EUROPEAN NETWORK “100% renewable is possible.” “Social inclusion and gender equality also relate to energy transition.” “100% renewable does not equal 100% sustainable - we also need to address consumption.” “This is a climate emergency.” HOW CAN YOUR CITY BECOME... 100% RENEWABLE? TOOLKIT: HOW CAN YOUR CITY BECOME... 100% RENEWABLE? OPENING STATEMENTS European Commission – DG ENV Umeå EUROPEAN In times of crisis, renewable In 2019, we welcomed the energy should not be a European Green Capital burden but it can rather play Network cities to Umeå, to NETWORK a crucial role to ensure a reflect on all of our work to successful and sustainable become 100% renewable. HOW CAN YOUR CITY BECOME... 100% RENEWABLE? economic recovery. The European Union has IIn Umeå, we believe TABLE OF CONTENTS committed to achieving the in integrating different climate goals and emissions perspectives when thinking Opening statements 3 reduction targets set out in about the future of our city Why is now the time to act? 4 the Paris Agreement. and citizens. That includes Transformation stories 5 learning from peer cities about Furthermore, it will be implementing this commitments successful approaches in renewable energy, electric Transformation pathways through the European Green Deal, announced in mobility, and building retrofits. It is also about integrating Umeå - Turning disaster into opportunity 6 December 2019, aiming to make Europe the first social, cultural and economic perspectives into our energy Lisbon - City of light 9 climate neutral continent by 2050. Today, around 75% of and environmental policies, and vice versa. Ljubljana - Building the way to a better future 10 Europeans live in cities, and urban areas account for 60 to 80% of our energy consumption and CO emissions. We believe in combining a systemic view of our energy Nuremberg - There is no “I” in Nuremberg 12 2 Therefore, our cities and urban areas must act decisively system with a responsiveness to our citizens’ changing Learning from the best 14 to allow Europe to be climate neutral by 2050. needs and concerns. Implementing a 100% renewable It‘s your turn 16 energy vision therefore requires both technical This is not the end 18 However, even the most ambitious and sustainable considerations, as well as taking social elements into cities face challenges when attempting to become 100% account to ensure a just energy transition. This can mean Imprint 19 renewable. Cities need to engage with their citizens and analysing and paying attention to gender, as well as socio- find ways to encourage more sustainable living. economic disparities, when developing 100% renewable cities. Although much work remains ahead, we are also This toolkit covers many other diverse and important proud of our achievements and transitions so far. issues cities may face, from ensuring effective cooperation with neighbouring rural communities, We are proud that public transport trips in Umeå are This toolkit covers the following indicator areas for dealing with gentrification when carrying out housing increasing, and that our buses now run on electricity and the European Green Capital Award: refurbishments, bringing social and environmental renewable energy. However, still not enough people are considerations together and much, much more. choosing sustainable modes of transport. Through our Climate Change: Mitigation continuous monitoring and analysis of the social aspects Climate Change: Adaptation The stories in this toolkit highlight some of the many of our transport system, we can see, for example, that Sustainable Urban Mobility challenges the Network cities have faced, and go on women are 15-20 % more likely than men to choose Sustainable Land Use to explain how they overcame them, and what the sustainable travel for the same journey. The use of public Nature and Biodiversity success factors were. When it comes to making our transport has also decreased because of Covid-19 and we Air Quality cities fossil free, the members of the European Green now need to win back people’s trust in buses and trains. Noise Capital Network are some of the most advanced cities Moving forward, beyond climate neutrality, we are now Waste in Europe. This toolkit aims to support and inspire other also looking at consumption-based environmental targets Water cities wanting to make the transformation to becoming in Umeå. This is a new way of thinking for cities, inspired Green Growth and Eco-innovation 100% renewable. by the Agenda 2030. Energy Performance Governance We hope you find this toolkit helpful and inspiring, In May 2019, we had the pleasure of welcoming the especially in times like these, and that you can European Green Capital Network to Umeå. This toolkit help deliver our 2050 zero carbon goal and go 1 is an outcome of that inspiring exchange – of peer cities 00% renewable. sharing experiences in working towards our common vision to develop 100% renewable cities. Daniel Calleja Cover image: Dreamstime / Gyuszko Director General for Environment Hans Lindberg European Commission Mayor of Umeå 3 TOOLKIT: HOW CAN YOUR CITY BECOME... 100% RENEWABLE? TOOLKIT: HOW CAN YOUR CITY BECOME... 100% RENEWABLE? WHY IS NOW THE TIME TO ACT? TRANSFORMATION STORIES Lahti: Farewell to coal Lahti needed to replace its old coal power plant. Cities are the focal point of the transition to This toolkit shares how the winners and finalists of the It took this as an opportunity to change pathways renewable energy: they are simultaneously sites European Green Capital Award have tackled the thorny Nijmegen: and replace it with a biothermal heat and power of unsustainability – energy hungry and carbon question of becoming 100% renewable. It explores the Citizens building wind turbines plant that will use certified wood and wood emitting – and sites of experimentation for radical successes and challenges that they have faced in doing residues. The city estimates that the plant, which decarbonisation. The potential for urban areas to lead so, and puts forward lessons learned and a wealth of The people of Nijmegen have taken renewable was completed in 2019, will reduce Lahti‘s CO2 the march towards 100% renewable energy systems is experience for other cities to build on. energy into their own hands. Citizens, citizen emissions by over 70%. As the plant’s inputs will clear and recognised across all levels of government. organisations, and private companies have mainly come from within a 100km radius of Lahti, A key lesson from this toolkit is that 100% renewable together formed a cooperative and built four the plant will also create new jobs in the region. cities are not solely about renewable energy supply: wind turbines, which now produce a total of Lahti also intends to include carbon sinks and they are also about reducing energy demand through 12 MW of energy per year. At the same time, carbon storage in its climate protection plans, energy efficiency measures such as building retrofits, a local green energy company was founded, which are, however, still to be finalised. electric mobility, and achieving ambitious policies and which provides regional green energy at a fair More than 70% of carbon emissions from targets. price. Transparent communication with all final energy use can be attributed to urban stakeholders and free electricity for directly 1 areas. Another lesson is that there is no one way of doing affected residents helped minimise some initial things. However, the ways we organise our energy resistance from locals, and the project became Reykjavik: infrastructure has long-term effects, by locking us into a communal effort and success. Both initiatives Fossil free transport now contribute to the city’s goal of becoming specific pathways. In Reykjavik, given its ideal location, electricity energy neutral by 2045. and district heating is already 100% renewable and mostly comes from hydro and geothermal power. Thus, a key aspect of Reykjavik’s renewable There is broad consensus that we need to accelerate energy strategy focuses on the transport sector, and upscale the sustainable energy transition if we are The role of local organisations and which is responsible for two thirds of emissions to prevent a climate emergency. Yet, the road ahead cities will be much greater in the energy Oslo: in Iceland’s capital. The municipality has the goal remains arduous, with just under 12 years to halve systems of the future.3 Towards greener and cleaner cars of having its transport completely fossil fuel free carbon emissions and reduce primary energy use by by 2040, but is struggling to reduce emissions so 40% to stay below 1.5 °C of warming. The city of Oslo’s goal for its cars is twofold: it wants cleaner cars and it wants fewer cars far, in part due to a booming economy. Emissions on its streets. The success rates in achieving from waste, the second largest source, are these goals so far is mixed. The city’s target of expected to drop significantly once the city Cities in action reducing road traffic by 20% from 2015 to the completes its new waste plant in 2020. Sustainable energy systems can be centralised, end of 2020 will most likely not be reached, since 5,700 cities with quantifiable relying on large-scale infrastructure such as offshore they have only reduced road traffic by about 4% commitments (35%) wind parks and ultra-high tension lines; they can as of 2019. It will therefore also be challenging to reach the 2030 target of a 33% reduction. also be decentralised, giving citizens active roles as Münster: 6,500 cities involved in climate action ‘prosumers’ and using small-scale infrastructure such On the other hand, the city has been very 2 Reducing consumption is key networks (40%) as micro-grids. successful in promoting electric car ownership. This is a result of its many incentives introduced The city of Münster has the goal of reducing Regardless of the technological configuration, the over the past years, such as parking privileges emissions by 95% and using 50% renewable energy vision of 100% renewable cities cuts across social, for electric cars and its development of both in the city by 2050.