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How do we get neighbourhoods off natural gas?

Since the Paris Agreement in 2015, the Netherlands has not been idle in terms of energy transition. The goal is to limit global warming to no more than 2 degrees celcius. In 2019, over 75 parties agreed in the National Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 49% by 2030 and 95% by 2050. The task is divided between the Industry, Transport, Agriculture, Electricity and Built Environment sectors.

Assignment to municipalities

Heat demand in the built environment accounts for 13% of our totalCO2 emissions. Municipalities have been given the reins in the massive conversion of the built environment. This involves making 1.5 million homes more sustainable by 2030 and reducing natural gas use to zero by 2050.

For a municipality like Apeldoorn, this task means a sustainable solution for over 71,000 homes and 9,200 shops, schools and other buildings, for cooking, space heating and hot tap water.

Route for municipalities

By 2021, all 352 municipalities must adopt a Heat Transition Vision setting out how they will shape this in the coming decades. This vision provides insight into technical possibilities, planning and prioritisation and about the role of the municipality and its partners. Participation of residents is an integral part of all energy transition processes.

The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has prepared a baseline analysis for all 16,000 neighbourhoods in the Netherlands using the Vesta MAIS model. This contains a techno-economic comparison of five natural gas-free strategies with 20 variants. Apeldoorn enriched this starting analysis with its own information on ponds as a source for aquathermy and with a comprehensive inventory of waste heat sources.

Theo van Es is Senior Advisor Energy Transition at the Municipality of Apeldoorn and is heavily involved in the development of the Heat Transition Vision. He is also working on natural gas-free projects in four Districts of the Future. These neighbourhoods are pilot projects.

Solutions for Apeldoorn

Theo talks about the process of arriving at a Transition Vision Heat and the subsequent elaboration in Neighbourhood Implementation Plans. The current and future availability of heat sources and the technical possibilities to use them efficiently are crucial ingredients here. Affordability and the acceptance of solutions by residents and building owners are crucial.

The solutions chosen for Apeldoorn's 95 neighbourhoods will affect the required capacity of the electricity network, the desirability of maintaining the gas network and the possible need for additional wind turbines and solar farms to provide electricity to heat pumps.

It may take another five to 30 years before the natural gas tap is actually turned off in a neighbourhood. In the intervening period, it is highly desirable if building owners already take insulation measures at natural times to prepare for natural gas-free.

As advice on this can differ from neighbourhood to neighbourhood, a broad insulation strategy is being developed for the municipality, which will be included in the Transition Vision Heat.

Participation is free of charge. Register via the KIVI website. The link for participation will be sent upon registration.

Documents