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From TU/e to a fossil-free Friesland

Urgenda has come up with something new to draw attention to car driving without any use of fossil fuels: the Elfwegentocht. The name is a play on Friesland's traditional Eleven Cities Race, the Elfstedentocht. Every day for two weeks a different province will drive fossil free to Friesland, and the first to do so will be North Brabant. The official start of the Eleven Roads Race is planned for Sunday July 1st at Gemini's red garage doors.

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photo Norbine Schalij

The Urgenda foundation, whose aim is to hasten the Netherlands' transition to sustainability, is calling on the Dutch people to use as little gasoline (petrol) as possible during the first two weeks of July. To promote the campaign, every day a different province will send a tour group to Friesland, each with its own theme. North Brabant has taken as its theme ‘better food’. This recognizes that the province was chosen as European Region of Gastronomy for 2018. 

Early on Sunday morning Stella Vie, Lina and other electric cars will gather on the TU/e campus, in front of the garage doors at Gemini's workshops. Anne-Marie Spierings, a member of the Provincial Executive of North Brabant, will welcome the guests, among them the State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management, and participants. Professor Maarten Steinbuch will then explain how far Brabant has come with electric driving and the likely shape of things in the near future. Students of Solar Team Eindhoven and TU/ecomotive will be on hand to answer questions. 

The route taken to Heerenveen will not be the shortest possible. For the sake of the theme, a break will be taken at the Herenboeren cooperative, to illustrate a sustainable Burgundian lifestyle. When the delegation from Brabant arrives in Heerenveen in the early  afternoon, it will be time to unpack some Brabant delicacies from the car trunks.

Anne-Marie Spierings will emphasize that as a province North Brabant has set itself a target. Currently driving on North Brabant's roads are close on 30,000 electric vehicles and the province is aiming to reach the 100,000 mark in 2020, together with the necessary smart recharging infrastructure. All EVs count, but a van counts for more than a bicycle. Thus, a bus counts as 23, a van as 2, a truck as 16, a bicycle as 0.14 and a car as 1.

In a daily program shown after the 8 o'clock evening news, broadcaster NOS will be reporting on the two-week Eleven Roads Race. Anyone keen to travel with the group to Heerenveen in their own electric car or as a passenger can sign up here. Anyone who wants to save gasoline (petrol) on a route of their own at any given time, can mention that here. 
 

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