Zoekresultaten

Over gas gesproken - de rol van gas in de Nederlandse samenleving

GasTerra is, als exclusieve verkoper van het gas uit de Groningse bodem, een cruciale ketenpartner in de energiesector in Nederland. Om deze strategische positie goed te kunnen vormgeven wil GasTerra de beeldvorming in de Nederlandse samenleving over gas en GasTerra analyseren. Men wil inzicht in of en hoe de rol van gas in de Nederlandse samenleving besproken wordt. GasTerra vraagt daartoe naar een verdiepende analyse van de vorming van de publieke opinie rondom de positie en het imago van gas en GasTerra in het bijzonder. Het lectoraat Communication & Sustainable Society van de Hanzehogeschool Groningen heeft opdracht gekregen onderzoek te verrichten. Een verdiepende discoursanalyse naar de kracht en werking van frames moet inzicht geven en richting geven aan de tone of voice die GasTerra hanteert in haar communicatiestrategie. Ook is er een Rapid Evidence Assessment uitgevoerd om inzicht te verkrijgen in de meest actuele wetenschappelijke stand van zaken rond het gasdebat en opvattingen daaromtrent.

Experiment Krewerd 'Versterken met gezond boerenverstand'

Myths and fallacies in the Groningen earthquake problem

I was somewhat surprized with the fog in Groningen upon my arrival. This is notthe fog that covers the beautiful landscapes of the northern Netherlands in theevening and in the early morning. No… It is the fog that obscures the real aspectsof the earthquake problem in the region and is crystallised in the phrase “Groningen earthquakes are different”, which I have encountered numerous times whenever I raised a question of the type “But why..?”. A sentence taken out of the quiver as the absolute technical argument which mysteriously overshadows the whole earthquake discussion.Q: Why do we not use Eurocode 8 for seismic design, instead of NPR?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why do we not monitor our structures like the rest of the world does?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why does NPR, the Dutch seismic guidelines, dictate some unusual rules?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!Q: Why are the hazard levels incredibly high, even higher than most Europeanseismic countries?A: Because the Groningen earthquakes are different!and so it keeps going…This statement is very common, but on the contrary, I have not seen a single piece of research that proves it or even discusses it. In essence, it would be a difficult task to prove that the Groningen earthquakes are different. In any case it barricades a healthy technical discussion because most of the times the arguments converge to one single statement, independent of the content of the discussion. This is the reason why our first research activities were dedicated to study if the Groningen earthquakes are really different. Up until today, we have not found any major differences between the Groningen induced seismicity events and natural seismic events with similar conditions (magnitude, distance, depth, soil etc…) that would affect the structures significantly in a different way.Since my arrival in Groningen, I have been amazed to learn how differently theearthquake issue has been treated in this part of the world. There will always bedifferences among different cultures, that is understandable. I have been exposed to several earthquake engineers from different countries, and I can expect a natural variation in opinions, approaches and definitions. But the feeling in Groningen is different. I soon realized that, due to several factors, a parallel path, which I call “an augmented reality” below, was created. What I mean by an augmented reality is a view of the real-world, whose elements are augmented and modified. In our example, I refer to the engineering concepts used for solving the earthquake problem, but in an augmented and modified way. This augmented reality is covered in the fog I described above. The whole thing is made so complicated that one is often tempted to rewind the tape to the hot August days of 2012, right after the Huizinge Earthquake, and replay it to today but this time by making the correct steps. We would wake up to a different Groningen today. I was instructed to keep the text as well as the inauguration speech as simple aspossible, and preferably, as non-technical as it goes. I thus listed the most common myths and fallacies I have faced since I arrived in Groningen. In this book and in the presentation, I may seem to take a critical view. This is because I try to tell a different part of the story, without repeating things that have already been said several times before. I think this is the very reason why my research group would like to make an effort in helping to solve the problem by providing different views. This book is one of such efforts.The quote given at the beginning of this book reads “How quick are we to learn: that is, to imitate what others have done or thought before. And how slow are we to understand: that is, to see the deeper connections.” is from Frits Zernike, the Nobel winning professor from the University of Groningen, who gave his name to the campus I work at. Applying this quotation to our problem would mean that we should learn from the seismic countries by imitating them, by using the existing state-of-the-art earthquake engineering knowledge, and by forgetting the dogma of “the Groningen earthquakes are different” at least for a while. We should then pass to the next level of looking deeperinto the Groningen earthquake problem for a better understanding, and alsodiscover the potential differences.

Voortgang en voetangels in het gaswinningsdossier

Er zijn veel instanties betrokken bij het oplossen van de problemen door de aardbevingen in Groningen. Dit systeem van aanpak is complex en zorgt voor veel belemmeringen. Dat vertellen professionals op verantwoordelijke functies in dit systeem. Zij ervaren ze hun werk als veeleisend en soms ‘gekmakend’. Voor dit onderzoek (in opdracht van de Nationaal Coördinator Groningen (NCG)) zijn 33 professionals geïnterviewd. Behalve bij NCG werken zij onder meer bij ministeries, provincie, gemeenten, Instituut Mijnbouwschade Groningen en Staatstoezicht op de Mijnen. De professionals kregen de vraag voorgelegd wat zij vinden van het functioneren van het systeem waarmee de aardbevingsproblematiek wordt aangepakt.

Ruimtelijke ontwikkeling bij ondergrondse ingrepen

Grote opgaven zoals de energietransitie, klimaatverandering en verstedelijking vragen om ruimte in de ondergrond, bijvoorbeeld om bodemenergie te winnen, CO2 op te slaan of voor het aanleggen van warmtenetten. Deze ondergrondse ingrepen hebben ruimtelijke effecten en zouden daarom meegenomen moeten worden in ruimtelijke afwegingen. Dit gebeurt mede door hun onzichtbaarheid nu meestal niet. Daardoor wordt de potentie van de ondergrond niet optimaal benut. Onderzoek inTwente laat zien hoe dit anders zou kunnen.

Gebiedsgerichte aanpak en inwonerbetrokkenheid in de versterkingsopgave