Recently, I have visited two very different places: one celebrating the old and another embracing the new in applications of harnessing renewable energy.
Wind Power: an age old tradition
Windmills have been in The Netherlands for hundreds of years and are a hallmark of Dutch ingenuity in harnessing natural energy to drain out excess water in low-lying areas. I visited the collection of 19 mills in Kinderdijk, hosted by Peter Robertson, Associate at De Baak for special guest in town Yuwei Shi, Dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at Monterey Institute of International Studies.
Windmills at Kinderdijk
From a distance, the swinging blades (made from a wooden frame with an optional sailcloth to control wind speed) are leisurely rotating, creating very relaxing picturesque countryside scenery. However, up close, the full power of the towering blades can be felt as they swoop past you and the heavy swish makes you gauge the full potential of mother nature. Operating a windmill is no easy feat – professionals need to be trained and obtain licenses to do so. The full extent of complexity in operating a windmill can be fully appreciated from the lens of a visitor: from the precision of controlling the speed and throttle of the blades given the current climate conditions to the potential danger and exertion in locking or covering the long blades with sailcloth. Things can also easily go wrong too – from lightening strikes to an exceptionally heavy force having the potential to sieze off the entire frame and top structure of a windmill – and so a windmill operator need to understand and be competent in handling any situation.
Learning about the windmill system has created an appreciation of how smart methodologies from hundred of years before do not necessarily have to be extinct and driven out by new technologies if the system still works.
Solar Power in its modernity
Another event I attended in the same week also harnesses one of the earth’s primary energy providers: the sun. The Solar Solutions fair celebrates the cutting edge modern technology of the latest solar panels and their applications. Over 70 exhibitors were present in the two day fair displaying all sorts of solar panels and equipment for sale. Having talked to a number of exhibitors who have attended other fairs in recent years, the general feedback was that this one was quite a large scale fair compared to previous ones in other locations.
Most exhibitors are either well established firms or sales distributors but there are a few interesting applications. Firstly, Energytracker.nl is a newly launched database of energy projects (in addition to solar) under development in The Netherlands. They have a number of staff with backgrounds in journalism working full time to track all developments to provide a database of energy projects across the country.
Among the many similar “traditional” solar panel applications, a fun, interactive highlight of the fair was EVC Heemskerk, a full range of solar powered transport options including bicycles, skateboards, foldable tricycles and the solo wheel – a segway-like disc you can stand on, complete with a handle attached to pick up and take with you when it has exhausted its 16km travel range per charge. Currently a two year venture with a single store in The Netherlands, the EVC Heemskerk products were clearly popular with the crowd at the solar fair given the large bicycle culture here.
The solo wheel in action
One of the many products by EVC Heemskerk
The Old and the New
It is refreshing to see full appreciation for both old and new in renewable energies. A plethora of lessons can be drawn from both and it is valuable to remember that in our quest for the new, not to forget that sometimes both can exist at the same time.
