C.F. Jaarsma

Fossil energy and rural reconstruction: Potential for sustainable development

Abstract Environmental problems such as smog, acid rain and the greenhouse effect have drawn increased attention to the role of fossil energy. To obtain sustainable development, a reduction in fossil energy consumption is necessary, in urban as well as in rural areas. In rural areas, land use and land exploitation as well as energy consumption depend on such factors as soil properties, water management systems and physical layout. These factors, and in this way the energy consumption, can be influenced by rural reconstructions. Modern rural reconstructions aim at improvement of land and water use conditions, accessibility, and conditions for outdoor recreation and for nature development. Energy productivity and consumption for various land uses as related to reconstruction of the countryside have been studied. This research paper focuses on the improvement of water management and parcellation, the rural road system, outdoor recreation and landscape-ecological systems. Results are applied to the Melderslo Land Reallocation Project in the southern Province of Limburg, in the Netherlands. Environmental problems require a reduction in fossil energy consumption, part of which has to be achieved in rural areas. This study shows that rural reconstruction can contribute to this goal.