Blue Energy with Climate-KIC

[vc_row el_class=”fixed-width removesec”][vc_column][vc_column_text]The 28th of September our event on Blue Energy will be held in Utrecht. We are happy to announce that we will be organising this event with Climate-KIC, in which our event will be the fourth in their SPARK Lecture series of 2017.

What is Climate-KIC?
Climate-KIC, as part of the European Institute of Technology, focuses on adapting to and mitigating climate change. They cooperate with and consist of dynamic companies, highly regarded academic institutions and the public sector.

Content
The event will be focussing on three specific topics within Blue Energy, namely:

Blue Battery by AquaBattery: Emil Goosen will enlighten us with their new technology. Successes and failures will be discussed of being a startup in the Blue Energy sector.
Osmotic power: Rene van Roij, will take us through the concept of generating energy from salt gradient.
Hydrogen: Kees van der Leun, discusses the current role and possibilities of hydrogen in the energy sector.

Furthermore Marco de Graaff will be present from Wetsus and together with AquaBattery they will showcase some demos, providing a better understanding of the workings and possibilities of blue energy.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][cm_page_title title=”SPEAKERS” tag=”h3″ text_align=”left” horizontal_rule=”0″][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][cm_page_title title=”Emil Goosen, COO at AquaBattery” tag=”h4″ horizontal_rule=”0″][cm_team_member image=”2069″ name=”Emil Goosen” description=”Emil Goosen holds a master in energy and environmental science and is currently COO at AquaBattery. Aquabattery is a start-up that developed a product that stores electricity solely using water and table salt. Currently their product is running a pilot project at The Green Village in Delft. Here their battery is tested for the first time on large scale for residential usage by allowing the generated electricity of solar panels being stored. At our event AquaBattery will be showcasing a demo of their product.” socials=”%5B%7B%7D%5D”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][cm_page_title title=”Rene van Roij, Proffesor at TTPU” tag=”h4″ horizontal_rule=”0″][cm_team_member image=”2068″ name=”Rene van Roij” description=”Rene van Roij is professor at the Institute for Theoretical Physics at the Utrecht University, where he focuses on Soft-Matter Theory. Rene is a specialist when it comes to the blue energy and will take us through the principles and possibilities of the concept. For an introduction to osmotic power read this article in which Rene explains the basics.” socials=”%5B%7B%7D%5D”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/3″][cm_page_title title=”Kees van der Leun, Director at Ecofys” tag=”h4″ horizontal_rule=”0″][cm_team_member image=”2098″ name=”Kees van” description=”Kees van der Leun (Director at Ecofys) graduated from Utrecht University with an MSc in Physics in 1986. He joined Ecofys as its third employee and was involved in the management of the company ever since. At present, he is Director at Ecofys, leading the development of its strategic consultancy, deploying the full value of the wide range of expertise available in the company. He was project director of The Energy Report: a thorough and visionary global scenario showing how the world can reach 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050. Kees leads an Ecofys group developing strategies for energy infrastructure of the future, both large-scale (North Sea energy system) and bottom-up (zero-emission heating of homes and its implications for energy infrastructure).” socials=”%5B%7B%7D%5D”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][cm_page_title title=”Recap Event” tag=”h3″ text_align=”left” horizontal_rule=”0″][vc_column_text]Our event took place at Utrecht Inc. “The Garage”, right next to the Climate-KIC office. Attendees had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on this renewable energy source, and even see some real-life prototypes of innovative technologies such as the “blue battery”!

Marco de Graaff first talked about the contribution of Wetsus to water innovation, water research and education, as well as the entrepreneurial side of water sources and resources. He spoke about the traction blue energy is gaining in the Dutch market and he also brought his prototypes along, including the “water bridge”!

René van Goij underlined the flatness of the Netherlands, which is not the best suited country for hydropower, right? René however went on to explain about the blue energy resources and how we can make use of blue energy. René made sure to explain all principles as simply as he could for his multidisciplinary audience, and challenge them to think of ideas and alternatives.

Emil Goossen took the mantle from René and spoke about batteries. Aquabatteries! He showed us how a blue battery works, and he also brought his prototype along for a demonstration. Next to that he provided us with great insights in the business of batteries in general, and the blue batteries in specific. His entrepreneurial stories and challenges provoked the audience to ask many questions about pricing, market potential, potential technology risks, and technology properties, gifting us all with a very interesting discussion. Aquabattery is looking for people to join their team as employee, intern or as part of a graduation project.

Last, but certainly not least, Kees van der Leun explained “what’s all the fuss about Hydrogen”, why is this element so useful in energy storage, and why we shouldn’t rest on our lithium-ion laurels. With vast experience in the field, he also talked about the state-of-the-art in hydrogen energy storage as well as the clean alternatives of today: electrolysis, and hydrogen production from biomass. Kees concluded that there is a high demand for Hydrogen, but its clean production needs to overcome cost hurdles. But the landscape is changing with Gasunie and TenneT considering sizable investments for Hydrogen in their off-shore energy production plans. Finally, Kees provided us with the roadmap for introducing Hydrogen to aid the clean energy transition and gave us a few examples on how we can overcome any societal barriers caused by Hydrogen’s – wrongfully – bad reputation.

We certainly hope that this was an entertaining learning opportunity for all attendees, as we did our best to show the academic, research and business side, and the technological innovation needed for the implementation of Blue Energy. Many thanks to our expert speakers for contributing to this event, and we are already looking forward to our next one![/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]