Thanks to two progressive companies, sustainability will completely be redefined within the next few years for people in the Netherlands. As Global Rail News reports, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, Netherlands’ railway giant, and Eneco, a local energy supplier, have struck a deal to ensure all trains run solely on wind farm-produced energy by the year 2018.
Presently, 50% of the 2,900 km of the Dutch railway system is running on wind power, which transits 1.2 million passengers a day.
According to Michael Kerkhof, Eneco’s account manager, the government has to pay “no direct subsidies” to the project. In addition, the “wind energy costs a little more than non-sustainable energy, but the Dutch railways have managed to keep train ticket prices at par by continuously decreasing the use of energy per travelled kilometer and by closing this 10-year contract under attractive commercial conditions.”
This initiative is likely a result of Dutch citizens suing their government for not being stricter on climate change. In case you missed that news, they won. The court ordered the Dutch government to cut 25% of its carbon emissions within five years.
In order to reach the goal, however, the Netherlands will have to transition to sustainable energy sources and reduce its coal and gas consumption. According to The Plaid Zebra, the country intends on expanding its wind power by adding a 600 MW facility to its 2.7 GW capacity, which is set to be operational in 2017. By the year 2023, it plans on bringing its total capacity to 4.47 GW.
The Dutch aren’t the only progressive populace making headlines with their intention to “go green.” Earlier this year, the country of Denmark generated 140% of its energy needs in one day, with plenty to spare with neighboring countries. And France, a nation now becoming renowned for its green initiatives, banned grocery stores from purposely wasting food. That’s not all, Sweden has literally run out of garbage, and now has to import it from neighboring countries. It doesn’t seem outrageous to hypothesize that in the future, most locations will thrive on sustainably sourced energy.
Those seeking to “be the change” and reduce their carbon footprint will no doubt appreciate the Netherland’s resolution to be climate-neutral. As 1.2 million train trips are taken each day on the railway giant, this initiative will benefit the planet in more ways than one.
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