BuurtEnergie: we still have to get used to it
'BuurtEnergie' (Local energy) is not yet a term in common use among the Dutch population. It seems to be that if energy is already being supplied locally, many people are not even noticing. This is perhaps logical, because for the consumer energy is often just energy... Many people do want to get involved in sustainable initiatives and are certainly not lacking in interest, but only on the condition that it is not more expensive and the initiative is taken by companies and governments.
Some time ago, energy company Essent launched a so-called dialogue campaign on local energy solutions under the name 'BuurtEnergie'. Using a website set up specially for this purpose, everyone was able to offer his or her opinion on energy supply close to their home. The campaign propositions yielded a number of interesting responses.
Most people concurred with the first two propositions "Local energy is better" and "My neighbourhood should be using heat from companies". The third proposition, "All energy will be produced locally in 2020", yielded fewer responses and people were fairly often not in agreement with this vision of the future. What is interesting is that several people told us about their own local energy inventions in this regard.
In addition to this it holds that subjects pertaining to the environment, such as sustainable energy, are deemed relevant by the Dutch. People are interested in this subject and well informed. No less than 96% of the respondents has heard of sustainable energy.
What is striking is that, despite its topicality, most people are of the opinion that we will not be using local energy solutions in the short or medium term. Just 23% think that the chances of this are significant in the short term, as opposed to 44% in the long term. 64% even deem the chances of it happening in the short term to be slim to extremely slim, as opposed to 46% in the long term.
Conclusion
Many people are interested in taking part in initiatives. 59% can see (primarily financial) reasons for not participating. The circumspect conclusion we can draw from this research is that people need more knowledge on the subject. Moreover, it is clear that the initiatives must come from companies and governments.
By means of this campaign, Essent is aiming to acquaint people with the options that already exist now to generate energy locally. Together with local authorities, companies and housing corporations, Essent has been actively involved in local energy solutions for a long time now. Thus various neighbourhoods in the Netherlands are already being heated using biogas from cow dung from nearby farms. But a residential area can also easily be heated using the residual heat from large companies or factories in the vicinity.
Anyone wanting to know more about the options regarding local energy solutions can visit:
Published: 03 December 2009