Energy transition: bring everyone on board

Energy Transition

Central theme: how to approach this energy transition, how do we take entrepreneurs and citizens along in saying goodbye to natural gas and oil? The answer cannot be given in this half-hour session either, but again the focus on one project makes the matter more concrete. 'In 2018, the municipality of Venlo, like all other municipalities in the Netherlands, was given the task of formulating a vision for the heat transition,' Linda looks back. 'Venlo decided to look more broadly. Not just energy. After all, it is also about materials you need for insulation of homes, for example. About greening against heat stress, about adapting to climate change. That requires an integral approach with lots of parties.'

Listen

Including citizens, Lieke emphasizes. 'That starts with talking and listening. At the time, we zoomed in on one neighborhood: Hagerhof-Oost. The objective: to disconnect this neighborhood from natural gas. We held information evenings and mainly asked residents for their opinions and input. When you do that, it turns out that citizens are very eager to participate and have excellent ideas. We are now a few years down the road and, to be fair, the neighborhood is still far from being gas-free. But steps have been taken, plans can be made. Another example: the Green Deal of Venlo entrepreneurs. Together they are developing plans to make business parks more sustainable. The government facilitates, the entrepreneurs work on concrete solutions. There is also a good project in Belfeld, where residents are working together to draw up a climate agreement for their own neighborhood.

Bottleneck

So working together on a regional and local level, is the message. Like in Almere where a trial is in the pipeline with energy sharing from solar panels. Unfortunately there is a delay, reports Linda. Jacques Mikx, former LIOF manager and now an independent consultant in the field of sustainability, knows why. 'The government is the bottleneck,' he sounds fierce when given space by moderator Lex Uiting. 'National laws and regulations lag behind, zoning changes take years. In Hoevelaken we were going to heat 16 homes with energy from green hydrogen. This is not allowed, there are no clear rules. Furthermore, there is a lack of people and materials to make the energy transition in time. We must accelerate.

Farmers

Linda nods. 'The government needs to move with us,' she acknowledges. 'There are so many opportunities and possibilities. Like farmers switching to producing wood or sustainable insulation materials like elephant grass, hemp or flax. There is a lot of need for that. Let's look broadly, integrally.'
Even the mood threatened to turn toward pessimism. 'With this transition to renewable energy and circular materials, it's not going to work,' sounds from the back of the room. Linda protests. 'A lot is happening. Many organizations and entrepreneurs are working on it. There are subsidy opportunities, there is expertise, business is scaling up. We have to do it together.'

Getting Started

Does anyone have a nice bouncer, Lex Uiting asks as drinks and buffet beckon outside. Lieke kicks it in: "Start the conversation, get going. In your own environment. That works, for sure.'
 

Learn more

-   More info on sustainable insulation
-   More info on the Green Deal
-   More info on natural gas-free neighborhoods.