You don’t just build a new residential area these days. Before a shovel can be put into the ground at all, it must be calculated whether there is sufficient nitrogen space to build that neighborhood there. Jos Geurts is such a mathematician who then takes out his proverbial calculator to calculate that. He explains how he does that.
“Everything has to be redone.” That was the painful conclusion reached by the Rosmalen consultancy firm Kragten, when the Council of State annulled the so-called building exemption at the beginning of November. For all projects without a final permit, it is therefore still necessary to check what nitrogen is emitted during the construction phase. And more importantly: what that means for the surrounding nature.
That brings us to a few important questions. After all, why does that nitrogen actually get into the air during a construction project? How much is that? And what are the consequences for a Natura 2000 area, which is sometimes kilometers away? To get an idea of this, we look with expert Geurts at the construction of a fictional residential area with 100 houses.
“To start with, we map out what the nitrogen sources are,” explains Geurts. “With the building permit, that was simple. Nitrogen is released during the combustion process of fossil fuels. But most houses that are being built now are already gasless. So they don’t emit anything anymore.”
There are, however, some other factors to consider. “If you build a hundred houses, you will eventually have residents who drive up and down. That is all included. Incidentally, the influence of this is also changing, now that more and more cars are driving electrically.”
“Is that forklift 10 years old or is it a brand new electric one? Has quite an influence.”
And since November 2, there will be a difficulty level. “Due to the ruling of the Council of State, we now also have to investigate how much is emitted during the construction phase. That is why we ask a contractor, for example, what kind of material he uses and how long he expects to be working.”
This is done in as much detail as possible. “For example, we want to know how old his forklift truck is. Is that a ten year old thing that runs on diesel or does he have a brand new machine that runs on electricity. That has quite an impact.”
As you could read in the previous part, Geurts calculates how much nitrogen is released into the air based on this collected information. A special RIVM program then looks at how far it spreads. For example, it must become clear whether the contractor can start or whether he has to adjust his plans.
In practice, this sometimes produces exceptional results, says Geurts. “It all depends on the location. For example, it is possible that a residential area with 100 houses can be built in Uden, while 10 of the same houses further down the road in Mierlo do not get the green light. Purely because it borders a Natura 2000 area.”
“We will run into delays no matter what.”
Sounds crooked, but according to Geurts it is the reality we have to deal with. “We have agreed through European laws that we will preserve nature in those areas. But that descending nitrogen has an acidifying and eutrophicating effect. Some plants benefit from this, others do not. That way you eventually lose biodiversity.”
But does that mean that a lot of construction projects will simply not get off the ground? “It will certainly be difficult in some places. In any case, we will run into delays.”
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