City Profile
Budapest
City Profile Budapest
Introduction Budapest is the capital city of Hungary and is located in the middle of the Carpathian Basin in the north–central region of Hungary. The river Danube divides the city, which covers an area of 525 km2 with a population of 1.7 million. As the largest city in Hungary, it is the country's political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. The city’s population peaked in 1989 with 2.1 million. During the last two decades, this number has constantly decreased due to the urban sprawl effect. The greater commuter belt is home to around three million inhabitants (80 townships).
According to the Municipal Act, Budapest has had a two-level municipal governing system since 1990, meaning there are 23 districts plus the municipality of Budapest. BKK is the transport organising authority of Budapest, whose responsibilities cover transportation along with its environmental and energy consumption aspects.
Budapest signed the Covenant of Mayors in 2008 and submitted its Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) in 2011. Thus, Budapest has
committed itself to cutting CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 as compared to the data from 2005. Energy-Efficient Buildings and Districts
Service buildings (non-municipal)
In the decade leading up to 2020, the target is to achieve a reduction in the specific energy consumption of service buildings (e.g. office and commercial buildings) in line with those of municipal buildings, meaning a total decrease of 25%. In the next ten years, a 3-4 % increase of the combined areas of commercial, service and office buildings is expected – which currently have an estimated area of 1,500 hectares. However, this increasing demand will only lead to a 2% growth rate in terms of energy consumption because of advancement in more efficient technological solutions. Due to the expected replacement of all light bulbs, a 5% reduction in energy consumption is envisaged.
Municipal buildings
By 2020, the municipality aims to reach at least a 25% reduction in energy consumption in its own 250 facilities (a total of 1,574,916 m2 of heated area, 5,682,615 m3 of heated building volume). This target will be achieved through different thermal-based building improvements (i.e. renovating facade insulation, doors, windows, heating and cooling systems). The aim is to reduce the energy consumption of these buildings by half compared with current demand.
In order to achieve this goal, at least 125 facilities need to be upgraded (heated area of 750,000 m2), at least as far as the modernisation of
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insulation and heating-cooling systems are concerned. Modern, efficient technologies are to be prioritised, such as combined cool, heat and power production/tri-generation (CCHP), including the option of joining the long- distance heating network. Renewable Energy Sources and Distributed Generation
Budapest has several projects and activities on the go regarding renewable energy and distributed energy generation.
System integration of new, non-natural-gas-based heat sources
The Budapest heating company (FŐTÁV Zrt) and the Budapest healing spas and hot springs company(BGyH Zrt) made an agreement to jointly examine the possibilities for utilising waste heat generated by used thermal waters from Budapest thermal baths.
An example under implementation is the heating for the zoo project. In the course of this project, waste heat from the Széchenyi Baths is used for heating the zoo’s buildings. Another project involves using used thermal water from the Gellért Bath, as well as implementing a low-temperature near-distance heating system, which are under preparation within the framework of joining the Smart Cities EU project proposal. The current share of Budapest’s natural gas heating supply (long-distance) may decrease from the current 96% to a level below 80%.
Local energy production
In large cities, the possibilities for local energy production are highly limited. Thus, on the one hand, solar thermal systems (up to a 2% share of all heated flats) and, on the other hand, decentralised solutions such as block heating power plants (up to a 5% share) could spread out the share of local energy production.
Biogas of sufficient quality can be produced at Budapest’s largest waste material landfill (Regional Waste Treatment Centre at Pusztazámor). Apart from that, advantages of synergies between local companies (i.e. municipal public domain maintenance company and Budapest gas company) will be taken into account to supply biogas on a greater scale than the gas network. Energy in Urban Transport
The policy towards sustainable transport modes plays a significant role. Car usage can be decreased by 10% in Budapest - as the result of high petrol prices and the economic crisis - if public transport can provide adequate alternatives (new M4 metro line, extension and modernisation of the tram network and the gradual replacement of bus and trolleybus fleet). On the one hand, it is expected that passenger capacity will increase by 5%; on the other hand, the actual fuel consumption will decrease by 15% due to technological
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developments. This decrease is estimated in both the public and individual transport sectors.
BKK is currently working on several legislative procedures to influence travel behaviour such as introducing congestion charging, reviewing the freight traffic strategy, overhauling the access permit system, and developing a complex parking scheme. The introduction of these control measures can enhance modal shifts towards environmentally sustainable modes of transport, thus reducing energy consumption and pollutant emission levels.
The following projects are currently being elaborated: - Implementing the M4 metro line - Introducing congestion charging - Extending and modernising the tram and trolley network - Introducing automated fare collection (AFC) and an e-ticketing system - Promoting environmentally friendly individual means of travel (cycling, walking)
BKK is facing high political and technological risks in terms of the congestion-charging project. It is important for BKK, and also for Budapest, to cope with the day-to-day challenges that arise during project preparations. Financing
In Budapest, the main funding sources for transport development projects are the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Cohesion Fund (CF). During the last decade, the main project for Budapest involved the erection of the new metro line (M4 metro line). Its funding came from a combination of the European Union, the Hungarian Government and the municipality of Budapest. Smaller investments such as in bicycle lane development can be financed exclusively by the municipality.
Future Visions and Expectations
In connection with environmental issues concerning Budapest and its suburban areas – in this case primarily focusing on the fields of climate and
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energy – the municipality of Budapest has two available measures:
- Direct intervention - Indirect influencing
Both measures are required to implement effective solutions. However, ‘direct interventions’ are necessary in areas where the municipality has exclusive responsibility (e.g. the upgrading of its own heating system), including cases where the municipality could cooperate with other partners, such as district municipalities, governmental organisations or NGOs as well as local companies in order to achieve more efficient solutions.
In the course of ‘indirect influencing’, the municipality promotes and facilitates certain tasks considered to be relevant for the city but not within the scope of municipal responsibility to be carried out by other stakeholders.
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Doeppersberg 19 42103 Wuppertal GERMANY
City of Budapest
Hungary
www.cascadecities.eu
CASCADE is an EU-funded project coordinated by EUROCITIES which aims to design and deliver large-scale networking and mutual learning actions on local energy leadership among members of the EUROCITIES network. The CASCADE consortium is composed of: EUROCITIES, Wuppertal Institut, Koucky & Partners and the following cities: Amaroussion, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Burgas, Edinburgh, Eindhoven, Gateshead, Genoa, Gijon, Malmo, Mannheim, Milan, Nantes, Stockholm, Sunderland, Tampere, Terrassa, Venice and Warsaw.
The CASCADE project is co-financed by the Intelligent Energy Europe Programme. The sole responsibility for the content of this report lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Union. Neither the EACI nor the European Commission are responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.
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