This is how WUR can use energy even more sustainably

We speak to Wouter van Leeuwen, energy coordinator at the Facilities Department (FB), just before the summer of 2025 at the Impulse building. This is an events venue on Wageningen Campus where, at that time, solar panels are being installed. Wouter is involved in all real estate matters related to energy, such as making buildings more sustainable and purchasing gas and electricity. In this capacity, he advised on the solar panels on the roof of Impulse at an early stage. 

WUR has drawn up an ambitious roadmap for energy savings: our energy supply must be carbon neutral by 2050, and there are several intermediate targets along the way. For example, we are aiming for a 72% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and 55% energy savings by 2030 compared to 2005. These interim targets are achievable in the short term, but in the longer term the ambition is under pressure.

‘When I started working here in 2020, WUR was using more than 7 million cubic metres of gas per year,’ says Van Leeuwen. ‘That includes our locations outside Wageningen, such as the greenhouses in Bleiswijk and the HCU in Lelystad. Now we are down to 4 to 4.5 million cubic metres. The campus in particular has become a much smaller user, mainly thanks to the Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage.’ With this system, thermal energy is stored 90 metres underground in an aquifer. In summer, buildings on campus are cooled with cold water. In winter, they are heated with warmer water, in combination with a heat pump. 'From 2026, with the completion of Cibia, almost all our buildings on campus will be connected to the thermal energy storage ring.' 

Solar panels are now installed on almost all suitable roofs. ‘In Randwijk, for example, at the Wageningen Plant Research site where fruit is grown, there are a lot of panels. This enables us to generate a lot of solar power at different locations in the country, equivalent to 7 to 8% of our total energy consumption.’ In Lelystad, too, green electricity is generated by a large number of solar panels and by 26 wind turbines that supply the grid directly. The wind turbines generate around 65 million kWh each year, equivalent to the energy used by 24,000 households annually. The electricity that WUR still purchases from energy suppliers always comes from sustainable sources, generated in the Netherlands. 

Furthermore, WUR has been working on making buildings more sustainable for years, says Van Leeuwen. ‘Over the next year and a half, we will be implementing five to ten measures in each building. These mainly concern lighting: switching to LED bulbs, motion sensors that automatically turn off lights, that sort of thing. We are doing this in close collaboration with the location managers of those buildings.’ In addition, many buildings on campus have been closed around the Christmas period in recent years to save energy and costs. 

However, it will not be easy to realise WUR's green ambitions in the coming years. ‘Everyone takes it for granted that there will always be electricity, but that is no longer a certainty’, warns Van Leeuwen. 'In the coming years, we will have to deal with grid congestion, including on campus. The power grid is almost at full capacity. We are already anticipating this, for example by keeping gas boilers in place so that we can switch off heat pumps during peak times if necessary, but that is of course a less sustainable solution.’

‘Given our sustainability ambitions, we would naturally prefer not to take these kinds of measures,’ Van Leeuwen continues. In his work, he often sees tension between the factors of availability, affordability and sustainability. ‘We have a good picture of WUR's development, and therefore also of our electricity consumption and its consequences for grid congestion. We already know that without further measures, it will not be possible to meet all wishes.’  

Affordability can also compromise sustainability. The price of electricity has risen sharply: between 2022 and 2023, WUR's energy bill increased fivefold. Energy costs have since fallen significantly, but are still well above before the 2022 level. 'This makes it even more important to generate sustainable electricity. Diversifying our electricity supply provides greater certainty and makes us less dependent on price fluctuations caused by geopolitical unrest.' 

In tackling these challenges, Van Leeuwen can draw on all the in-house scientific knowledge that WUR has about the energy transition. On behalf of Facilities and Services, he is a member of the Wageningen Energy Alliance, a partnership of nearly one hundred WUR researchers working on energy. They use the Energy Alliance to share knowledge about (sustainable) energy with each other. This partnership has resulted in, for example, the solar field on the Kielekampsteeg in Wageningen. Where research is being conducted into, among other things, the impact of solar panels on soil quality. ‘We always look at whether we can bring business operations and research closer together,’ says Van Leeuwen. He also shares his knowledge of energy policy with students by giving guest lectures to bachelor's and master's students every year. 

Van Leeuwen and his colleagues are also working to raise awareness within WUR. To make the sustainability objectives more concrete, a poster has been created for each organisational unit that provides insight into, among other things, CO2 emissions and waste streams. ‘A poster like this is a great opportunity to start a conversation with colleagues in the buildings concerned. It encourages people to think about what they can do themselves to achieve our goals’, says Van Leeuwen. 

Employees can also contribute to reducing energy consumption in the workplace, says Van Leeuwen: 'Think of small things, such as defrosting and cleaning freezers from time to time and switching off appliances to prevent standby consumption. We can also look at work processes that consume a lot of energy. Some laboratory freezers are set to -80 degrees. Could you achieve the same result at -70? And in many laboratories, the air is changed every five hours, even at night and during the weekends. It doesn’t have to be that way. We should all give more thought to these kinds of considerations.’

WUR Facilities and Services employees detail how they contribute to sustainable operations in a series of interviews. In other words, WUR operates as sustainably and socially responsible as possible. Consider, for example, topics such as green on the campus, the energy transition, healthy and sustainable catering, sustainable IT and inclusiveness. Thus, WUR contributes to a habitable planet for all through its business management. More information and stories can be found on sustainable business operations.