Local
Renewable Energy Conference in Freiburg
Keith Chesterton went as one of three delegates representing Guildford Borough Council. These notes are his personal views of the proceedings. 34 countries, mainly in Europe, were represented by 227 delegates. UK delegates came from Leicester, Nottingham, Merton, Sheffield, Craigavon, Woking and Guildford.
Different cities concentrated on different renewable energy technologies. Freiburg has made a name for itself as a "solar city", Copenhagen has concentrated on wind turbines and Växjö in Sweden on biofuels. But they all pay great attention to increasing the energy efficiency of their housing, are major users of CHP and try to reduce car use - or, at least, restrict its growth, by encouraging the use of public transport and cycling.
Freiburg - renewable sources and reduced demand
Freiburg has been working on renewable energy production since the early 1990s. It has made itself a solar city, with 12,000 square metres of thermal solar panels and 9,000 square metres of PV cells on roofs. Collectively solar power generates 9 mW at peak & 8 million kWhours per year.
The city also has five wind turbines which generate 15 million kWh per annum. Overall 4% of its energy came from renewable sources in 2005, with other contributions from several small hydro plants on the river Dreisam and some bio-energy. Their target of 10% is expected to be reached by 2010. It shows how long it takes to build up the momentum to get significant results
But Freiburgers have also concentrated on reducing the demand for energy. They have built tram lines and have excellent linkages between these, train and bus. They have built major new developments, especially at Vauban, an old army site. This is a development for 6,000 people with their dwellings at the 50-60 kWh/m2/yr level (which is low), connected by tram to the centre of Freiburg & with car parks (for those who want them) 400 metres away. Their only drawback is the absence of lifts for the elderly or heavily laden families.
More details of developments in Freiburg are available in the links below.
Freiburg - PowerPoint show (760KB) Freiburg - Acrobat document (1.65MB)
Växjö is a city in the South of Sweden, at about the same latitude as Edinburgh. It has a population of about 80,000 in an area of 1,600 square kilometres.
The city started reducing its need for fossil fuels many years ago when climate change was just a scare. Compared with 1993, it will have reduced its CO2 emissions by half by 2010 and has set a target of decreasing by 70% by 2025. In 2005, half their energy came from renewable sources.
In 1984, it installed its first biomass (wood) combined heat and power (CHP) system and in 1997 installed a 100 mW biomass CHP. This gives income to local forest owners, saw mills and contractors. Now 97% of the population is on biomass, and by 2010, everyone will be able to convert to bio-energy. In villages, small-scale biomass district heating has been installed.
The Växjö authorities insist all new developments have meters for electricity and heat - not common in Sweden. One problem they have not cracked is transport. They have lots of car sharing & cycle use, but people still insist on driving large 4 x 4s and CO2 emissions from transport are going up. So Växjö is setting up a European bio-gasification centre to produce fuel for cars. Eventually even car transport will use renewable energy.
More details of developments in Växjö can be seen in the links below.
Växjö - PowerPoint show (704KB) Växjö - Acrobat document (815KB)
Wind power is the main source of renewable energy in Denmark, currently 16% but with a target to reach 30% by 2025. There are about 5,400 wind turbines in Denmark, including 6 off-shore windfarms. 20 turbines off Copenhagen have a rated output of 40 mW and supply 4% of Copenhagen's annual energy.
There is strong public support for wind turbines: the programme started in the 1990s and involved the public as much as possible throughout. The price per unit of electricity generated has decreased by a factor of 4 in the last 20 years. The manufacture of wind turbines has created 20,000 jobs in Denmark which now has half of the world market, with exports worth more than 5 billion Euros every year. We were told this was higher than Danish bacon exports!
- Political consensus is vital to set and achieve climate change goals. It is a long term commitment.
- Energy efficiency is the most important issue.
- Housing is responsible for 50% of final energy use in the UK - 40% in the EU.
- "Passiv" houses (with a low energy requirement) use 13 - 15 kW/m2 compared to 180 kW/m2 of a standard UK house. Modern houses can be built to use no more than 50 - 60 kW/m2, saving 60 - 70% on old houses. Houses can be refurbished to reach this standard.
- When setting emissions targets, all sources of CO2 should be accounted for including transport.
- There are many different
renewable energy technologies and all that are feasible should be exploited.
