Copenhagen - On Road to a Zero Carbon City
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Case Code: SUST018 Case Length: 7 Pages Period: 2009 - 2014 Pub Date: 2014 Teaching Note: Available |
Price: Rs.300 Organization: Copenhagen City Administration Industry: Green Technology Countries: Denmark Themes: Environmental Sustainability |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
Excerpts
2025 Climate Plan
The 2025 Climate Plan was the cornerstone of Copenhagen's efforts to achieve a carbon neutral status. The plan, prepared in 2012, was proposed to be a holistic one and also a collection of specific goals. Four areas were identified for focused attention "energy consumption, energy production, mobility, and city administration. The plan aimed to create a green, smart, and carbon neutral Copenhagen. It envisaged close cooperation between all stakeholders" government, businesses, knowledge institutions, and the citizens.
It noted that the city had been successful in achieving the 20 per cent reduction (compared to 2005) which it was supposed to accomplish in 2015 by 2011 itself. It was estimated that Copenhagen would emit 1.9 million tonnes of CO2 in 2012. The emission was expected to be brought down to 1.16 million tonnes by 2025. For this to happen the city had to use less energy, change energy production to green energy, and also produce a surplus of green energy to compensate for the emissions that would continue to be generated beyond 2025....
Energy Consumption
Heat and electricity consumption contributed to 75 per cent of the total CO2 emissions in the city. Added to this, the city population was expected to grow by 100,000 by 2025. Also, space was to be provided for 20,000 additional jobs. There was a need to improve the efficiency of energy usage. The climate plan aimed at a 20 per cent reduction in electricity consumption in commercial and service companies, 10 per cent reduction in electricity consumption in households, and 1 per cent reduction in electricity consumption through the use of solar cells...
Energy Production
Measures taken in the area of energy production were expected to contribute to a reduction of 855,000 tonnes of CO2. These comprised the use of wind turbines (42 per cent), biomass fired combined heat and power plants (43 per cent), separation of plastic from burnable waste(12 per cent), and conversion to biomass fired peak load production (3 per cent). District heating was to be made carbon neutral. More than 100 wind turbines were to be installed by 2025. The plan aimed to ensure that electricity production from wind, biomass, geothermal, and waste was more than the electricity consumption of the city...
Mobility
Transportation caused 22 per cent of the carbon discharged from Copenhagen. Initiatives in this area targeted achieving a reduction of 135,000 tonnes of CO2. The major initiatives planned were - 75 per cent of all trips by people to be made on foot, by bike, or by public transportation; 50 per cent of trips to work or school to be made by bike; 20 per cent more people to use public transportation; 20 to 30 per cent of light vehicles to run on new fuels like electricity, hydrogen, biogas, or ethanol; and 30 to 40 per cent of heavy vehicles to run on new fuels. Public transport was to be made carbon neutral....
City Administration
To act as a role model and an important contributor, the city administration planned to bring about a reduction of 20,000 tonnes of CO2 through efforts in activities under its own purview. It planned to reduce energy consumption in municipal buildings by 40 per cent, reduce electricity consumed by street lights by half, and install 60,000 square meter solar panels on existing and new municipal buildings. It also planned to construct new buildings as per improved norms. It planned to collaborate with knowledge institutions as well as private and public organizations to create and disseminate knowledge on building processes, retrofitting, and new building design with climate adaptation....
Investment And Benefits
An investment of DKK 20 - 25 billion was expected to be made on the initiatives envisaged in the climate plan. The initiatives were expected to result in the creation of 29,000 to 35,000 man years of jobs in the city. The viability of the initiatives was based on the expectation that the price of conventional fossil energy sources like coal, oil, and gas would increase in the future. The measures envisaged in the climate plan were expected to help improve the health of citizens and their quality of life due to a reduction in congestion, noise, and pollution...
The Bicycle Culture
The cycle culture in Denmark dated back to the 1880s. One of the important contributors to Copenhagen's journey to carbon neutrality was its culture. Copenhagen was famous around the world for its biking culture and it aimed to become the world's best cycling city. Several initiatives by the authorities had helped in popularizing the bike culture. Cycle Super Highways with facilities for cyclists had been created as also 'Green Waves' - green lights all the way through routes with frequent stop lights. Till the end of 2012, free bike rentals were provided to visitors through 'bycyklen kobenhavn'...
Involving Stakeholders
The city focused on the business community in its efforts since this segment accounted for 46 per cent of the 2,600 GWh electricity consumption by the city during 2010 and also because electricity consumption was the source of around 50 percent of carbon emissions from the city. "Green Business' - the city's environmental network, and a European Union funded project "Carbon20' to cut carbon emissions by 20 per cent through partnerships with enterprises were aimed at focusing on results from this section. The city also took up renovation of schools and sports facilities to make them more energy efficient and initiated a climate campaign for its own employees. Wind turbines - a carbon neutral source of electricity - were expected to contribute significantly in this direction....
Success
The OECD report on measuring the potential of local green growth identified Copenhagen as a leader among green cities. The report recognized the progress Copenhagen was making in its transition to a green economy. It pointed out that Euro 12 billion of the total Euro 30 billion turnover of companies in the region in 2011 was related to clean-tech-related activities. Also 34,000 of the 78,000 people employed in these companies were working directly with clean-tech-related activities. The study showed that the green turnover and export of green technology had outgrown other sectors of the local economy during the period 2004 to 2009....
Looking Ahead
According to a dashboard developed as part of the OECD monitoring framework, Copenhagen was performing well on economic opportunities and environmental and resource productivity. There was further scope for progress in the spheres of policy responses and green skills ecosystem (Refer to Table IV). One of the challenges in implementing the plan was bringing about the changes in legislation that some of the measures entailed. A congestion charge proposal to reduce traffic jams and air pollution caused by cars was scrapped because of objections raised against it within the government. Similarly, changes in legislation were necessary to bring about a change in incentives to convert coal-based combined heat and power plants to biomass and a change in incentives for the installation of windmills in coastal areas...
Exhibits
Exhibit I: Cisco's Revenue and Profits: 1995-2010
Exhibit II: Distribution of the Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions from the City of Copenhagen (2010)
Exhibit III: The Copenhagen Climate Plan 2009
Exhibit IV: Copenhagen's Performance as per OECD Monitoring Framework
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