Newsletter March 2010
Wind shadows at sea
The Dutch government wants to create a capacity of 6000 megawatts of wind energy in the North Sea, spread over a number of farms. Are our wind farms at sea positioned in the right places? “They are at the moment,” says Arno Brand of ECN Wind Energy, “but new farms are going to ‘steal’ each other’s wind if they are built closer together.” Read more
A plea for Climate Cooperation 2.0
ECN wants to develop a formula that can combine an effective approach to climate change with traditional development aid. Economic development, the fight against poverty and climate aid are as yet seen as separate issues, according to Xander van Tilburg from Policy Studies. Read more
Tomorrow's sustainable households will consume and produce electricity
Homes are increasingly well insulated. This means that people and their appliances play an increasingly important part in the energy management of the home. In order to enable experimentation in this area, ECN has developed an Energy Pattern Generator (EPG). “This can be used to compile a detailed energy consumption profile of four types of residents; from luxury lovers to frugal freaks. It saves having to build a test home where you simulate active households,” Bart Roossien of ECN Efficiency & Infrastructure explains. Read more
Research project into affordable organic solar cells
1 January 2010 saw the start of HIFLEX, a three-year European research project that will be carried out by two companies and five knowledge institutes. The participants will be working on the joint development of technology for flexible modules of organic solar cells (Organic Photovoltaics = OPV). ECN will coordinate HIFLEX, which will be part of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) programme. Read more
Converting a tricky biofuel into green energy against the odds
So-called agricultural waste products, for instance, cause problems for virtually all gasifiers and boilers. ECN researcher Rian Visser came up with a technical adjustment to an old installation that makes it possible to break down these agro-wastes: a low temperature zone for gasification and another zone for combustion. “I wanted to prove that a small adjustment could allow an existing installation like the NARGUS to tackle tricky types of biomass too. The results have exceeded all my expectations,” says the jubilant energy technologist. Read more
Solar cells go slim-line
Improving the production of solar cells is one of the pillars of ECN’s research into energy technologies. Recently, a brand-new machine was delivered in Petten. “This is it,” says Ingrid Romijn of ECN Solar Energy, “Our MAiA XS. It may be ‘extra small’, but it can do almost anything. Just think up a solar cell concept and it will deposit the right layers for you!” Read more
ECN presents a fervent plea for funding for the long-term ICOS project
When it comes to environmental measurements, the Netherlands has a good reputation. Emissions of the greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide (CO2) have been charted pretty accurately for quite some years now. However, this good reputation is now coming under pressure, says ECN researcher Alex Vermeulen from the Biomass, Coal and Environmental Research unit. “If we cannot continue these measurements, we will lose step with European environmental research, which means the Netherlands could be out of the game very quickly.” Read more
10th International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies to be held in the Netherlands
In September 2010 the International Conference on Greenhouse Gas Control Technologies will be held in the Netherlands. According to Daan Jansen of ECN Hydrogen & Clean Fossil Fuels, this is the conference where the most important developments in the field of CO2 capture transport and storage are discussed on a global scale. Read more
