Frequently asked questions about the heat transition vision

The Netherlands wants to stop using natural gas to heat homes and buildings by 2050. Burning natural gas causes a lot of CO2 emissions and thus climate change. Not using natural gas anymore has direct consequences for almost everyone, because most homes are heated with natural gas. So together we need to find new ways to heat, cook and shower. 

It still seems a long way off, yet we must start working now to be natural gas-free by 2050. The switch from natural gas to other, sustainable sources of heat is called the heat transition. Every municipality makes a plan for this: the transition vision for heat. This plan states what the most logical choice is for each neighborhood and when each neighborhood will be able to get rid of natural gas. For each neighborhood we also examine whether an interim solution is possible. By the end of 2021, all municipalities in the Netherlands must have a heat transition vision ready. The vision will be adopted by the municipal council. Because the transition vision on heat has many consequences for the future of all residents, entrepreneurs and other organizations in Wassenaar can participate in the drafting of the vision. 

About 95% of Dutch households use natural gas to heat the house, cook with or for hot tap water. On average, Dutch households consume about 1400 m3 of natural gas annually. Most of the natural gas, about 80%, is for heating the home. The rest is used for cooking, showering and hot water.

Specifically, the switch means that in the future you will no longer use natural gas central heating boilers, stoves and geysers. This requires adjustments in existing homes, businesses and public buildings. Exactly what these adjustments will look like will be decided for each neighborhood or home. The choices will be made together with residents, businesses and other organizations. If you own a home or rent a home or commercial building, this means that there will come a time when changes to your home or building will take place. This will happen before 2050. Of course, we will keep you informed about this as best we can. 

The alternatives to natural gas are still evolving. We expect these developments to be so rapid that various alternatives will be added in the coming years. We have made an overview of the various alternatives for the municipality of Wassenaar. You can find these options on the webpage Wassenaar natural gas-free as download 'Information sheets heat solutions'.

Municipality of Wassenaar usually has no subsidy schemes for making your home more sustainable. Most subsidies come from the national government and sometimes the province of South Holland. The best known national one is the so-called ISDE subsidy. That subsidy can then - if you meet the Requirements - amount to 30 percent. For more information and the Requirements , visit Investeringssubsidie duurzame energie en energiebesparing (ISDE).

An overview of all subsidies and loans can be found at: Energy subsidy guide: easily find subsidies and loans | Verbeterjehuis

You can also direct your questions to the Sustainable Building Counter. The Sustainable Building Counter is the energy counter of the municipality of Wassenaar. We pay this organization. That is why you as a resident receive free advice on sustainable (re)construction, energy savings and energy generation.

Not getting there? Please email energietransitie@wassenaar.nl

Download the Heat Solutions Information Sheets.

Quitting natural gas and switching to a renewable energy source will involve costs. How high these costs will be is not yet known: that depends on the choices we eventually make for each neighborhood. The Climate Accord does state that all residents, entrepreneurs and other organizations must be able to participate, so the solutions must also be affordable. We are looking for solutions that are "cost-neutral": this means that the monthly expenses a household pays for energy and mortgage or rent will not increase. 

The municipality believes it is important for residents, business owners and other organizations to be involved in making their neighborhoods more sustainable. We are now working with a number of neighborhoods to create what is called a Neighborhood Implementation Plan. Then we look mainly at how best to insulate homes. We're going to expand that to other neighborhoods. We would also like to have more energy neighborhood teams in Wassenaar. Such a group of people work in their neighborhood to make it more sustainable. For example, neighborhood teams have together purchased insulating glass. They are a kind of neighborhood booster. Enthusiastic Wassenaarders also come together at the Climate Table meetings. Otherwise, feel free to contact us at energietransitie@wassenaar.nl.

Yes, if the roofs of the property are suitable and there is space, electricity can also be generated by solar panels. Please note that within protected village sites and on monuments you need an environmental permit. For more information, see the page on Solar Panels. 

The sustainable gases green gas and hydrogen will not be able to play a major role in making the built environment more sustainable until 2030. Because the future availability and price of these gases is still very uncertain, green gas and hydrogen are only expected to be a logical option after 2030 if there are no other heat alternatives. Hydrogen can be used most sensibly initially in industry and for heavy transport because no good alternatives are available for this. Whether hydrogen can also be an available and affordable option for heating homes after 2030 is not yet known. However, we are keeping this option open and monitoring developments. We can include such developments in the interim renewal of the heat transition vision.

If your house is already well insulated, it is best to switch to an all-electric heat pump right away. Usually label B is sufficient, in any case your house should have good roof and floor insulation, a filled cavity wall and HR++ glass. This is because a heat pump is most efficient when combined with good insulation. Note that a heat pump works best when combined with a low-temperature heating system, such as wall heating, underfloor heating or special low-temperature radiators. If your home is only slightly insulated, a hybrid heat pump may be a suitable (intermediate) solution. During the time a hybrid heat pump lasts, you can insulate your home and modify the heating system to make it suitable for heating with an all-electric heat pump.

Potential green gas production in the region, as well as (inter)nationally, is far below current natural gas demand. In the Climate Agreement, the green gas sector has said it wants to try to produce 70 PJ of green gas in the Netherlands by 2030. This is about 6% of current natural gas demand. It is still unknown whether that goal will be achieved, but green gas will remain a scarce product anyway. The availability of green gas thereafter is still uncertain.

These are national targets and they are not broken down by region or municipality. 

Nuclear power is an option for CO2-neutral large-scale electricity generation. It is not directly linked to the heat supply of buildings. Because of its national importance, the direction on nuclear energy comes from the state and not from local or regional government. So nuclear energy can play a role, but this is not something for the local level. 

Large-scale forms of electricity generation such as tidal power are being considered and taken into account at the national level. Within the Regional Energy Strategy (RES), current available technologies are primarily considered. 

The municipality does not have that power now. The State is responsible for ensuring that municipalities have appropriate legal means if necessary in the future.

Thank you for your suggestion. Housing associations in Wassenaar have already begun to make their housing stock more sustainable on a large scale. These include both ground-level homes (or houses with at least one residential floor directly facing the street) and building complexes. The lessons they have learned through their approach they would like to share with us and we will certainly take them into the neighborhood-oriented approaches. 

That is not Sun. at this time Sun. However, we do have regular contact with the grid operator and involve them in our plans. The grid operator is busy expanding the grid.

If you live within a protected village area or in a monument, additional rules apply when building work takes place. You often need an environmental permit for this. Check www.omgevingsloket.nl or call the municipality's building desk on 14 070. Nevertheless, many things are possible even for buildings with a protected status. You can also get advice on the possibilities for buildings with a protected status via The Green Menu. For more information, visit www.degroenemenukaart.nl.

National costs are calculated per neighborhood. The goal is to keep these as low as possible to keep the costs to society as low as possible as well. How these costs will be distributed is a task of the Rijksoverheid.

There are only two neighborhoods in Wassenaar: north and south. The subdivisions below these are neighborhoods. Each neighborhood also has its own specific characteristics. As does each street or even block. The more specific we look, the better we choose an appropriate solution later. We agree that we prefer to be as specific as possible. So looking at the neighborhood level provides more information for the vision than looking at the neighborhood level. There are 21 neighborhoods in Wassenaar and a lot of information is available about these neighborhoods. We always look at what is convenient: do we look at 1 neighborhood or do we take a number of neighborhoods together. It is possible that in the future (for example when revising the transition vision heat) another classification will be more logical. We are and will continue to discuss this with residents.

Label D doesn't really say much. It is more important to look at the required supply temperature of the delivery system (for example, the heat pump). If your home can be heated at a supply temperature of 50 degrees, this is possible. In some cases, there are also heat pumps that can heat at 70 degrees. But we recommend that you first properly insulate the home to the Standard. That insulation standard is a calculation tool created by the rijksoverheid. If a home is insulated to that Standard, then it is insulated enough to go off natural gas. So then you can connect a full heat pump. As an intermediate solution, you can always use a hybrid heat pump.

By outer area we mean the neighborhoods: Meijendel, Eikenhorst, Raaphorst and in polder area and Duinrell Wassenaarse Slag.

The heat transition is going to take until 2050. Based on current technologies and costs, we do not now know what the best heating method is for each neighborhood when we move away from natural gas (the so-called preferred alternative). Moreover, the national costs in each neighborhood in CE Delft's calculations are higher now than in the current situation. In the future, innovations in technologies as well as price developments may make something else the best heating method. Every resident would like to know which measures she or he will not regret, regardless of which sustainable heating method. That is why we also indicate in the vision what homeowners can do per neighborhood until 2030 (the action perspective). Residents can then take steps now and have time to prepare properly. When revising the transition vision for heat, we examine whether the heating method indicated in a neighborhood in the first vision is still the best one.

Geothermal energy, or geothermal energy, may be an option for Wassenaar. However, we must take into account the drinking water protection area along the coast where drilling is not allowed. Further research can reveal whether geothermal energy is a promising source of heat for Wassenaar. A national study is currently underway to map the feasibility of geothermal energy Map 

On average, 80% of gas goes to heating and 20% to hot water (mainly for showering). A small percentage is only used for cooking.

The Sustainable Building Counter has advice for several house types. They are the energy counter for the municipality of Wassenaar. You can also contact Groene Grachten. They specialize in making historic buildings more sustainable.  

Yes. Burning natural gas releases CO2. That causes global warming. With the new heat sources, this is not Sun. For example, an electric heat pump that uses renewable electricity such as from sun and wind does not release CO2. 

There are currently no concrete options for a heat grid in Wassenaar. This is due to a lack of sources. In the future there may be options if, for example, the heat network from Rotterdam-The Hague is extended to Leiden. However, it will still have to be investigated whether this is technically and economically feasible. From the current technical economic analysis it is known that this is difficult under the current circumstances. 

Yes. Wassenaar has the Sustainable Building Counter. You can go there with your questions or advice. The municipality pays the Sustainable Building Counter and therefore personal advice from the Sustainable Building Counter is free of charge. You can also find a lot of general information online on the site of MilieuCentraal Verbeter je huis: Alles over je huis verduurzamen | Verbeterjehuis.

The rijksoverheid has designated all municipalities to be directors in transitioning homes, offices and small businesses from heating by natural gas to a sustainable heating method. The municipality does this by creating neighborhood implementation plans with residents, organizations, housing associations, private landlords and entrepreneurs. But also by supporting them and showing them the way to insulate, save and switch. The municipality also has a role in the distribution of money that the state gives to certain groups, such as to combat energy poverty.

You can start with measures that are always good and that you will never regret. Insulating the house is a very good step and so are energy-saving measures. 

The goal is to be carbon neutral by 2050. The route there. We have been working on it for a few years now. We have made an initial transition vision for heat. We adapt this every five years to the developments that are taking place at that time. We implement the actions from that vision. In this way we are gradually working towards 2050.  

The way the laws and rules are now, you as a building owner have the choice and decide what, when and also whether to make your home more sustainable. However, that may change over the years.

Each sector has its own CO2 savings target from the Climate Agreement. Industry, like the built environment, will have to start and work towards this target. 

All municipalities are still busy researching the best solutions. Therefore we do not have answers to everything yet, we have to be honest about that. The transition vision on heat will eventually state what we plan to do in Wassenaar. Do you still have questions you can't find the answers to before then? Let us know and we'll see how we can answer them as best we can. Email energietransitie@wassenaar.nl.