The latest news from ECN

Issue 1 - March 2015

CEO Paul Korting looks back on 2014 and looks ahead

Sustainable energy in the chemical industry

Research into air quality on A9 motorway

Stakeholders see opportunities for higher-profile ECN

• Visit ECN at the EWEA OFFSHORE on 10-12 March, world's largest offshore wind energy conference and exhibition.

• At the final conference on 18 and 19 March ECN will be presenting the results of the EDGaR gas research programme. One of these results is the process of converting biomass in green plastics.

• On 22 and 23 April ECN is attending the Materials event with a stand and a presentation on application-specific, accelerated corrosion testing.

• This spring, we will be discussing the latest insights in the field of solar energy at two international conferences:
- Silicon PV in Konstanz, from 23 to 25 March
- SNEC 2015 in Shanghai, from 27 to 29 April

• Save the date: open day at ECN in Petten on 13 June 2015.

What climate are the EU and the US moving towards?

During the World Economic Forum at the end of January, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on the European Commission to be more open about the free-trade agreement between the EU and the US. Rightly so, believes Donald Pols. He works at ECN as a climate policy researcher. Pols is also of the opinion that there should be greater openness about the possible consequences of the free-trade agreement. “Only then can we make carefully considered decisions about the desirability of this agreement for the economic stability of both these powers.”
Read more

New heat pump for paper industry

ECN and Bronswerk are working together on a new and innovative heat pump for paper factories. A notable feature is the high level of residual heat in the pump which can easily be recycled in the production process. This will lead to significant energy savings. The heat pump has been conceived and developed by ECN, while Bronswerk is responsible for its further development and for preparing it for the market.

Reliable simulation of windfarms
at sea

Wind energy is clean and sustainable. Unsurprisingly, ECN is pleased to be carrying out research into how it can be generated efficiently. We received help in this from Benjamin Sanderse, a former PhD student at ECN and Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (CWI). In his thesis, he devised an advanced method for accurately simulating air flows in windfarms at sea, for which he received the Stieltjes Prize on 12 December 2014. As far as ECN is concerned, the award was fully deserved.
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Emission-friendly fertilization

In 2017 all liquid manure will have to be injected. This is in order to reduce ammonia emissions. Slootsmid Mesttechniek from Laren is working on the triple spray technique, an innovative alternative that limits emissions and protects the soil. ECN is measuring the reduction in ammonia achieved by the prototype.
Read more

Gas-fuelled power stations in a flexible energy system

The depressed gas power stations in the Netherlands, many of which are currently not or hardly operating, could be profitable assets for electricity producers within ten years. This has been predicted by ECN in an online article on Energeia.nl.

Read the article

Biomass is unavoidable

Supporters and opponents are discussing the usage of biomass. However, the question isn’t whether biomass will be used, but in what way it will be used, according to Marc Londo and Mark Overwijk.

Read their article published in the Dutch newspaper Het Parool.

We document our latest insights in research reports and presentations. We have compiled a 'Must Read' list of the top three publications for you.

The state of renewable energies in Europe
Impact of the Energy Efficiency Measures on Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction
Energiebesparingspotentieel Dienstensector gasverbruik (in Dutch)

More information?

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This newsletter is published by ECN for its relations. Copying of articles or parts thereof is allowed provided that the source is mentioned.