The turbines supply enough energy to power 2.4 million households. But none of this wind power is directly connected to the NS rail system. The concept of net energy must be applied to renewable sources of energy, such as windmills and photovoltaics. . Updated [5 February 2019]: Original version of this article attributed this quote to Thomas Homer-Dixon. Sign up for our email newsletter! You know all that and simply fabricate a problem where there is non. Stuart The 113,3 Twh exported far exceeds the actual exports of course, but were good business for the power companies selling their power twice. This is about two-thirds of the system. Headlines like this make people feel good. However, early successes in rolling out the clean energy program . The Netherlands national railway company, NS, has announced all of its electric passenger trains (not the freight trains) are now 100% powered by wind energy. The green electricity we use is generated by new wind farms, which have been brought into service in phases. 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). So even if this claim were true, it would require exponentially more windmills and/or solar panels to cover any significant portion of the continental United States. Apparently Eneco can make the wind blow to order.). It goes back to the start of 2016, and includes the Netherlands as well as Belgium and the Nordic countries (and Germany) that NS claim to be supplied by. Three strikes. Fossil fuel-fired power plants produced over 80% of the electricity in the Netherlands, mainly natural gas (42%) and coal (35%). Homer-Dixon, Thomas. Many of these smaller companies were eventually acquired by the larger wind turbine manufactures such as Vestas, Siemens and Lagerwey. Once its in the network, there are three main options for getting the electricity to the trains themselves: Youve probably noticed at least one of these options on your rail journeys. A two-megawatt windmill contains 260 tonnes of steel requiring 170 tonnes of coking coal and 300 tonnes of iron ore, all mined, transported and produced by hydrocarbons. [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. So we in fact reached our goal a year earlier than planned, said Boon, adding that an increase in the number of wind farms across the country and off the coast of the Netherlands had helped NS achieve its aim. Snopes did not find evidence that Germany was experiencing a "total collapse" in wind and solar energy. The Netherlands imports wind power basically because its falling behind its EU renewable energy targets. As Brightvibes noted, a decreasing and relatively small number of Dutch trains are still running on diesel. NS uses as much electricity as all Amsterdam residents combined, and its trains represent over 90 percent of commercial train travel in the country. (Figure 2: Note the dotted lines showing non-electrified track. Started operations 2009. NO. That would power a large proportion of all of the households in Amsterdam**. [5] In 2020 wind power provided 11.54% of the Dutch electricity generation (see table above) while solar power provided an additional 7.25% for a combined 18.79% - easily meeting the target without taking other renewable sources into account, even though the target for onshore wind capacity was not met. This is the cause of the very bright, blue-white spark you sometimes see near the third rail, as well as flickering carriage lights. But its a funny read. [10] [11] [12], 2015 It doesnt add up, I would say about Euro 47 million is big money especially when you consider it`s for nothing.. Bach supplies data for Belgium, which should be a close analogy, and Figure 4 shows Belgian wind generation for September 2014: Figure 4: Belgian wind generation, September 2014, With an installed capacity of around 1850MW in this month the overall wind capacity factor was 11% and there were a number of occasions on which wind generation fell effectively to zero for hours on end. Does anyone even believe that? Even cheap electricity doesnt change anything. The Same Reason You Would Study Anything Else, The (Mostly) Quantum Physics Of Making Colors, This Simple Thought Experiment Shows Why We Need Quantum Gravity, How The Planck Satellite Forever Changed Our View Of The Universe. Do the Netherlands trains really run on http://elering.ee/cross-border-physical-flows/, http://ast.lv/eng/power_system/current_situation_in_power_system/state_of_power_system/, http://www.litgrid.eu/index.php/sistemos-duomenys/79, Antidotes were hard to find this week as one cheering message after another was debunked only Positive News was buoyant | C 3000: antidote to gloom, International Energy Agency Electricity Production Statistics for OECD Countries 2014 2016 | Blogging about energy and transitioning to clean energy, Drone Strike on Saudi Arabia Knocks out 5% of Global Oil Supplies, Grazing, desertification and climate change. The Nuclear Humanist 1.75K subscribers 40 Dislike Share 814 views Jul 23, 2017 The Dutch Railway Corporation. Web. Apart from the first rather obvious problems, anyone with the most basic understanding of electrical enrgy, as taught before 16 at school, would immediately know this was a wholly untrue technical assertion. http://www.djtelectricaltraining.co.uk/downloads/50Hz-Frequency.pdf. The clip is in Dutch so set the captions to translate if you do not speak the language. heavyweather~ Im sure you can link us to sites which prove your point. A NS train. The next largest onshore wind farm is the Westereems wind farm located in Eemshaven in Groningen, in the north of the Netherlands. But you can arrange for a proxy burn of biogas in another state, say Colorado, and buy the rights to say you consumed it. The truth is that its impossible to determine the source of electrons actually moving NS trains down the track. Just whatever serves your agenda. Railway Gazette reports that NS records about 1.2 million passenger-journeys per day, with an annual energy requirement for 1.2 billion kWh. There are several Dutch turbine manufacturers that continue to manufacture both large and small installations for domestic and international clients. All Dutch electric trains are now powered by wind energy, the national railway company NS has said . 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. But how does NS know the power it imports is wind? Data from Frontier Economics. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. Homer-Dixon did not write this viral quote, but he did comment on it in a May 2018 blog post entitled: "No . According to a government web page ( now removed!) Up until the Westereems Wind Park was commissioned the largest onshore wind farm was the Princess Alexia Windpark in Zeewolde (122MW),[36] consisting of 36 REpower turbines and a 3.2MW/33MWh battery storage power station of BMW i3 batteries. But its a funny read. Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Ad Meskens. And enjoy 30c/kWh household electric rates, as in Denmark and Germany, without there being one iota of measurable benefit to the planet? Well, it actually claims that only the electrified portion runs on 100% wind. Many of the numerous smaller and older wind farms in the Netherlands consist of much smaller turbines compared to those typically deployed today. Switch them back on by degrees. For offshore wind a new system of tendering is under development. But if youre reading this and thinking How can trains run on electricity?, fear not. And meanwhile the Netherlands electrified railways continue to be powered dominantly by fossil fuel electricity. So technically, the government is not paying for the FITs.. 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. Established 1983. 22 May 2018. http://www.euanmearns.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/interconnectors.png. What is SDE? What is clear is that most of those electrons didnt originate from wind turbines. http://www.litgrid.eu/index.php/sistemos-duomenys/79. However, wind power consumption in the Netherlands in 2015 was 12.5TWh, indicating that about 5TWh of wind power was imported during the year. Overhead wires are best suited to tram and intercity services, whereas the more compact third rail option is preferred for underground trains. The ns also solved the issue of delayed trains by changing the defenition of delay from 3 minutes to 5 minutes. 1995 - 2023 by Snopes Media Group Inc. (CONTINUED), London Underground trains use two conductor rails to manage their electricity needs (Image courtesy [+] of BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images), In all cases, this regenerated electricity can be returned to the power line via the conductor rail. 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 energy comes from new wind farms in the Netherlands and surrounding countries - and it's a lot. However, this quotation, which comes from an essay written by earth scientist David Hughes, was cherry-picked and presented out of context to create a deliberately misleading version of what the author actually said. One windmill running for an hour can power one train across about 200km (120 miles). Built 1992 this nearshore wind farm had just 4 Nedwind 500 KW turbines based 1km to shore. Companies that want to claim that they run on green energy then just have to buy enough GoOs to cover their energy demand. You can't pull line between your house and a windmill and hope you have 100% power for all the time. This passage was written by David Hughes. Claims that Dutch trains running entirely on wind power are way off track. Produced at least 3 models of outputs 100, 200, 250kW. You buy green energy elsewhere to offset your fossil fuels. The Dutch Railways Company NS is the world's first railway company that gets 100% of its energy from wind energy. Stations are heated using heat exchangers, green gas or green electricity. However, everyone must have a contract to be authorized to draw energy from the grid; otherwise it would be stealing. Green energy for train, bus and station In 2017, our trains in the Netherlands became the first in the world to run for 100% on wind energy, giving travellers the option of travelling without CO2 emissions. Supply from all generators is monitored in any case, all youd have to do is add up the [17] Where the parks will come and how they will be built is still being discussed. It feels to many like progress. World-famous for their picturesque windmills, the Netherlands has always had a love affair with wind energy. Yes, they are called dwarves, or possibly hobbits. 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. The Harried Dutch commuters who are travelling on one of the most environmentally friendly rail networks in the whole of Europe, if not the world are being sold a bill of goods. Since 2015 there has been a trend towards the deployment and planning for large wind farms, both onshore and offshore, with a view to the approximate tripling wind power capacity from 2015 levels by 2023. Were these conditions to repeat themselves now, and if NSs trains were powered exclusively by wind, they would almost certainly come to a halt. Produced at least 14 models of 100. Started operation in 2001 and is developing a 6,000kW two blade downwind turbine. This has already led to a savings of 1.43 billions kilograms of C02 emissions. The new Zuidwester site at the wind farm will have just 12 turbines and a total nameplate capacity of 90 MW. According to Eneco, the power used by the carriers comes from newly built wind farms in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and Belgium. Once stored, this electricity can be sold to the main power grid, helping the city to top up peak demand, and earning the train company money in the process. (End of excerpt). See the table below for the current situation. Imports from the German grid, however, will contain about 14% wind power, although not wind power that NS has contracted for. 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/. 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, writes author Roger Andrews. That would meet approximately 75% of the countries electricity needs. Willem, forgive the pedantry, but its the second time you said it. According to DutchNews.nl, there's currently a total of 2,200 wind turbines across the country. [14] A second hand market for turbines also exists, which could grow as older turbines are replaced by larger newer ones. Illustration The US city of Philadelphia has taken regenerative braking to a new level though. Thus, all of NE has the same energy mix, i.e., there is not one mix for VT, another for NH, or one mix for the Netherlands, another for Germany. There are ~40 utilities with sharp price competition in NL. Impressively, this means their initial goal was met one whole year ahead of schedule. http://electronicdesign.com/power/google-s-renewable-energy-plan-what-it-seems, Telling fibs has become so fashionable that everyone and his train or server wants to be in on it. There is, however, a problem. I find that the electrified portion of the Dutch railway network (Nederlandse Spoorwegen, or NS) runs on grid electricity that comes dominantly from fossil fuel generation (natural gas and coal). The commercials know that the public will probably think that the commercial parties are spending out of the goodness of their hearts, to save the planet. How much of the Netherlands electricity is supplied by wind? 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. The city also gets about a third of its power from a large biomass plant. Heres a fantasy as to how Nederlandse Spoorwegen could make their claims of only using wind power a reality. Plus, it turns out that about half the electricity NS uses to power its rail system comes from outside of the Netherlands. Bolthouse Farms Sued After Smoothie With 100% Fruit Juice Tests Positive for PFAS, EPA Announces $27 Billion Fund to Help Low-Income and Disadvantaged Communities Transition to Renewable Energy, Derailed Train Cars in Ohio Were Not Labeled Hazardous, Wind Turbine Giant Proposes New York Factory That Would Create 420 Jobs and $500M in Local Investments. The story of Apple data centre in Denmark: Same thing if you got solar panels on your house. 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