Danish capital Copenhagen cycles its way to green growth
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E-mail Xinhua, June 15, 2012
Denmark's capital Copenhagen, home to 1.2 million people, is undergoing a "green transition."
In 2009, the municipal authorities announced an ambitious plan to make it the world's first carbon neutral city by 2025. The city's energy supply will be reorganized with more coming from wind, bio-mass, and biofuels.
The move will help the city cut its annual emission of carbon dioxide by 2.5 million tons, and make green energy industry an engine for the capital's growth.
Already, the city has achieved its mid-term goal of reducing CO2 emission to 20 percent of 2005 levels by 2015, three years ahead of schedule. But the city says reaching the second goal could be rather difficult and would involve hard decisions.
"Sustainability is no longer a choice for most societies: it is a must, especially in our cities. Here we must all strive to balance the quality of people's lives with sound economic and environmental development," Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen said.
In comments made to Xinhua, he dismissed the notion that environmentally friendly policies would limit economic growth.
"Quite the reverse turns out to be true. Green growth can, indeed, boost economic development and the quality of life. It is not just about green products and services, it also concerns the more efficient use of our limited resources. This in the long run is the only road to continued growth," Jensen said.
HARBOR WIND PARK
Located near the Copenhagen Harbor, Middelgrunden Wind Park is an eye-catching landscape. Its 20 windmills turn gracefully in the sea breeze, and with 40-megawatt installed capacity they provide enough electricity to 40,000 households in the capital.
In the early 1970s, Denmark was highly dependent on imported oil, and was subsequently hurt by the oil crisis that arrived in the same decade. However, the oil supply shock prompted it to invest in the renewable energy sector and in energy efficiency measures.
"There is a lot of wind here, and the shallow waters off the Danish coast mean it is not so expensive to build at sea here, as it is in other places," said Steen Gade, who chairs the Danish Parliament's Climate and Energy Committee.
"We have good prospects for producing a very high degree of windmill-generated electricity for Denmark and also the rest of Europe, in the long run," he said.
Denmark has invested steadily in its wind power sector over the past 30 years, and according to the Danish Energy Agency, the total installed capacity of on-and-off-shore wind-turbines equaled 3.8 gigawatts in 2010, which represents 25 percent of the country's total electricity demand.
Moreover, in November last year, Denmark's center-left coalition government launched a bold plan which targets 100 percent renewable energy in the energy and transport sectors by 2050. Wind energy should account for50 percent of the total electricity generated in 2020 under the plan.
Both public and private investment into flagship Danish wind power company Vestas, the world's largest wind-turbine manufacturer, may help the country reach these goals while making it a market leader in wind energy.
Meanwhile, on the country's west coast, the town of Esbjerg has become a hub for the off-shore wind-turbine industry, and is the one-stop supply shop for off-shore technologies and equipment throughout the North Sea region.
Denmark's wind power success is also based on community involvement, as the city has been good at involving local residents in the planning of wind-turbine projects.
This has helped reduce complaints that wind-turbines are noisy, cast irritating shadows and disfigure the landscape, and has encouraged locals to buy shares in wind-turbine parks.
Middelgrunden Wind Park, which was the first Danish offshore wind farm based on sale of shares, cost around 48 million euros (60 billion U.S. dollars) to build, and became operational in 2000.
"The Danish cooperative model involves private persons in the ownership of wind turbines, because you want the project to be accepted, and also to avoid the NIMBY, or 'Not In My Back Yard', effect," said Hans Christian Soerensen, board member of the Middelgrunden Wind Turbine Association.
He added members of the association, who have all bought shares in the park, have recovered all their invested capital in 10 years and now earn 7 percent annually on their shares.
"People are quite satisfied with this because it is much better than having it in a bank, and at the same time, you are doing something positive for the environment," Soerensen said.
Besides, the Danish government is supporting development of other renewable energy sources such as solar, biomass and tidal energy.
In fact, the World Wide Fund for Nature's 2012 Global Clean Technology Innovation Index shows Denmark is the most suitable country to carry out clean energy researh.
If all goes well according to the government's new energy plan, some 35 percent of the nation's energy will be from renewable sources by 2020, when the city will be emitting 34 percent less greenhouse gas compared with 1990 levels.
"Transforming a society from being dependent on fossil fuels to green energy requires investment. But the costs may be much greater if we do not act in time," said Danish Climate and Energy Minister Martin Lidegaard.
"At the same time, the transition will benefit the environment and ensure the future competitiveness of Danish businesses," he said.
BIKE CULTURE
While technological innovation and public-private investment can help rapidly achieve short-term green goals, long-term change is only likely through social and attitudinal shifts.
Copenhagen, which has no qualms about putting up wind-turbine parks in its busy harbor, or providing heating and electricity to city households through a huge garbage-fired power plant, has also proven successful in changing attitudes.
That is most evident in its bike culture and infrastructure. More than one-third of Copenhageners use bicycles to commute every day, and cycling is an everyday activity here for people of all ages.
As the average speed of a bicycle commuter is 15 km per hour in Copenhagen, and the average car speed is 27 km per hour owing to traffic congestion, two wheels offer a clear transport advantage over four wheels for the city's residents.
Biking also provides a free, good-health alternative to expensive gym memberships, and removes the worries associated with car ownership such as loans to finance the vehicle, parking tickets, and rising fuel prices.
To enlarge these benefits, Copenhagen city authoroties have launched the so-called "Cycle Super Highways" initiative. It gives cyclists dedicated routes through the city and its suburbs, eliminates as many stops as possible, providing a safer and faster biking experience.
The first such route, which officially opened in April, connects downtown Copenhagen with the suburb of Albertslund about 22 km away. A total of 26 routes of this kind are planned, which will increase by 30 percent the number of bike lanes in Greater Copenhagen.
The cycle highways will reduce carbon dioxide emission by 7,000 tons per year, and reduce healthcare expenditure by 300 million Danish kroner (around 53 million dollars) annually, owing to improved health of commuters, the city authorities say.
"The highway is the best thing we can do to make cycling a real alternative to driving for even more commuters. The more people we can encourage to bike, the more we can reduce congestion and pollution - both of which will improve quality of life in Greater Copenhagen," Vibeke Storm Rasmussen, chair of the Greater Copenhagen Regional Council, said in a note to journalists.
GREENING HARBOR
The city of Copenhagen has also come up with a plan to make the waters of its harbor clean enough to swim in. The idea would have seemed absurd 20 years ago, as the harbor was polluted from the city's old sewage system, local industry and shipping.
However, the Copenhagen city authorities have successfully addressed the problem by investing to upgrade the city's sewage system. The water quality improved so much that Copenhagen was able to open a public harbor bath in 2002, which helped revitalize the city center area itself.
"It's quite unique in this area, because I don't think there are any other places where we have bathing in a harbor like this anywhere in Europe," said John Pape, director of Copenhagen Municipality Environment Department.
"(Now) a lot of the property around the harbor has become very attractive to build apartment buildings on. It is one of the most popular places to live today, right next to the harbor that once used to be an industrial area," he said.
In fact, the city now has four public harbor bathing spots, with improved public transport to access them. These harbor baths have become a Copenhagen landmark and raised the city's allure as a tourist attraction and one that innovates with its public spaces.
With ranks of cyclists hurtling through its cycle super highways, early morning bathers braving the chilly harbor waters for a dip, and the wind-turbines gently turning in the background, Copenhagen shows how a focus on green growth can make urban dwellers' lives better. Enditem
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