After waking up and having breakfast, we headed back to Twente University.  While there, we first had a lecture by Arne Van Garrel, a professor at the University.  He discussed concepts of wind power, such as the differences between lift and drag-based wind turbines and the maximum energy efficiency of a wind turbine.  Afterward, we were given a second tour of Twente from a sustainability perspective.  During the tour, our guide taught us about many of the sustainable aspects of Twente, such as the koudcirkel.  The koudcirkel is a body of water on campus used to cool buildings.  The guide also discussed their use of extra-wide mowers to reduce fuel for mowing grass.  This made me think of concepts related to sustainable vehicle design, as using less fuel produces fewer CO2 emissions and reduces your environmental impact while achieving the same result.  It also made me wonder, as I have seen extra-large mowers in the United States, if their integration was also due to sustainability or a different reason.

Once our sustainability tour was finished, we boarded a bus heading for Windpark Groen and Elburg.  We began by spending some time at Windpark Groen.  There, we had the opportunity to learn more about the wind farm, including how they incorporate batteries to store excess electricity and the processes the company went through to build the farm and link it to the national grid.  We headed for Elburg after our trip to Windpark Groen.  While there, we received a tour from a local.  As we walked around, she taught us about Elburg’s history, including when it was built and its design choice of being surrounded by a square wall, similar to Roman cities.  Another thing I learned about Elburg/Dutch history on the tour was that Elburg has a multi-day fishing celebration.  This made me think about the town I’m from in Pennsylvania, Kennett Square, which holds a festival for an important food in our history, mushrooms.

After both tours concluded, we stopped in Elburg for a group dinner.  We then got gelato before returning to the bus.  It was a long bus ride back to Twente/the hotel, and once we finally made it back, I, tired from the long day, went to bed.  Overall, today was a day that not only reinforced and expanded my knowledge of wind energy but also taught me Dutch history.