AMSTERDAM // As vehicles cross the three 17th-century bridges of Utrechtse street, they rumble over cobblestones, sending tremors through the bridges, and continue on their way.
But something is about to change. By the end of this year, the energy from those vibrations is to be transformed into electricity to power lights where the three bridges cross city canals.
The US$8,000 (Dh29,384) machines are part of a set of retrofits, ranging from solar-powered rubbish compactors to carbon dioxide monitors, aimed at slashing greenhouse gas emissions on the historic street by as much as 40 per cent. If the project, nicknamed "Climate Street", works on the nearly kilometre-long stretch of shops and restaurants, its planners hope to bring similar measures to a business park outside the capital.
"In theory, we can be 100 per cent sustainable," said Yoeri van Alteren, the director of Club van 30, the company managing the project. "But in practice, you have to talk to the entrepreneurs to get them to invest in some things, and you have to be helping with some things."
The $1.5 million project takes a different approach from that of the eco-cities which are springing up around the world, including in the UAE. Abu Dhabi, through its clean-energy company Masdar, intends to spend $16 billion to create a carbon-neutral city in the desert. Planners hope that the 6-square-km site on the outskirts of the capital will draw 40,000 residents and a slew of international companies, although not all of the planned space has been signed for by tenants.
Developers of such large projects have taken the attitude that if they build the cities, the people will come. The divergence between that approach and Amsterdam's attempt to retrofit an ancient street comes down to the difference between old and new worlds, said Jourdan Younis, the head of sustainable development for Oger International Abu Dhabi, a construction engineering company.
"In the developing part of the world, you're definitely seeing a drive toward the eco-cities and the sustainable master planning," said Mr Younis. "In the developed part of the world, especially with the current economic crisis dragging on new development and the increase in energy costs, there's definitely a push for retrofits."
About 70 per cent of Abu Dhabi's buildings date from before 1995, and in those building the potential for energy gains from small changes could be enormous, he said.
"It's very inefficient. It was built without any real regard for energy. You have very large glass facades, which [leads to] a huge amount of air leakage in the building, and at market rates it's expensive to air-condition the desert," said Mr Younis. "Amsterdam is on the cutting edge. We're just getting to the point here where we can discuss bicycle paths for roads and pedestrian-friendly roads where you have pavement and trees, so we're really in the beginning phase."
On Amsterdam's Utrechtsestraat, shoppers idle past shops selling records, lingerie and fries.
Project planners, whose funding and materials comes from government entities and corporate sponsors, have focused on logistical improvements in addition to installing high-tech devices such as carbon emissions monitors. Marqt, a grocery store, has cut its number of weekly deliveries from 120 to 20, and now hires a truck company with an electric fleet.
Down the street, a shop selling pungent cheeses was taking a delivery from an electric truck. A visitor pointed out that although the shop showcased computer-based technology to track electricity usage in real time, the refrigerated cases that displayed the goods were not the epitome of efficiency.
"It doesn't work in every shop," Mr van Alteren conceded. "You can't ask them to redecorate."
ayee@thenational.ae
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
PRISCILLA
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Sofia%20Coppola%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Cailee%20Spaeny%2C%20Jacob%20Elordi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Habib El Qalb
Assi Al Hallani
(Rotana)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
BlacKkKlansman
Director: Spike Lee
Starring: John David Washington; Adam Driver
Five stars
The BIO
Favourite piece of music: Verdi’s Requiem. It’s awe-inspiring.
Biggest inspiration: My father, as I grew up in a house where music was constantly played on a wind-up gramophone. I had amazing music teachers in primary and secondary school who inspired me to take my music further. They encouraged me to take up music as a profession and I follow in their footsteps, encouraging others to do the same.
Favourite book: Ian McEwan’s Atonement – the ending alone knocked me for six.
Favourite holiday destination: Italy - music and opera is so much part of the life there. I love it.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
