EINDHOVEN – In recent months a group of eleven mathematicians, including five from TU Eindhoven, have done research into the feasibility of ‘the mountain’.
The mountain is a dream of former cyclist and (sports) journalist Thijs Zonneveld. He wants a 2000 meters high mountain in Netherlands. According to the mathematicians a traditional mountain of rock and sand is not feasible. Not only through the cost but also through the size of the project that wouldn’t be possible.They speak in their report of a construction rather than of a mountain. There would be 69,000 kilograms of concrete necessary (almost four times the current world production) and it would cost 3,900 billion euro to build a conventional mountain.Thanks to the scale and the height the construction the edifice offers many possibilities to generate energy. The mathematicians in the report suggest two ideas to generate wind and sun energy, by means of wind tunnels and so-called solar chimneys. A solar chimney of 1000 meters high would be able to provide the energy needs of 30,000 households according to their calculations.To read the whole report:http://s.wdmc.eu/hItMf72lsUvh8bhL2mcvLw/woRlihbAe0WhsIjQXFAo5A/0zdZDbyTUUHwXKX5b7WFRw/De%20Berg%20Report.pdfhttp://www.dichtbij.nl/eindhoven/trend/artikel/2572361/wiskundigen-tue-werken-mee-aan-rapport-over-de-nederlandse-berg.aspx
