Category: the netherlands

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Amsterdam Enacts a Ban on All Gas and Diesel Vehicles

Pollution is the global issue of our time, and around the world more and more cities are trying to take measures to reduce their carbon impact.

Most recently, the city of Amsterdam has taken a MAJOR step towards cleaner air: the Dutch city has announced that it is planning to phase out all gas and diesel vehicles by 2030.

Amsterdam’s traffic councillor recently said, “Pollution often is a silent killer and is one of the greatest health hazards in Amsterdam.” You might be surprised that such a world-renowned bike-friendly city (30% of Dutch commuters travel by bike) has such an awful pollution problem, but air pollution in the Netherlands is worse than European rules permit. This is mainly due to the heavy traffic in Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The city’s plan is to replace all gas and diesel engines with electric or hydrogen cars, or other emission-free alternatives, by 2030. The plan will begin next year when diesel engines built before 2005 will be banned from Amsterdam. The plan then calls for gradual banning of more vehicles from city streets.

The current levels of nitrogen dioxide and particle matter in Amsterdam’s air can cause respiratory illnesses and shorten life expectancy by more than a year. The city plans to get rid of public buses that run on gas by 2022, to increase the number of electrical charging stations to 23,000 by 2025, and to offer subsidies and special parking permits to encourage residents to make the switch to electric and hydrogen cars sooner than later. We all know how crucial a nice parking spot can be, right?

Hopefully, other cities around the globe will take note – and in fact Brussels, Belgium, is already looking to follow Amsterdam’s lead.

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Dutch Artists Paint Giant Bookcase on Building, Featuring Every Resident’s Favorite Books

An extraordinary building stands in the Dutch city of Utrecht, made extraordinary by the mural that two Dutch artists have painted on its side.  I know what you’re thinking: plenty of buildings all over the world are painted with murals.

But this one is particularly unusual.

Jan Is De Man and Deef Feed are the talented team behind this community bookcase project. It all started when friends of Jan Is De Man asked him for a big smiley face mural for their building. But he didn’t feel that the idea, although friendly and positive, was weighty enough.

After some thought and study, inspiration for a bookshelf of residents’ literary favorites began to emerge from the building’s exterior wall.

The mural was done with the technique of trompe l’oeil, French for “deceive the eye.” In painting, using trompe l’oeil gives an object a 3-dimensional quality for added realism.

And it works – the artists’ giant bookshelf looks as if one of the novels could actually be pulled out for reading.

But what we really want to know is, who chose Playboy as a favorite book?

Posted by JanIsDeMan on Monday, March 25, 2019

Jan Is De Man invited all the residents to submit their favorite titles. Except for religious and political titles, no book was off limits.

Though large, the whole creation took one week to paint.

The neighborhood surrounding the building is a diverse one, and many people come by to take photos and end up in conversation about the mural or books or whatever is on their minds. Usually, they leave with a smile.

As for Jan Is De Man, he has other projects in the works. Follow his amazing talent on social media to see where he pops up next!

The post Dutch Artists Paint Giant Bookcase on Building, Featuring Every Resident’s Favorite Books appeared first on UberFacts.