Posted on 02/05/2017 3:07:57 PM PST by Lorianne
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). 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. Only a small fraction of the power delivered to its trains actually comes from wind.
First some details on the Netherlands’ electricity sector. As shown in the table below installed capacity is dominantly fossil fuel, with natural gas making up 61% of total installed capacity and coal 15%. Wind contributes 4,117MW, representing 13% of the capacity mix. (Data from ENTSO-E ):
chart
No details on the current generation mix are readily available, but as shown in Figure 1 gas and coal supplied around 80% of the Netherlands’ electricity between 2000 and 2013 and it’s likely that this percentage still applies.
chart
How much of the Netherlands’ electricity is supplied by wind? According to Cleantechnica wind power in the Netherlands generates 7.4 billion kWh (7.4TWh) of electricity annually, and according to BP the Netherlands’ total electricity generation in 2015 was 109.6TWh. However, wind power consumption in the Netherlands in 2015 was 12.5TWh, indicating that about 5TWh of wind power was imported during the year. So while wind contributes about 7% to the Netherlands’ electricity generation it contributes about 11% to the country’s electricity consumption. 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 Netherlands imports wind power basically because it’s falling behind its EU renewable energy targets. But how does NS know the power it imports is wind? Because Eneco, which contracts to supply NS with wind power, gets a “Guarantee of Origin” from the exporter under which the exporter confirms that the power came from wind and assigns the rights to it to NS. As Cleantechnica puts it: “the GoO system allows for the transfer of the rights to call electricity green from those who actually generate renewable energy to those who don’t but want to classify their power as such. The actual amount of green energy produced is unaffected.”
There is, however, a problem. For NS to use only wind power from wind farms to power its rail system the wind farms must be connected directly to NS’s railways. (Figure 2: Note the dotted lines showing non-electrified track. According to LJ Electrical only 2,231km of NS’s total 3,223km of track is electrified):
SNIP
They’ve got these big, huge sails mounted over the engines....
I’m sorry...I just had to do it....:^))
I saw the same “reasoning” for Google’s claim that they are going for 100% renewable power.
If one takes away the marshmallow major logic, there’s a simple way to test for the truth:
1. Is the claimant disconnected entirely from the grid and obtains all of their power from solar/wind?
If no, they are talking Dorkbama the Muslim eunuch science.
Passengers continually move throughout the train. They are provided beans in the front and stick their ass out the back door of the last car.
Slow, but green.
It sounds like the swamp Germans’ claim is run 100% on wind power.
“How much did the wind farms physical plant cost to manufacture, ship, install, and maintain which must be subtracted from the power delivered before the wind energy sector breaks even?”
The cost of manufacturing, transport, installation and maintenance much be substracted from “the power delivered” from all power generation plants, gas, coal, wind and solar.
that’s nuttin- the whole congress runs on windpower
Why is oil still called fossil fuel?
“It sounds like the swamp Germans’ claim is run 100% on wind power.”
...how much energy does it take to run a swamp in Germany, any way?
I don’t see seat belts. safety violation./s
Going Dutch?
Seat belts. A good idea to wear them.
4 thrown from car in High Desert crash [excerpt]
by Toni McAllister on February 5, 2017
“A 1999 Infinity G20 had been driven west on Palmdale Boulevard, past 130th Street East, and went off the right side of the pavement onto the dirt shoulder. The driver steered right, then left, and the car overturned on the dirt shoulder.
“The flipping car struck a wooden utility pole and came to rest on its wheels. Four people in the backseat of the car were ejected while the vehicle was overturning. All four backseat passengers — three men and a woman — were taken to a hospital with major injuries.”
http://mynewsla.com/crime/2017/02/05/palmdale-man-dead-4-thrown-from-car-in-high-desert-crash/
That goes without saying but I don't mind you saying it.
The difference is that most of the old established energy sources have already payed for themselves but for the intentional monkey wrenches thrown into them with out of control regulatory mandates.
Ships, ferries and tugs are running on LNG. (for all you anti-LNG Oregon dopey’s) For every (2) new LNG propelled vessels, trains or vehicles, one should be coal powered:)
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