I am very happy to share this video we have created on the making of the Climate Oxide project. Climate Oxide is a collaborative art project with artist Shiva Rimal. Together we use photography, rust and industrial design to create large pieces of visual art on the subject of climate change. The official opening of the exhibit is on October 19, 2012 at 20:00 at the Kunstkerk (PrinsenEiland 89) in Amsterdam, come by and join us.
Climate Oxide – Trailer from Robert van Waarden on Vimeo.
It is always a nice surprise to come across one of my images in a publication like TIME. In this case, the image is of a friend of mine, Rob, swimming in the shadow of Gunung Agung on the Eastern coast of Bali. I remember that the next morning we awoke at 2am to climb Gunung Agung, hoping to catch the sunrise from the top, but instead got soaked to the skin from walking in the clouds.
This image was licensed through my stock image partner Aurora photos, thanks to Arlene for bringing it to my attention.
A couple of images from Shiva’s Studio on our developing Climate Oxide project. Opening is set for October 19 in Amsterdam, send me an email if you want to be on the Guest List.
Schiphol – Amsterdam
Climate Oxide project being worked on in the atelier.
“I know that 70% of the area in the world has a low wind speed. I thought, if we want to promote the wind machine, 70% is a lot of the world,” Dr. Roy.
Dr. Wirachai Roynarin or (Dr. Roy as he is more commonly known), is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering at RMUTT in Bangkok and owner of Prapai Technologies, a company that specializes in low wind-speed turbines. He grew up in a small farming family, where he learned to respect the land, before going to England to study. He returned to Thailand believing he could help his country and he set his sights on the wind.
He is excited about the prospects for wind energy in Thailand, but insists that it must be done correctly. A few years ago, during the fuel crisis in Thailand, wind energy suddenly became popular. Companies began importing and installing wind turbines that were largely not suitable for the low wind speeds of Thailand.
“When they bring from abroad, they look like a monument, they don’t rotate. Until a storm comes and then they rotate. They are not designed for most of our region,” says Dr. Roy.
A solution lies in low speed, decentralized wind turbines he says. Wind turbines that can be put anywhere and are small, light structures, like ants feeding the grid. The first major project of Prapai is the King’s Wind Farm. A 200kw wind park made up of 20 individual 10kw wind turbines. The park is about 100m square and located in the village where the King of Thailand spends his summers. The King himself supported the construction and the electricity is directed to the community and the grid. It has been deemed a success, although not without difficulties. Dr. Roy and his team have had to grapple with earthquakes and monsoon gusts. When I visited the site, workers were busy in the 42-degree heat repairing three turbines that were damaged from a recent monsoon.
The wind farm was developed on a previously dry, deserted field and for Dr. Roy this is very important. “The most important thing we have is the forest. We need to protect the forest.” he says. “Why do you have to destroy the forest and the fresh water to put the wind machine on a mountain? You can put a 10kw wind machine anywhere in Thailand, you don’t have to cut the tree, you can put wherever you want. You can put it in front of your home, in front of your office. It isn’t tall, it is 18m, it is nice, it is lovely, you can decorate it, and you get energy.”
Dr. Roy is quick to counter any suggestion that his motives are strictly business led. He suggests that he wouldn’t mind if you closed Prapai Technologies and didn’t order his product. Just make sure that the product you do use is suitable for the wind speeds and country of Thailand.
“My wind machine maybe are not the perfect machine in the world,” says Dr. Roy “but I know that they are good machine in this world, because they are not made for business, they are made from the heart.”
Led by Dr. Roy, low wind-speed development could take off. But will Thailand recognize the benefits of the only wind turbines made in Thailand for Thailand?
This blog post is part 10 and the final of a series of wind energy stories from photographer Robert van Waarden.
“If I only grew potatoes and onions, then I wouldn’t speak with so many people,” says Jaap van der Beek. “You speak so often to these people because we all have the same interest. That interest is to build a big wind turbine.”
Jaap van der Beek has been harvesting the wind for over 15 years and his 850kw turbine powers hundreds of homes. He lives in North Holland; an area that centuries ago was dominated by wooden windmills. A pilot, farmer and a wind enthusiast, Jaap is a busy man.
He speaks passionately about the impact that wind energy has had on his life. “I really like the idea of getting energy from the wind,” says Jaap. “I really like the technology and I especially like the idea that it sits on my own property.” But perhaps first and foremost, even above the financial gain, is the sense of community gained from involvement with wind energy. Owning a wind turbine has connected him with the other solitary wind turbine owners in North Holland and with the industry as a whole.
Since installing his first windmill years ago, he has helped many others navigate the planning permits and regulations to install windmills or plan even bigger windmills. He is the assistant director of the Vereniging van Windturbine Eigenaren in Noord-Holland (Association of Wind Turbine owners in North Holland) and sits on the implementation board for the Netherlands Wind Energy Association.
These committees take a fair amount of time, but he doesn’t complain. He spends hours writing emails, attending meetings, writing reports and general committee work because he wishes to promote and grow the wind energy sector in the Netherlands.
As for himself, Jaap wants to keep building, “I am also a business person, I want to go forward; bigger, better. Standing still is to go backwards.” For the last four years he has been working with 35 other wind turbine owners to plan a large wind park on a polder in Holland. This co-operation will easily satisfy the Dutch law prescribing that windmills must be built together in a line. They are currently working on land planning and permissions and expect that there will be another 4 years before the project gets the green light.
When it does, Jaap hopes to install a 3.5 MW turbine, 4 times more powerful then the older one that currently sits next to his house. He knows that working together has been a great exercise to get to know his neighbours and build a community spirit as everyone moves towards a common goal. In the meantime, Jaap will continue to farm his tulips, fly his planes and raise his family in the shadow of his windmill.
This blog post is part 9 of a series of wind energy stories from photographer Robert van Waarden Next week meet Dr. Roy, an early adopter of wind energy in Thailand and developer of low speed wind turbines.
“I have seen a bright future for wind energy in Nepal, because a lot of wind energy potential has been predicted,” says Aruna Awale, manager of the wind energy department at the Alternative Energy Promotion Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal.
From the window of her office, she can see one of the few operating wind turbines in Nepal. It is a small Maglev vertical access turbine. It turns rapidly in the wind that blows through the Kathmandu valley. It is a sign of more to come if Ms. Awale has anything to do with it.
Ms. Awale works on data and implementation projects, co-ordinates meetings and conferences, and meets with national and international stakeholders. She credits her work for giving her more confidence and a huge amount of experience. She especially enjoys the opportunity to travel internationally for different seminars, the highlight of which is often a visit to a wind farm.
Nepal faces several problems to implement large-scale wind energy, but interestingly, one of those isn’t finance with many development banks, institutions, or companies ready to step forward. Instead Ms Awale mentions the complex geography and the insufficient infrastructure as the main challenge. The small roads, or entire lack thereof, are often not suited for carrying large equipment to high windy points. The spectacular but difficult geography makes studies and installations more difficult. In order to fully grow in this energy sector, this challenge will have to be surmounted.
Perhaps suggest Ms. Awale, one way to do that is to start smaller. Citing a recent implemented pilot project by the Asian Development Bank, Ms. Awale remains confident that wind energy will have a great impact on small communities in Nepal. In the Dhaubadi BDC of Nawalparasi District, 46 households are now connected to electricity by a small wind turbine. This hastransformed the village and made it the envy of neighbouring villages: now everyone wants a wind turbine.
“With small scale wind energy, thousands of villages can benefit from wind power where no energy is available, not even for lights.” says Ms. Awale.
Ms. Awale has been working at the AEPC for almost a decade and hopes to see some of the available 3000MW potential in Nepal developed, recognizing that it will change the life of many of her fellow Nepalis . For many a Nepali, the answer to electricity problems and the attached poverty issues may simply be blowing in the wind.
This blog post is part 8 of a series of wind energy stories from photographer Robert van Waarden. Next week meet Jaap van der Beek, Netherlands farmer who harvests wind amongst his tulips.
“It represents modernity. So, they want this in their community. Hey we are modern, they say. This is latest technology and we are independent, from Burmese gas and from imported oil. Our energy is produced here with our own resource, that is Wind, zero emissions and we are proud of it.” Nick Suppipat.
Nick Suppipat and the company Wind Enterprise Holdings are on the verge of completing the largest wind farm ever in Thailand. The 207MW wind park is currently being built in the Nakhon Ratchasima district. It is a significant step for the fledging wind industry in the Thailand and an example of how sustainable development can be a win-win.
Six years ago, oil prices were skyrocketing and Thailand was in the midst of a financial crisis. Nick, an investor since he was 17, was convinced that renewable energy would be the next big thing and figured that wind is going to take the biggest share of that. For him, the business case made sense and he jumped in.
“So I started looking for an appropriate site. At the time according to local research, we didn’t have wind resource. So I took a serious look into that research and found out that it is not reliable,” says Nick.
Nick hired an American company to develop a hi-resolution wind map and discovered that Thailand did have some wind resources, not as good as some European countries, but enough for modern wind turbines. Since then, the business has grown quickly and beyond his expectations. Six years ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of 500MW. Now they are months away from completing 207MW and have their sights set on over 1000MW and expansion internationally.
Nick believes that with the current tariff there is 2000 – 3000 MW feasible in Thailand for wind farm development. It is important to remember that the number of households this will provide energy for is many times greater than in higher energy consumption areas of North America or Europe.
From their new office on the top floor of a Bangkok skyscraper, it may perhaps be easy to forget about the farming community directly affected by this development. But Nick and his team have made community development a key aspect of their business.
“We want to make a difference in the area. We don’t want to make money and then not care about people around. We want to ensure that their lives improved and the area becomes a model community,” says Nick
When asked if there has been any objection from the community. “None, zero,” says Nick, “That surprised me. I never heard anyone complain or think it is ugly or think that it is un-cool.”
Wind Energy Holdings is giving back to the community in several ways. Beyond the regulated mandatory yearly payment to the community, they are providing a second voluntary yearly payment of 2- 3% of the revenue. Additionally, they are establishing a NGO for community development, the first project of which is improved irrigation.
All around the construction site are visible examples of how this wind farm is positively impacting the community. The temples are being fitted with new roofs or renovated entirely. The roads, which were once impassable in the rainy season, have been rebuilt, reducing transport costs, time and headaches for the farmers. Additionally, a policy to hire local people and contractors has ensured valuable employment for hundreds if not thousands of Thais. Nick estimates that over 15,000 people have or will directly benefit from this project.
By the end of 2015 Wind Energy Holdings expects to have over 500MW operating in Thailand. After that, they are looking internationally and if this same model of development continues, it will mean win-win for communities and for business.
This blog post is part 7 of a series of wind energy stories from photographer Robert van Waarden. Next week meet Aruna Awale, a woman leading the path towards wind energy at the Alternative Energy Promotion Center in Kathmandu.
A few images from a recent corporate portrait session for the consulting firm Realize.nl here in Amsterdam. Enjoy
[photoshelter-gallery g_id=’G0000HeRFpvBH_5Y’ g_name=’Portraits-for-Realize’ f_show_caption=’t’ f_show_slidenum=’t’ img_title=’f’ pho_credit=’iptc’ f_link=’t’ f_send_to_friend_btn=’t’ f_bbar=’t’ f_htmllinks=’t’ f_mtrx=’t’ fsvis=’f’ width=’950′ height=’712′ f_constrain=’t’ bgcolor=’#ffffff’ btype=’new’ bcolor=’#878787′ crop=’t’ twoup=’t’ trans=’xfade’ tbs=’5000′ bgtrans=’f’ linkdest=’c’ f_fullscreen=’f’ f_topbar=’f’ f_bbarbig=” f_enable_embed_btn=’f’ f_show_watermark=’f’ f_smooth=’f’ f_ap=’f’ f_up=’f’ target=’_self’ wmds=’llQ6QNgpeC.p1Ucz7U.Y4RW059fihDB_5Ls8pDkJmm5kulDmMOrcntEcCL9JKekbrBD8Bw–‘ ]