A new government campaign calls on everyone to install LED lighting and properly insulate the house with, for example, radiator foil. According to Minister Rob Jetten (Climate and Energy), it remains important that everyone saves energy, even now that the energy crisis seems to have passed its peak.
Last year, Dutch households used a quarter less gas than the year before. The main cause was the often sky-high energy price. In addition, the government called on everyone in the ‘Turn the switch’ campaign not to set the thermostat higher than 19 degrees during the day and not to shower for longer than 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, energy prices have fallen sharply. Nevertheless, a new campaign will start in mid-May to convince citizens that they should continue to use energy sparingly. According to Jetten, we don’t have to worry immediately about a gas shortage next winter. Stocks are still reasonably full and we are starting to replenish earlier than last year. “Only Europe was then able to fill its stocks with Russian gas that came here via pipelines. That is no longer the case”, warns Jetten.
LNG
That gap is now mainly filled by liquefied gas (LNG) that we purchase from other countries, such as the United States. The Netherlands is also expanding capacity to unload more LNG tankers. This already happened last year in Groningen’s Eemshaven. Initially, Gasunie also wanted to build an extra terminal in Terneuzen, but that plan turned out to be unfeasible. The plan is now to expand the capacity on the Maasvlakte in Rotterdam.
Nevertheless, it remains important that we continue to use energy sparingly to prevent problems, says Jetten. LNG import alone will not get us there, he says. “But we don’t have to lower the thermostat or take shorter showers. The new campaign will point out to people that they can save a lot of energy with simple means.” For example, an LED lamp can be up to half more efficient than the energy-saving lamps that many people still use.
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