100,000 houses. If not, Im sure their stranded customers would be happy to explain it to them. Sign up for our email newsletter! And meanwhile the Netherlands electrified railways continue to be powered dominantly by fossil fuel electricity. [5] This will contribute towards the Dutch target of 14% renewable energy use out of total energy use by 2020[10] and 16% by 2023. There are many reasons, of course, why NS would claim its trains run completely on wind power and even more reasons why many would celebrate this apparently breakthrough. As shown in the table below installed capacity is dominantly fossil fuel, with natural gas making up 61% of total installed capacity and coal 15%. An all-electric heating is much easier to implement, few properly dimensioned wires and cheap heaters, while a gas heater needs specific know-how and is much more capital-intensive. Ive included a (slightly-edited) mini-excerpt from my recent book, Science and the City, to explain: Electric locomotives dont have conventional engines. Web. Still don't like the disingenious advertisement thought. Indirect Contributions Are Essential To Physics, The Crisis In Theoretical Particle Physics Is Not A Moral Imperative, Why Study Science? All Dutch electric trains are now powered by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said . The company aims to further reduce consumption by 2 percent a year with an energy efficiency program, with total consumption already reduced by 30 percent since 2005. This energy is directly traceable to individual wind farms, because we use the GVO European Certification System. One wind turbine running for an hour can power a train for 120 miles, the companies said. The Dutch government is looking to ramp up the nation's share of renewable energy from 4 percent in 2014 to 16 percent in 2023. Whats the trick? All day so far. Belgium and Finland, wind farm portfolio guarantees sufficient capacity to cover such eventualities, http://www.sciencealert.com/all-electric-trains-in-the-netherlands-are-now-100-powered-by-wind-energy, http://www.djtelectricaltraining.co.uk/downloads/50Hz-Frequency.pdf, http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-e1-and-vs-t1/, https://askjaenergy.com/2015/03/23/does-apple-not-want-truly-green-data-centers/. Calculated value from total installed nameplate capacity and actual electricity generation. I have caught people several times in their lectures saying they are burning biogas on a campus, and they always are sheepish when I call them out on it, because they know they are fibbing. http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-e1-and-vs-t1/. As his statements were presented in that meme, Homer-Dixon appeared to have asserted that windmills never produce as much energy as is expended in building them: The quotations selectively employed in the meme were taken from Homer-Dixon's 2009 book Carbon Shift: How Peak Oil and the Climate Crisis Will Change Canada (and Our Lives). Every electric train on the Dutch railways NS network now gets 100 per cent of its energy from wind energy. The Dutch government is looking to ramp up the nations share of renewable energy from 4 percent in 2014 to 16 percent in 2023. Same thing if you got solar panels on your house. The supply of wind power to the Dutch grid will also not be constant. EV Use Is Growing, But Where Are The Chargers. How Sustainable and Ethical Is the Tuna at Your Supermarket? [61], In 2008, a second, somewhat larger offshore wind farm was built: the Princess Amalia Wind Farm, consisting of 60 Vestas V80 2MW turbines totaling 120 MW, sufficient to power 125,000 homes and help the Netherlands cut 225,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions. I have just signed up with EON at 9.4p per Kwh, It is common for major companies to claim they use renewable or carbon-free power only, on the grounds of green certificates. The Netherlands currently has a total of 2,200 wind turbines across the country, according to DutchNews.nl. When you dont know reality and cant speak German you have to believe what you find on the English writing interwebs . This has already led to a savings of 1.43 billions kilograms of C02 emissions. The turbines supply enough energy to power 2.4 million households. NS claims 100% wind power because it has a contract with various wind farms to produce enough energy to power its rail system, but this is just an accounting transaction. Such as happened earlier this year in the UK when we had several days of around only 300MW of total metered wind power. simply use the smart technology to cut them off until their consumption matches the wind farms output. (Although Eneco, NSs wind power procurer, claims that its wind farm portfolio guarantees sufficient capacity to cover such eventualities . I dont mind buying 100% renewable energy for my house ( I have got a small 6kw wind turbine which has supplied me for over 10 years) if it is the same price as normal electricity but I would not pay a premium for it as some suppliers charge. 150, 200, 225, 300, 500, 750, 850 and 1300kW. OK, these days its less than the bandwidth to your mobile, but mumble years ago it was the real deal. The 113,3 Twh exported far exceeds the actual exports of course, but were good business for the power companies selling their power twice. Only a small fraction of the power delivered to its trains actually comes from wind.. Good for saving valuable hydrocarbons for something more useful than burning them, and they really can supply all my electricity 24/7 that way. The historical land of windmills is leading . In fact, he allowed that a windmill situated at a good location could pay back the energy costs of creating it in under three years, but that aspect was omitted from the memed version of his quote: The concept of net energy must be applied to renewable sources of energy, such as windmills and photovoltaics. But lets be real. As Brightvibes noted, a decreasing and relatively small number of Dutch trains are still running on diesel. According to a government web page ( now removed!) For example, in 2015, Burlington, Vermont, became the first city to announce it was running totally on renewable power. According to LJ Electrical only 2,231km of NSs total 3,223km of track is electrified): Figure 2: The Netherlands railway network. France has an even bigger problem with energy poverty even though her supposedly cheaper power. The T1 standard relates to telecommunications. In this way, the Dutch railways aim to reduce the greatest negative environmental impact caused by CO2 in such a way that its demand actually contributes to the sustainable power generation in the Netherlands and Europe.. So, as you can see, your silly view of the frrrench domestic heating habits are wrong, probably based on indoctrination from greenpiss or the like. Great post. However the electricity is delivered to the train, once its there, it is used to power lights, and air-conditioning, as well as the traction motors, which are what turn the trains wheels. This material may not be reproduced without permission. Some of the newer larger wind farms currently under construction are replacing smaller turbines previously installed at given locations. [62], Installed land-based wind capacity (MW) by. Blunt, Elizabeth. That would power a large proportion of all of the households in Amsterdam**. NS operates about 5,500 train trips a day. You still technically get your power from the electric company, but you pay little to nothing for it because you are supplying them electricity. The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. [13] The wind farm demonstrates the growth in scale in wind power as between 1987 and 1991 it was the largest of its kind in Europe with 50 turbines and a total nameplate capacity of 15 MW. The electrons vibrate at 60 cycles per second, 60 Hz, and travel at less than 0.1 inch/second. That would meet approximately 75% of the countries electricity needs. Acquired by Lagerway in 1998. Temporarily, they might even have a surplus to sell. [1], The Dutch government has expressed the aspiration to build 4.450 MW of offshore wind power by 2023[5] which will have a considerable impact on the Dutch electricity grid, operated by TenneT. According to DutchNews.nl, there's currently a total of 2,200 wind turbines across the country. Its own wind farms, built in the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, and Sweden, aim to generate enough energy to fulfill NS's demand of about 1.4 terawatt-hours for 2017 (enough to power a million . Electricity is electricity, electron charge transfer. By tapping into both domestic and foreign sources of wind power, it [ensures] that there is always sufficient green power available on the grid for rail companies, even if the wind is not blowing, the company explained. 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