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Sustainable energy is the future. The city of Amsterdam has the ambition to provide every citizen with a solar panel in the next years. How do you contribute? Share your innovative initiatives on energy here.
Research Calling!
The Citizen Data Lab and Medialab Amsterdam - affiliated with the HvA - are working on collecting data on green energy usage in Amsterdam, to be able to empower citizens involved in the green energy transition.
Please take 10 minutes of your time to talk to our friendly chatbot, Magnetron, and contribute towards the greater good!
https://www.greenamsterdam.nl/survey/
Solar and wind energy yes! But don't forget the sustainable warm and cold water network
Last week I wrote about the Energy Roadmap for Amsterdam (http://smartcityhub.com/energy/the-forthcoming-energy-revolution-in-amsterdam/). The extension of the warm and cold water network received a lot of attention, but the target - at least 75 km new underground pipes every year - is quite a challenge. A masterplan for all future digging into the ground is necessary. In my newest blogpost I dig into the need for renewable district energy. By the way, a Dutch version can be found here: https://wp.me/p32hqY-1Ev
Pitch KAROLIEN at Zoku ~ 29 maart 19-21 hr
Kom jij op 29 maart KAROLIEN ondersteunen?
KAROLIEN is een innovatieve en uitbreiding voor KAREL Moving Arts Project heeft KAREL ontwikkeld. KAREL staat voor KAR voor Elektriciteit op Locatie en geniet inmiddels bekendheid in de stad als duurzaam alternatief voor evenementen in de stad.
Wil je KAROLIEN leren kennen en haar ondersteunen?
Kom donderdag 29 maart naar de Boiling Pitch Night | ZOKU ~ Weesperstraat 105, Amsterdam, 19:00 - 21.00 hr
Er zijn 4 Pitches ~> Alle aanwezigen kunnen stemmen, daaruit volgt de Winnaar
Kosten 10,-. Hiervoor krig je een lekker bakkie soep+brood en dit geld gaat naar de winnaar.
Ticket kopen kan via https://www.eventbrite.nl/e/tickets-boiling-amsterdam-maart-2018-43470670947
Meer info: Boiling Amsterdam
KAREL krijgt een zusje: KAROLIEN
Kom jij op 29 maart KAROLIEN ondersteunen?
KAROLIEN is een innovatieve en uitbreiding voor KAREL Moving Arts Project heeft KAREL ontwikkeld. KAREL staat voor KAR voor Elektriciteit op Locatie en geniet inmiddels bekendheid in de stad als duurzaam alternatief voor evenementen in de stad.
In de bijlage een tipje van de sluier over KAROLIEN.
HOE kan je KAROLIEN ondersteunen?
Kom donderdag 29 maart naar Boiling Pitch Night | ZOKU ~ Weesperstraat 105, Amsterdam, 19:00 - 21.00 hr
Er zijn 4 Pitches ~> Alle aanwezigen kunnen stemmen, daaruit volgt de Winnaar
Kosten 10,-. Hiervoor krig je een diner en dit geld gaat naar de winnaar.
Ticket kopen kan via Boiling Amsterdam
Meer info: Facebook KAREL
We hopen je te zien op 29 maart
Alvast hartelijke dank
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Yesterday evening the Energy Transition Roadmap has been presented. See the headlines below
As you can read in the message of Ruby below, yesterday evening the Energy Transition Roadmap has been presented by professor Andy van den Dobbelsteen. In my newest post (the work of one night) you will become acquainted with the main direction at the map. In addition I summarise some project that are already running which are representative for the changes ahead.
Local elections: how to get rid of natural gas? Part 1
Amsterdam wil in 2050 helemaal onafhankelijk zijn van aardgas. Dit is een grote ambitie. Wat vinden lokale politici de belangrijkste maatregelen die we moeten nemen om dit te realiseren?
De gemeenteraadsverkiezingen komen eraan! Op 21 maart, kunnen we weer stemmen voor onze lokale vertegenwoordiging. Amsterdam Smart City vraagt politici wat zij vinden van belangrijke onderwerpen als data, veiligheid en de energietransitie.
Amsterdam wants to get rid of natural gas in 2050. What are the most important decisions we have to take to make this ambition a reality, according to local politicians?
Local elections coming up! On the 21st of March, we can vote for our local government again. In three videos, Amsterdam Smart City asks politicians from the Amsterdam city council about their views on important topics. Videos in Dutch.
The meaning of the Paris Agreement for cities like Amsterdam
The world biggest cities, Amsterdam among them, founded the Climate Leadership Group (C40). C40 has made visible the policy implications for cities like Amsterdam in order to comply with the Paris Agreement in three detailed reports. I accentuate the necessity of taking note, because the reduction of global warming is one of the core objectives of being smart. I made a short summary of the reports, using their most appealing tables and graphs, which you will find below.
Turn waste to Energy
Cogen Consult Design the Self Gen gas Electric Gen power Plant with 85% Thermal Efficiecny, prodcue 40% Electric Power, 1 Ton/hr Steam, or 250 Ref Ton/Hr Air Conditioning from 1000 KWe gas Gen, CoGen Consult have designed and installed 1000 Gas gen all over Pakistan since 1980.
City-zen Virtual Power Plant wins the Green Digital Charter Award 2017
The Amsterdam Virtual Power Plant, in which some 50 households jointly trade the energy from their home batteries, was awarded the Green Digital Charter Award 2017 by Eurocities during the 'Imagine the Urban Future: Innovation Collaboration and Trust' conference in Brussels on 23 January.
Since the summer of 2017, the solar energy that is not used immediately, is stored in a battery at home. This energy can be used at another time, or can be traded if the energy price is high. Conversely, energy can also be purchased and stored if the price is low. Finally, the batteries can be used to balance the local electricity grid. The Virtual Power Plant is part of the City-zen project and is initiated by Alliander, EXE and Greenspread.
Watch the Video City-zen Virtual Power Plant
M*ore information* https://amsterdamsmartcity.com/city-zen
A project that shows the way
The jury praises the project because it puts residents at the heart of ICT innovation, and offers them the technology to contribute to the green goals of the city. In addition, the jury believes that the project deserves to be followed, especially because they see few obstacles for other European cities in order to stimulate the production of solar energy by residents. Jan-Willem Eising of Alliander: ‘I am proud that in Virtual Power Plant we are actively working together with all project partners and local residents to actually realize the energy system of the future in Amsterdam Nieuw West.’
Bristol and Dublin were also nominated
In addition to Amsterdam, the Replicate from Bristol and iSCAPE projects from Dublin were also nominated. In Bristol, peak energy consumption is reduced by equipping 150 houses with an energy management system and smart household appliances. In Dublin the city is landscaped green, sensors are installed and citizens are stimulated to change their behavior to decrease local air pollution in a smart way.
What is the Green Digital Charter?
The Green Digital Charter was launched in 2009 by Eurocities in collaboration with Manchester and Clicks & Links. The Charter is supported by the European Commission and signed by 50 cities from 21 European countries, including Amsterdam. These cities indicate that they want to achieve the EU climate goals with innovative digital solutions. The cities share best practices and results with each other, build local partnerships and ensure that digital innovation becomes part of urban policy. Above all, every city aims to start 5 large-scale and replicable ICT projects within 5 years of signing and reduce the Carbon Footprint of the urban ICT sector by 30%.
What has happened in Amsterdam so far?
One of the large-scale initiatives launched in Amsterdam is City-zen, a European-funded project in which 25 partners find out in practice how the cities of Amsterdam and Grenoble can drastically reduce the use of fossil energy in the built environment. In addition to the Virtual Power Plant, homes are being renovated to reduce its’ energy use, cold is being extracted from a drinking water pipeline and river cruise ships are supplied with local green energy.
Digital innovation is a focal point of the municipality and many other parties in Amsterdam and one of the reasons why Amsterdam was named iCapital of Europe in 2016-2017. The municipality has now started a CTO office, to get technology in the capillaries of its own organization. The cooperation of parties in Amsterdam Smart City focuses on realizing concrete innovations in the city. In Green IT people work on innovations to make the ICT sector more sustainable.This knowledge is shared with other cities through various Eurocities meetings around this theme. Amsterdam also participates in the smart city technical experts group.
Reducing the emissions of the ICT sector in Amsterdam is not yet a fait accompli. The capacity of the Amsterdam data centers grew by 30% last year, and is now the second hub in Europe. A covenant was signed in 2013 to reduce 15% energy consumption.
In 2016, Amsterdam was runner up for the Green Digital Charters Award, then with the project Open Data – Smart Neighbourhoods.
Tesla Battery outsmarts big coal unit in South Australia
Let’s get our act together in the Netherlands before a power outage paralyses our economy where data centres becoming more and more vital.
European Commission publishes new subsidy calls on energy and smart cities
The EU subsidizes innovations in the Horizon 2020 programme. Recently, new calls for the period 2018-2020 were published.
Topics vary from research and education in energy transition to consumer pull for a new energy market, from CO2-conversion to modelling and social aspects of the energy transition.
Find the topic that interests you by scrolling the EU Horizon 2020 participant portal via the link below.
Expect at least 6 months of preparation time for an EU-innovation project that can face the fierce competition for subsidy. Projects generally consist of more than 10 partners from at least 3 European Member States, and have a budget of 5-30 million Euro, depending on the call. Please make sure you read the whole call text before thinking of applying. And newcomers are strongly advised to join a consortium of experienced Horizon 2020 partners to make a good chance.
Recap: Smart Energy Infrastructure
Can you power a concert with car batteries? And how does blockchain technology enable energy sharing amongst neighbours? On the 30th of November, the last Smart City, Smart Data session took place at the DataLab Amsterdam. This time we focused on the potential of Smart Energy grids, storage and the role of data in this. Read the full review here.
Tom van Arman moderated the session last Thursday. He is the founder of Tapp, an app development company, and knows all about exchanging energy profession, as well as from experience with the battery he has in his own home. As an introduction, the Smart City, Smart Data session first shed a light on what DataLab and Amsterdam Smart City are doing for the city of Amsterdam.
Green IT
As this event was held during the GreenIT week, Julie Chenadec spoke about the potential of Amsterdam to increase efficiency in its current tech infrastructure. GreenIT Amsterdam elaborated on their search for a sustainable datacentre; finding the ideal spot where heat produced by these centres can be transferred to houses connected to the public heat grid. “Through the Energy Atlas visualisation, untapped energy transfer opportunities are discovered”.
Amsterdam Innovation Arena
Henk van Raan represented the Amsterdam ArenA, partner of Amsterdam Smart City. The Amsterdam ArenA always wants to innovate, and since a couple of years they focus mainly on three themes: fan experience, mobility and energy, Henk said.
Focusing on the Energy topic, Henk explained that the Amsterdam ArenA plans to build a big battery that can supply power for the ArenA and neighbouring venues during events. This way, the energy taken from the grid will be reduced. The batteries will be charged throughout the week by solar panels and small wind mills on the roof. These batteries can increase the reliability of power and “shave” the peaks during times of high energy consumption, meaning that less power has to be drawn directly from the grid. The surrounding neighbourhood is involved in the development of the area, and can share the energy amongst each other. But there’s more to this Smart Grid.
Energy, Mobility and Customer Experience all come together with the idea of Vehicle 2 Grid in the Amsterdam ArenA. The idea is simple: people drive their electric vehicle to the ArenA, discharge their car batteries (only a small amount) in exchange for free parking (or another form of compensation) and drive off after the event knowing they have provided the energy to e.g. power the microphone during a U2 concert, or the stadium lights during an Ajax match. This creates a unique fan experience as all the visitors together make the event possible using their own assets.
Alliander DGO
Jeroen Wijnen and Joanne de Vink represented Alliander DGO (Sustainable Area Development). They have been working on a project called HEAT. HEAT gives local stakeholders the opportunity to co-design and develop an open heat grid. Therefore it uses 3D modelling and gamification to make the often complex decision processes go smoother. In essence, HEAT combines different open data sets and uses financial and technical models to calculate how different decisions affect stakeholders in real-time, providing an immediate and clear understanding of collective goals and interests, funding, and the sustainability of the design. Curious to know more? Checktheir website here.
Spectral
Our last presenter from Spectral informed us on the application of blockchain to smart energy. Several examples of Spectral’s smart energy implementations were provided including Blijburg, a beach café-restaurant that now uses Spectral’s systems to optimize their energy efficiency and maximise savings through a custom-built battery with energy management system and advanced VRV heat exchange system, and Schoonship, an upcoming sustainable, floating neighbourhood in Buiksloterham where Spectral are responsible for smart-grid infrastructure, energy storage, and renewable energy systems. Spectral also presented the Jouliette: the blockchain-based energy token that allows for peer-to-peer energy trading. The first implementation of the Jouliette is at the Ceuvel, where it is used to exchange renewable energy between neighbours using blockchain as a distributed ledger for the microgrid. There are plans to expand the Jouliette into other intra-community services (such as car-sharing and biological waste management) and beyond the Ceuvel and into further implementations at locations across Amsterdam Noord. Check out more of Spectral’s projects on their webpage.
Do you want to be part of this movement or have inspiring ideas for a better future join the community on www.amsterdamsmartcity.com
As this was our last DataLab session this year, we want to thank all speakers, co-organizers and attendees of these sessions and hope to be inspiring you next year with similar events! Also, a big shout out to DataLab for having us! Keep an eye out on our events page, we hope to see you soon.
Wishing you well,
The Amsterdam Smart City Team
Another Set of Smart City Innovations to Kick-start a Healthful Future
UN predictions indicate that in 2050, the demographics of urban areas will be fairly equal to the total population of the world in 2002. With constant development of the cities, economic, social and creative opportunities increase which forms the major attraction for the inflow of population.
As per the estimates from McKinsey, the top 600 cities in the world will account for 60% GDP by 2025. In no time, the smart city industry will be a $400 billion market by 2020. But the fact still remains that urbanisation comes hand in hand with some major challenges which are faced commonly by the world’s fastest growing cities.
Smart City Innovations That Reflect Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is an integral part of a smart city. How you reduce resource consumption and how you produce resourceful innovation while you advance the city stands as the fundamental foundation for every city infrastructure.
But why talk only about energy efficiency? Well, if you have a closer look, from the sensors to the big data and vehicles to the buildings every bit of infrastructure has a link with energy. And if this energy is pulled out of exhaustive resources there wouldn’t be anything to rely on by 2050.
FLEXCON 2017: Energy efficiency - 20 & 21 november Amsterdam
Dear ASC members, here a last update on FLEXCON 2017, 20 & 21 november in Pakhuis de Zwijger.
Welcome EEBus!
The best conference in Europe on Flexible Energy became even more complete: EEBus has joined as a partner. EEBus develops a standardized and common language for the interoperability of connected devices in means of energy efficiency: think smart heating, electric vehicles, smart home systems etc.
EEBus will host a presentation on vision and strategy in smart home & energy efficient buildings. And together with BAM and KEO, they will host a workshop on an EEBus implementation in a renovation project.
Secure your ticket
Tickets go fast, we expect to sell out the coming days. Tickets are available for 2 days (€ 60,50) or 1 day (€ 36,30). This is including lunch and VAT. Secure your ticket now if you haven’t done so yet!
FLEXCON TRACKS
To serve you in the best possible way, we have set up a couple of suggested tracks:
Connected World, Smart Home and Energy Efficient Building.
Flexible Energy 5 protocols workshops.
Electric Vehicles and Smart Storage & Smart Charging.
Flexible Energy tech workshops.
Crypto and Blockchain track.
Market, Policy & Strategy on Energy Flexibility.
Learn how you can develop Smart Energy services on https://flexcon2017.eu/tracks/
Flexible regards, Adriaan van Eck and Alexander Krstulovic.
AEB and Port of Amsterdam supply sustainable ship-to-shore power to vessels in Amsterdam
AEB Amsterdam, Port of Amsterdam, Senfal and Energy eXchange Enablers will jointly supply ship-to-shore power to river cruise and inland navigation vessels. The pilot project is intended to promote the use of sustainable, locally generated power in the port and to reduce costs.
The participation of AEB Amsterdam is an important step for the ship-to-shore power project, as it means that a producer of sustainable energy is directly involved in the pilot project. This mirrors the port’s ambitions: to supply locally generated sustainable electricity to customers in the port.
Information from Port of Amsterdam on the use of berths and arrival times for vessels based on self-learning software, developed by the company Senfal, is linked to a digital market place for electricity. Entrnce, as this trading platform from Energy eXchange Enablers (EXE) is called, provides a direct link between the producer of electricity and the customer.
Shore power stations make it possible for river cruise and inland navigation vessels to switch off their diesel generators at the quay. They will use the sustainable power grid, meaning no emissions are released at the site concerned. The pilot project will increase the use of sustainable power in the port, allow costs to be reduced, and also provide improved matching of fluctuations in sustainable energy supply and demand.
AEB Amsterdam is the largest supplier of sustainable energy in the Amsterdam region. “We are able to optimise supply because we produce both electricity and heat,” says the strategic adviser Peter Simoës. “Whenever there is a peak in demand for sustainable electricity, we can increase production slightly by temporarily supplying less heat to our buffer, and vice versa. This cushion makes better matching of supply and demand possible and offers scope for supplying more solar or wind energy to the port, for instance.”
Robin Schipper, commercial manager Circular & Renewable Industry at Port of Amsterdam: “This pilot project provides us with very significant insights for preparing our port for the energy market of the future. In the future, you want to be able to source local sustainable energy even if there is no wind or the sun is not shining. A range of smart applications is used in this pilot project that will reduce costs for the businesses in the port area. We are aiming for green for the price of grey!”
Ambitions
The transition to more sustainable and local sources requires new market models. This pilot project, launched on the basis of the Clean Capital alliance and partly funded by the European demonstration project City-zen, is a good example of this kind of market model; locally generated energy is used locally without the interposition of a traditional electricity supplier. In tandem with innovative parties such as Senfal and EXE, it is possible to make the transition to the smart and sustainable energy network of the future.
Port of Amsterdam wants to link a wind farm and solar panels directly to users as well in the near term. The EXE trading platform also offers small producers an opportunity to enter the market and optimise trading between them. The software from Senfal is able to match electricity supply and demand, creating a single system. This steps up the innovation and sustainability of the pilot project even further to provide a genuine example of a local sustainable energy network.
LENS nominated for DAM award
LENS, developer of Herman the power distributor, Herman de zonnestroomverdeler is nominated for the DAM award! You can vote for us here: https://www.amsterdam.nl/damprijs/
The award is for a small company ("MKB") in Amsterdam that is sustainable both with it's product as with the way it works.
LENS is currently working on a smart grid solution with our Herman. For more information see http://lens-energie.nl/smart-grid/
The Road to Barcelona - The Interviews Part 4: Lightwell
From ideas in a barn to Dutch design lampposts. One of the companies that will be part of the Amsterdam delegation at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona, is Lightwell. They also joined us last year! Why do they like to go again? And most importantly, who are they? We spoke to managing director Peter Paul Metz and asked him about the company.
How has Lightwell started off?
Peter Paul: ‘Lightwell started literally in a barn in a garden in Amsterdam in 2009. At that time, LED technology was rather new. Most of the public lighting was not sustainable at all. It was all old technology. Three men started Lightwell to change this. The second step for Lightwell was the collaboration with the Dutch Design School. Together with architect Friso Kramer we developed a sustainable, design lamppost full of the newest technology.’
And since then? How have you developed?
Lightwell doesn’t focus on being more sustainable only. Sustainability is a global trend and LED lighting is getting more ordinary. What is unique about us, is our ability to integrate our sustainable product with smart infrastructure. We call this Lightmotion. Our lampposts have the sustainable LED lighting and can also charge electric cars, have camera surveillance and Wi-Fi. It can also be a hub with smart sensors to measure the environment. This Lightmotion is an interesting product in the smart city. In a while, we would love to see 10 percent of the lampposts being multifunctional devices. Every location has other needs, so our lamppost can adapt to this. In one place, sensors are desired and on busier spots it could be interesting for the lamppost to be a car charger. Within a few years we got a lot of certifications, which is an important step in our development.
Why do you think it is important to join the Smart City Expo in Barcelona?
There are a lot of events in the world, but we cannot miss the Expo in Barcelona. We have to be there! It is the place where we can meet other cities and companies. Last year at the Expo, there was a lot of interest in our products, but we could not show the Lightmotion yet. This year, we don’t only have a good story, we also have examples of orders. In the Netherlands, we just sold 10 Lightmotions, lampposts that charge cars, and 10 Bikemotions, lampposts that charge electric bikes.
Want to more about Lightwell or do you have a question for Peter Paul?
Drop a comment below!
Flexible Energy: Over 45 talks and workshops on FLEXCON 2017.
We have now over 45 talks and workshops registered. Sneak preview:
- Blockchain & energy beyond the hype – PwC Berlin
- Energy Flexible Buildings – TU Eindhoven
- Workshop Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) Smart Charging
See the full program: https://flexcon2017.eu/program/
30+ SPEAKERS AND HOSTS
Over 30 professionals to give insights in Smart Energy and the tools and platforms that get you there. To name a few:
- Philippa Hardy – Delta EE United Kingdom
- Rolf Bienert – OpenADR USA
- Frauke Thies – Smart Energy Demand Coalition EU
Check the current list on https://flexcon2017.eu/program/#flexconspeakers
25+ PARTNERS
Corporates, governmentals, entrepreneurs, startups, innovators….
Check the full list: https://flexcon2017.eu/#flexconpartners
100 TICKETS LEFT
Secure one of the 100 tickets that are left and join 300 Smart Energy professionals, executives, product managers and developers
Check our website: https://flexcon2017.eu/
Innovations In Smart Water Technology To Fight The Global Water Crisis
The global water crisis is a soaring issue calling for a holistic approach inclusive of wise investments, innovation in technology, change in behaviour and collaborative policies. The growing water concern needs immediate attention as United Nation’s global analysis confirm that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be residing in countries facing critical water scarcity and by then two-third of the world’s population will have minimal access to water.
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