Uploaded on 2015-12-14 by ValerieDH

Dominant fossil fuels in Belgium: 1. Oil 2. Natural Gas 3. Small amount of coal 2. Used for: 1. Other (Other covers residential, commercial and public services, agriculture/forestry, fishing and non-specified.) 2. Non-energy use (Non-energy use covers those fuels that are used as raw materials in the different sectors.) 3. Transport (Domestic aviation, road vehicles, railway, pipeline transport, domestic navigation and non-specified.) 3. The big fossil fuel consuming market in Belgium is the residential and commercial one, so big changes in this field can have the most effect. Here measures promoting energy neutral buildings can be taken. Self-sustainability should be the keyword for households and companies in Belgium. Stimulating people to do so can happen through subsidies for the purchase of solar-panels and other measures allowing people to generate their own energy. Next to that, green energy coming from renewable sources should become the first choice. More solar and wind energy generating systems should be built, at sea, on top of residential and industrial buildings or even in public squares (see image and link below). ![Small tree-shaped windmills for public spaces][1] Image taken from http://inhabitat.com/wind-energy-made-beautiful-with-these-silent-wind-tree-turbines/ : Small tree-shaped windmills for public spaces The recent decision of the Belgian government to leave our old and unreliable nuclear power plants open even longer is a total disgrace and also incompatible with the use of green energy. Green energy isn’t a steady flow of energy, depending on wind and sun, one day you produce more and the next day a little less. Nuclear power plants run on a steady level every day. They take a long time to get started up and to get shut down. That way, these plant can’t respond accurately to the daily changes of green energy and we just keep on producing more energy ‘to be safe’. Leaving nuclear power plants open is for the bigger part also ignoring the use of green energy so one of the things I would do is also closing these plants and instead investing more money into projects like the one below. It is a dam at the Belgian coast that pumps up the water when there is an energy excess and lets it run down again, regenerating the excess energy when there is an energy shortage. This way, renewable energy sources can become trustworthy enough to build a whole economy upon. ![enter image description here][2] Image taken from http://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20130116_00436294 : Energy 'ILand' at the Belgian coast Energy firms delivering green energy only, should have lower taxes, so their prices can be lower and people automatically choose them. Also campaigns raising more awareness about energy consumption are key. The less energy is asked for, the less fossil fuels are being used of course. The second market is unfortunately one where not a whole lot can be done to shrink their oil, gas and coil consumption, as this is a market where they use these fuels for what they are rather than what they can become, energy in that sense. Here the only option is putting more money towards scientific research in these areas with the goal to find good alternative material sources that are more environmentally friendly and less exhaustible. The third market is the transport market. Here a lot of possible solutions come to mind. Making public transport better, cheaper and more punctual (a big problem in Belgium is the unreliability of the public transport, always late, always suppressions or even frequent strikes). That way people would be more eager to choose public transport over their car. Next to that, city centres should all become car free which will provide safe, agreeable, stress free zones where people are happy to take a bike or go by foot for small distances. Bike highways between cities are also a good complement to that for more sporty people who don’t want to risk their lives every day, manoeuvring between cars trying to get to work. Cars on the other hand, should always be parked outside of cities, in park-and-ride initiatives that should be free of charge. Entering the city by car should still be possible, but only by paying a fee. That way, people will be less likely to take a car when they can get there in another way. Next to that maybe a system that registers how often and how far cars drive can also be effective. According to their kilometres then, people have to pay more taxes. Or a system where people can drive 4 days a week, they can choose which days, but only 4. The system registers this and locks the car for the remaining days of the week. Also electric cars should be promoted more. These cars should have the privilege then to enter the city free of charge. More charging points for them should be provided as at the moment, the possibilities to charge your car are very limited. I am aware of the fact that this electricity has to come from somewhere, but the stimulation of the use of more green energy was already explained before. Next to that, carpooling and car sharing initiatives should be promoted more, maybe in the form of a tax deduction. These are a lot of small different ideas and all on their own, they won’t stand a chance. It’s only when they are introduced all together that they will have a true impact. Unfortunately, Belgian people really love their two cars per family, their company cars and their villa in the country side from which they have to drive an hour to work every day because, yes, their jobs are in the cities, resulting in kilometres of traffic jams every single day. So introducing measures like these will give a lot of protest and thus for this to work effectively, first a real shift in mindset of the Belgian people will have to occur… Again, raising awareness about the issues at hand, will be the first and most important step I think, starting at school where more attention should go to the environmental problems we are facing and what you as a person can start to do about that. [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1450110135285313.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1450110240370134.jpg