natural gas

Amsterdam's goal of reducing its CO2 emissions by 55 percent by 2030 is achievable, but will take a deal of effort, sustainability alderman Marieke van Doorninck said in a press release on Friday. The municipality plans to achieve this goal with measures like promoting solar panel and wind turbine installations, and getting homes off the natural gas network.

Most Dutch largely accept the government's decision to switch to homes that are no longer connected to the natural gas network, but don't take action themselves to achieve it, the social and cultural planning office SCP said in a report on Thursday, NOS reports.

Homeowners are particularly concerned about the affordability and effect of the measures. They are also uncertain about the government's policy in this field and lack knowledge about what will replace natural gas, the SCP said. This makes homeowners hesitant to make the switch, according to the planning office.

Illegal cannabis cultivation costs Dutch society around 200 million euros per year, through stolen electricity and missed taxes, according to the sector organization for gas and electricity network operators Netbeheer Nederland, NU.nl reports.

A criminal investigation into NAM was launched because of the leak of toxic natural gas condensate into a canal in Farmsum, Groningen, the State supervisor on mines SodM announced. A stain of natural gas condensate has been floating in the canal since Thursday, NU.nl reports.

Natural gas condensate is a byproduct of natural gas extraction. It is a very toxic substance. It leaked into the canal after a drip tray in which the condensate was collected overflowed, according to the newspaper.

The climate table led by former PvdA leader Diederik Samsom is planning large shifts in energy tax in order to get individuals, businesses and housing corporations disconnected from the natural gas network. Over the next 12 years the negotiators want energy tax on gas to increase by around 75 percent, while tax on electricity decreases by over 50 percent. This gradual energy tax shift will almost certainly be included in the Climate Agreement, sources around the climate table said to the Volkskrant. 

Gas extraction in Groningen will gradually be reduced to zero, Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced in his weekly press conference on Thursday. He called it an "important decision". Shortly after the press conference, the government released a statement saying that gas extraction in the province will be reduced to less than 12 billion cubic meters per year by 2022, and then to 7.5 million cubic meters per year. "In the years after that gas extraction will be reduced to zero."

The Dutch government gave Diederik Samsom the job of making sure that a quarter of Dutch homes are off the natural gas network by 2030, the former PvdA leader said in an interview with newspaper Trouw on Friday. That equates to around 2 million Dutch homes.

Samsom will work as an advisor and commissioner at state energy company EBN, and also as negotiator for the Dutch Climate Agreement. VVD Minister Erik Wiebes of Economic Affairs and Climate asked Samsom to be the negotiator last month, he said.

A 3.4-magnitude earthquake rattled the province of Groningen on Monday afternoon. There were no immediate damage reports of note following Monday 3 p.m. quake, which had an epicenter near Zeerijp and could be felt at least 10 kilometers away, the KNMI meteorology agency said.

Broadcaster RTV Noord said those in its Europapark, Groningen offices 20 kilometers away could also feel the ground shake.

Attorney Dennis Woudsma said on Twitter it felt as though the building he was in creaked loudly and then began violently shaking as though someone had grabbed it.

The Netherlands saw an increase in greenhouse gas emissions last year. The total greenhouse gas emissions amounted to 197 billion kilograms of CO2 equivalents, 1 percent more than in 2015, Statistics Netherlands reported on Monday based on preliminary figures.

CO2 equivalents are used to add up the effects of different greenhouse gasses, such as methane and nitrous oxide, on the environment. 1 kilogram of CO2 equivalent is equal to the effect of 1 kilogram of CO2. 

Energy consumption in the Netherlands increased by 2 percent in 2016 compared to 2015, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Friday. The use of natural gas saw the biggest increase, mostly due the colder winter than in 2015, according to the stats office.

Greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands was five percent higher in 2015 than in 2014, according to figures released by Statistics Netherlands on Monday.