The annual monitoring of the Gelderland Energieakkoord (GEA) shows that the use of renewable energy sources in the province of Gelderland is going well. However, due to a growth in energy consumption, the reduction of greenhouse gases is behind the target. The most recent data for 2018 was used in the monitoring.
Founded in 2015, the GEA is a network of more than 200 organisations from the public and private domain in the province of Gelderland who work together to achieve the climate goals. The network aims to save 1.5% in energy annually; to have 16% of energy consumption produced sustainably by 2023, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990).
However, instead of the targeted annual energy saving of 1.5% per year, 3% more energy was used in 2018 than in 2015. In 2018, the province’s energy consumption was almost 203,000 terajoules. This should have been 189,000 terajoules. The difference compares to the annual energy consumption of more than 70,000 households.
Growth in use of renewable energy sources
The use of renewable sources has increased sharply in Gelderland in recent years. The growth was achieved, among other things, by the use of solar panels on homes. Between 2016 and 2017 there was a growth of 38% and from 2017 to 2018 there was a growth of 70%.
Almost 70% of the renewable electricity is produced with wind, water and sun. Wind energy saw an increase of 21% between 2016 and 2017, while 6% growth was realised between 2017 and 2018. In absolute numbers, this means 1,703 terajoules for solar energy versus 526 terajoules for wind energy (2018). Major catch-up steps are now being made in wind energy. For example, in September this year, Windpark Deil, with 11 turbines, was opened and work is currently underway on the construction of Windpark Bijvanck.
Despite the growth in use of renewable energy, its percentage in the energy consumption is still behind target. In 2018 this was only 5.8%. If the blending of biofuels in car fuels is included, this is 7.3%.
CO2 reduction is lagging behind
The emission level of greenhouse gases in the comparative year 1990 was 23.6 megatonnes. The lion’s share consists of energy-related CO2. For the remaining, it concerns other greenhouse gases such as laughing gas and methane. In 2017, emissions in Gelderland totaled 19.7 megatonnes of CO2. Of this, 14.7 megatonnes came from energy-related sources and 5 megatonnes from other greenhouse gases. The energy-related CO2 thus appears to have decreased by about 10%. The other greenhouse gases by almost 30%.
In order to achieve the targets, energy-related CO2 emissions must decrease by almost 50% – and the other greenhouse gases by 36% – to meet the 2030 agreements. Source: Geldersenergieakoord.nl
