Yesterday we met with a consultant for the City of Eindhoven. Their objective is to be energy neutral by 2035. They will accomplish this through three programs 1) climate policy 2) sustainable building (like our LEED) and 3) sustainable organization. The Netherlands developed a diagram called Trias Energetica - reduce energy spending, use sustainable energy and burn fossil fuels efficiently. Here are a few examples of programs the city is/has implemented.
Geothermal Energy Storage
The city wants to be the biggest city in the Netherlands to use geothermal for heating and cooling. There are issues associated with geothermal such as neighbors drawing down from the ground water in the wells. So Eindhoven is mapping the system to create a city wide geothermal grid.
Energy Savings Loan
The program has been set up to create a low interest loan from the cities revolving fund to help people with the installation of solar panels. The fund has $300 million Euros for new buildings and $70 million Euros for existing bldgs.
Multi Fuel Gas Stations
Developing fuel stations with options such as bio-fuel, gas, hydrogen and electricity as opposed to just petro.
Bio Energy Plant
Eindhoven has an olympic size pool that many international athletes practice in. The cool thing is the pool is energized by biofuel and then produces enough energy to supply 20 million kwh which is enough for the city buildings. Any additional energy generated is sold back for a premium which the city generates $2 million Euros a year with.
The biofuel used is the fat from animals collected at slaughter houses which is then converted into oil. Talk about using the whole cow.
One long term problem we discussed was the national subsidies. Germany has a revolving fund for their program. But the Netherlands has a cap so when the program gets more popular the less money will be available.
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