Netherlands' natural gas fields

The Netherlands has one of the world’s largest natural gas fields. The country is the second highest producer of natural gas in the European Union and is the fifth highest exporter in the world. The Netherlands ranks third in salt exportation, which is a billion-dollar industry globally.

The Country

The Netherlands declared independence from Spain in 1579, and by the 1600s it had the world’s first modern economy. The Netherlands was one of the top commercial and seafaring powers of the time. It had also established colonies around the world. The small nation is located in Western Europe along the North Sea. The 451-kilometer coastline gives the country easy access to ocean trade routes; the country is often called the gateway to Europe. The Netherlands also shares borders with Germany and Belgium. Three main rivers—the Rhine, Schelde, and Meuse—divide the country. Most of the southwestern region of the Netherlands is part of a large river delta. Twenty-seven percent of the country is below sea level. An extensive set of dikes protects the Netherlands from flooding and erosion. The Netherlands’ economy was the eighteenth largest in the world as of 2023. Their per capita gross domestic product that year was $62,536. The country was a founding member of the European Union, joining in 1952.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is composed mostly of methane. It can be found in petroleum fields, coal beds, and isolated natural gas fields. The location of the gas affects its components. In addition to methane, natural gas can include ethane, propane, butane, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium.

In 1959, a large natural gas deposit was discovered in the Groningen province in northern Netherlands. The Slochteren field provides much of the country’s fuel supply. In 1973, the Dutch government predicted that nuclear power would eventually replace natural gas and other fuels. This led to its decision to export a majority of the country’s natural gas reserve. By 1974, public opinion had shifted away from nuclear energy. The government created its “small fields” policy in order to extend the life of the Slochteren field. Appliances and other equipment were built to run on gas from the Groningen field. Because gas differs by location, fuel mined from other fields could not be used. The problem was solved by collecting gas from the smaller fields and mixing it with gas from the Slochteren field. The small fields policy is still in use. The discovery of the massive field in 1959 changed the Dutch economy. By the 1970s, profits from natural gas made up a large part of the country’s gross domestic product. In 1997, rules and regulations were changed in Europe, which required the Netherlands to allow foreign companies to sell natural gas there. In 1999, a bill was proposed to liberalize the Dutch gas industry completely. The final draft stipulated that the effects on the country’s economy needed to be considered before completely opening the market.

The Netherlands produced 17.774 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2022. That year, the country had 212 active natural gas-producing fields.

Peat

Smallingerland, a region in northern Netherlands, and its capital city, Drachten, have long histories with the peat industry. The name Drachten is believed to be derived from darch, the Old Frisian word for peaty soil. In 1641, a businessperson hired eight hundred workers to dig peat, creating the Drachtstervaart Canal. The canal spurred several other industries in the area, including shipbuilding. At that time, peat was a main source of fuel, and the demand was more than the Friesland area could produce. Local farmers made a deal with businessmen from Holland province to sell peat. Hundreds of people began spending their days cutting peat, for little profit. Slowly, the community began to grow with the construction of homes, hostels, businesses, and other accommodations needed to handle the peat workers and industry.

The Netherlands was second globally in peat exportation in 2022, accounting for more than $109 million. Peat production in the Netherlands started to decline near the beginning of the twenty-first century, however. This was partly due to the fact that peat, like coal, is a limited resource. The Netherlands government is working to better preserve the peatlands. In 1974, the Dutch government began its efforts to protect, conserve, and restore peatlands. The five-step plan was to span a fifty-year time period. After cataloging all of the remaining peatlands in the country, the government purchased them. Step 3 mandated stopping the drainage of the land and restoring its hydrology. Extensive plans to manage the reserves were developed, followed by a campaign to educate the public about the peatlands and their importance. Through this program, the Dutch government purchased 8,000 hectares of peatland. The government also opened the Veenpark, a museum designed to educate the public about the history of peat workers. The museum includes a farmhouse, church, bakery, and other buildings that visitors can explore.

Another problem facing the country is subsidence. In order to have more land for farming, many peat grasslands have been drained, causing the fields to sink 1 to 2 meters farther below sea level than before. The peat becomes oxidized when in contact with the air, drying, crumbling, and decaying, which causes the topsoil to sink. Scientists estimate that under current conditions, the central “green heart” region of the Netherlands will continue to sink between 2 and 25 millimeters annually. In order to preserve the peat and elevation above sea level, the amount of groundwater cannot be decreased.

Flowers

The Netherlands is the second largest exporter in the world of agricultural products. Horticultural exports accounted for $108.4 billion in 2021, a record high for the country. It exports about half of the fresh-cut plants, flower bulbs, and other live plants sold throughout the world. Every year, the Netherlands produces billions of flower bulbs, including approximately two billion tulips for export. Over one-half of the country’s flower-bulb farms are planted with tulips. Other popular bulbs include lilies, gladioli, narcissi, and hyacinths.

The tulip arrived in Holland in 1593 with the arrival of botanist Charles de L’Écluse (also known as Carolus Clusius). He had taken a position at the University of Leiden as its head botanist for the botanical garden. The tulips L’Écluse brought with him were gifts from an ambassador from Constantinople whom he had met while living in Vienna. He planted his tulip collection behind a building at the university. The flowers were popular, but L’Écluse refused to give away or sell any of the bulbs. It is believed that the Dutch tulip industry started when thieves stole some of L’Écluse’s flowers from his garden. Through the seventeenth century, tulips spread in the area between the North Sea and Amsterdam. This region is now known as the bollenstreek, or bulb-growing district. The town of Lisse is at the center of this district and hosts a world-famous flower exhibition.

Tulips were not always readily available as they are today. The years between 1634 and 1637 are known as “the foolish tulip trade,” “the wild tulip speculation,” and “Tulipomania.” In 1634, tulip bulbs were sold by weight instead of per bulb. Bulbs were weighed in grain (4 to 8 centigrams), which is also used by goldsmiths. In 1636, tulips were seen as a symbol of status and wealth. Bulbs were bought at high costs, and sold at even higher prices. At the peak, some tulips sold for the same amount as a large home along the canals in Amsterdam. Tulips also became the subject of many paintings by famous artists. In 1637, the Dutch government passed a law against such excessive tulip prices. That year, the tulip market crashed, an event that has been compared to the American stock market crash of 1929.

A second bulb district developed in the North Holland province during World War I. In 1925, the Dutch created the International Flower Bulb Center to assist gardeners around the world with growing bulb flowers. At the end of World War II a large expansion of flower bulb cultivation occurred.

Limestone

Limestone quarries are found throughout the world. Several of the largest are found in the Netherlands and Belgium, spanning more than 100 kilometers. Mount Saint Peter, near St. Pietersberg in the Netherlands, is covered with massive limestone quarries.

The Netherlands also has several underground limestone caves. The city of Valkenburg is famous for its caves, which have been used for centuries. The walls contain ancient charcoal drawings and other artwork. The caverns were used during World War II as a shelter for refugees. Public tours are given of a portion of the more than 70 kilometers of caves and passageways beneath Valkenburg. In the Limburg region of Holland and Belgium, there are more than three hundred room and pillar limestone mines, some as large as 85 hectares. In the Maastricht region, extensive mining of limestone has resulted in both local and large-scale collapses. These collapses have caused faulting, surface subsidence, and the formation of sinkholes.

The quarry near the village of Winterswijk is a source of Mesozoic limestone from the Muschelkalk period. Students, scientists, and the general public search the quarry for fossils on weekends and over the summer. They search for fossils of ancient reptiles that date back 240 million years. Fossils of imprints of claws of the Rhynchosauroides peabodyi are common in the quarry. No bone fossils of the coastal reptile have been found, only claw prints and skin. These trace fossils can be helpful to scientists, telling them the animal’s weight and speed. In 2006, the Dutch Geologic Society found a trace sequence in the Winterswijk quarry that was more than 10 meters long. Scientists search for trace fossils by splitting the limestone into very thin sheets, about 0.5 centimeter in thickness. Fossilized fish scales and bones, seashells, and reptile bones have also been found in the quarry.

Salt

The collection of peat in the eighth and ninth centuries caused the land to sink and fill with saltwater. By the eleventh century, this peat was heavily concentrated with salt, so it was used for salt making instead of fuel. It was only possible to collect this peat during low tide. The peat was dried and then burned. The ashes were taken to salt sheds, where they were placed in large drums full of saltwater, which was used to increase the amount of salt collected. The water was then evaporated away. During medieval times, eelgrass was also used in salt making in the northwestern regions of Holland. Salt was an important preservative for fish, bacon, other meats, and butter at the time.

In some ways, the Netherlands owes its independence to salt. During its revolution against Spain, it blockaded the Iberian saltworks, effectively bankrupting Spain. The Netherlands began mining and producing salt in 1918. Halite, or rock salt, deposits exist throughout the world, left behind after the evaporation of ancient lakes. Halite can be mined the same way as other rocks, or it can be dissolved with water underground. The saltwater solution is then brought to the surface, where the salt can be removed. This method is more cost-effective. The salt is then purified, removing the magnesium, calcium, and any other unwanted elements. Most of the world’s salt is produced for food storage or consumption; more than 8 percent is used in other industries. Salt is used in the production of pulp and paper, the dyeing of fabrics, and soapmaking. The Netherlands ranked second in the world in salt exports in 2022, accruing $448 million in salt that year.

Arable Land

The term “arable land” is defined as land that can be used to grow crops. Land is deemed nonarable if it is too rocky, too cold or hot, too dry, too mountainous, too rainy or snowy, or too polluted. An average of more than 200,000 square kilometers of arable land is lost each year. It is possible however, to turn nonarable land (sometimes referred to as wasteland) into arable land. The process depends on why the land is nonarable. Some of the processes are planting trees in deserts to create shade, digging irrigation ditches, using fertilizers, creating hills to shelter areas from high winds, and constructing greenhouses for areas with harsh climates or little sunlight. These processes are often huge undertakings that cost large amounts of money. In 2022, 53 percent of the Netherlands was agricultural land. Much of the Netherlands has been reclaimed from the North Sea by draining water and building dikes and levees.

Other Resources

The Netherlands ranked 22nd in petroleum exports in 2022. that year, it exported $15.3 billion in crude petroleum. The Shell gasoline company, officially the Royal Dutch Shell plc, was created in 1907 after Dutch and British gas companies merged. Jean Baptiste August Kessler and Henri W. A. Deterding founded the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company in 1890.

The Netherlands exported an estimated 1.63 million metric tons of industrial sand and gravel, amounting to a value of almost $190 million in 2017.

The Netherlands also produces and exports a large number of vegetables. In 2022, the Netherlands exported $31.8 billion in vegetable products. During the 1990s, Dutch tomato farmers struggled to sell their produce. German consumers stopped buying the tomatoes, claiming that they lacked flavor and tasted industrially mass-produced. European shoppers had begun choosing tomatoes imported from the Mediterranean instead, along with French cheese, cucumbers from Greece, and Danish bacon, instead of those produced in the Netherlands. One drawback to Holland tomatoes is that they are grown in large greenhouses, instead of outdoors.

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