Essent is enthusiastic about Dutch government plans
Essent, 03 July 2009 - Essent is enthusiastic about the steps that the Dutch government is taking along the path to sustainable mobility. By making 65 million euros available, the government is starting down the same route that Essent took a year ago June. That is when the energy company and its partners first announced plans to make electric transport possible in the Netherlands.
"The step that the government is now taking will support our plans for electric transport and is coming at the right time," explains Alexandra van Huffelen, Director of New Energy at Essent. "We started the ball rolling last year in June and it continues to pick up speed. The government is now giving a necessary boost by introducing concrete measures to stimulate such developments as the acquisition of electric vehicles and charging stations."
To accelerate the development of electric transport, the supply of affordable and attractive electric vehicles must be encouraged. In addition to research and pilot projects, Essent is actively negotiating with other parties to set up a purchasing consortium to convince carmakers to manufacture electric cars in larger series. "By making such vehicles run on green power, they will operate emission-free and contribute to sustainable mobility in the Netherlands," states van Huffelen. “It is therefore important to increase production capacities for sustainable energy."
Various initiatives
After announcing its plans in June of last year, Essent proceeded to launch a number of initiatives. It enabled its employees to experience electric transport by making electric scooters and motor pool vehicles available for commuting, 100 electric cars being made available at short notice. It also conducted a public campaign to instigate general discussion of electric transport.
In March of this year, Essent and its partners launched a large-scale pilot project for electric transport in the City of Den Bosch. Essent is also conducting ongoing talks with governmental authorities (including the City of Amsterdam) and the business community about initiating other similar pilots. "By sharing the experiences accumulated in our pilot projects and involving governments, businesses and residents, we are keeping up to speed in electric transport," notes van Huffelen.
Facts about electric transport
- No CO2 or fine particle emissions, no stench and nearly no noise; use of sustainably generated energy (green power) will make driving completely emission free.
- Electric-powered mobility is as much as 2 to 3 times more efficient in terms of energy use than any other alternative fuel, such as diesel, natural gas, biofuel or hydrogen.
- Sustainable energy production from wind and sun are relatively unpredictable. Car batteries can provide storage capacity for sustainable energy, enabling the deployment of these sustainable energy sources to be expanded.
- Electric transport will make society less dependent on oil and gas.
- The battery can be charged by simply plugging the vehicle into a standard wall socket any time that it is not being used (most cars are idle 90% of the time).
- Sustainable mobility will contribute to economic growth and employment opportunities (the Netherlands can become active in designing and manufacturing electric cars).
Published: 06 July 2009