Heidelberg:
The urban action programme for climate protection
Heidelberg:
| |
| Country: | a) Western Europe | ,b) Germany |
| Language: | |
| Type: | Project, Policy, Concept, 1 |
| Area: | City/Town, 20,000-100,000, 100,000 - 1 mill. |
| Actors: | Local government, Economic sector |
| Funding: | Local government |
| Topics: | Energy |
| Information and public participation | |
| Mobility and transport | |
| Renewable resources | |
| Objectives: | Improve access to information |
| Increase district heating | |
| Increase non-motorised mobility | |
| Increase use of public transport | |
| Increase use of renewable resources | |
| Reduce car mobility | |
| Reduce car parks | |
| Reduce energy consumption | |
| Instruments: | Demonstration and pilot project |
| Integrated planning approach |
In 1991 the City of Heidelberg initiated its Urban Action Programme for Climate Protection which aims to exploit all possible energy saving potentials in the selected sectors of energy and transport. The idea is to elaborate different sets of measures which enable the municipality to set its priorities right. The measures should not include shifting problems but a significant reduction of the environmental burden in two of the most important local sectors. The Urban Action Programme is an example of good practice for the following reasons:
In 1990 the Enquete Commission of the German Parliament published its third report on the precautions necessary to protect the earth’s atmosphere. The study concluded that the reduction of energy consumption has to become a major task of local authorities as the urban level is suited best for the identification of energy saving potentials. It is expected that effective energy policies can promote technical energy saving potentials of up to 44%. However, the municipalities themselves have to assess the scope and range of local possibilities.
In 1991 the City of Heidelberg commissioned the Heidelberg-based ifeu institute to examine the environmental situation in the energy and traffic sectors and to draw up recommendations for an action-oriented programme on the urban level. In order to secure a wide acceptance for the energy saving policy the elaboration of the set of measures was carried out with an interactive method. The ifeu institute held about 70 meetings with members of political parties, municipal departments, trade associations, environmental groups, citizens action groups, district advisory councils, federal state institutions etc. The groups were asked to put forward proposals for energy saving and to name their own capacities for action.
The pooled information on the specific proposals and the willingness to reduce energy consumption were filtered by the ifeu institute according to the evaluation criteria of acceptance, time requirements, available technology, costs and potential reduction effects. The catalogue of measures and environmental gains arose from a combination of the filtered results seen in relation to the local figures on energy consumption and traffic volumes (e.g. from the 1992 traffic development plan or the national census of buildings and apartments dated from 1987). In consequence, the study named detailed measures and saving quantities for both sectors. These measures have been assessed and prioritised in order to apply to the specific situation in Heidelberg. Depending on the level of acceptance and the scale of implementation, the potential reduction of CO2 emissions was calculated at between 15 to 20%. The following results have been realised for Heidelberg. The ratio of CO2 emissions between the transport sector and the energy sector is 27:73.
In the transport sector the total CO2 emissions for the reference year 1987-88 amounted to 312,200 tonnes, of which motorised car traffic had an outstanding share of 294,000 tonnes. The remaining 6% of CO2 emissions came from public transport. Commuter traffic is a particular problem in Heidelberg as 70 % of some 60,000 people in the professional and especially educational sector go to work in their own car. Another relevant result was that about one third of CO2 emissions in the commuter area result from long distance travel or feeder traffic (e.g. from the Frankfurt, Karlsruhe or Stuttgart areas). This means that the potential reductions of 25 to 30% in CO2 emissions will be only achieved if action is taken outside Heidelberg. The City of Heidelberg alone can only affect some 20%, but the ifeu institute set the realistic target at 8%.
In the energy sector the total of CO2 emissions amounted to 868,000 tonnes in the reference year 1987. Private households have a share of 44% and trade and industry contribute with a share of approximately 15% each. Other figures revealed that the university alone caused 10% of the total CO2 emissions and that municipal authorities only contribute at a modest level of 4%. The ifeu institute estimated that a reduction target of 17% in CO2 emission is within reach.
In order to support these reduction goals, a city project to promote rational energy use in private households has been implemented and a climate protection advisory centre has been established.
In the overall balance the 1.18 million tonnes of CO2 emissions break down to the following percentages:
From the study it became clear the initiation of energy saving measures is not only a matter of technical installation but that it is often a question of motivation, co-operation and knowledge. Furthermore, it was realised that each sector has its specific profile of combining the implementation of hard and soft measures.
The implementation of transportation measures that contribute to a global goal like climate protection is a difficult task. Radical measures like the banning of cars from the city centre would only transfer the problem locally as commuters will not stop using their car. Therefore, the measures concentrate on two areas. Firstly, the reduction of car journeys under 15 km to public transport and bicycle, and secondly the transfer of car journeys between 15 and 25 km to public transport. The following measures have been implemented:
The Federal Government and the European Union are financing further projects in this direction. In 1998 the JUPITER-2 project (”Joint Urban Project In Transport Energy Reduction”) was launched in order to seek further reductions in transport energy use. The OPIUM project (”Operational Project for Integrated Urban Management”) is searching for ways to develop overall transportation in the spirit of an urban and environmentally friendly future.
In the energy sector the share of district heating had been increased due to the supply from the large- scale power plant in neighbouring Mannheim. Already in 1990 a 35% decrease in CO2 emissions from energy supply had been recorded compared to the 1987 level. Developments with the district heating network on the university campus have led to an annual reduction of CO2 emissions by 8,000 tonnes per year.
For the energy supply in newly built areas, the City of Heidelberg is setting a new standard of 70 kWh per square metre per year. This standard will cause a 30% decrease in energy demand compared to the previous thermal insulation standard. Beginning in 1992 the same standard also applied to the energy consumption target of new municipal buildings.
In the area of hydro-electric power the City of Heidelberg is supporting a project by the Neckar AG which has designed a plant with a capacity of 83,600 kW and an annual production of 500 million kWh.
Transport sector
Between 1992 and 1994 1,900 of the 2,400 municipal employees in Heidelberg purchased a job ticket for the public transport. The ticket is subsidized with 10 DM per month.
In 1994 14 businesses adopted the job ticket scheme and on average 50% of the workforce participated (some 3,300 in total).
Simultaneously with the introduction of the job ticket the monthly rents for public parking spaces were raised from 10 DM to 30 DM for a non-roofed space and from 35 DM to 60 DM for a roofed one.
In the winter term 1993/94 some 17,000 winter term ticket were sold to students.
Until the end of 1994 some 1,000 new bicycle stands had been created.
Energy sector
In 1993 an energy saving campaign with a high public relation profile led to the sale of 6,600 energy saving bulbs. The motto of the campaign was "2 x 5000 bulbs" as customers were given a 14 DM voucher for the purchase of two bulbs.
In 1993 an energy advice centre was opened in co-operation with the municipal energy utility.
In 1993 an on-going funding programme of 300,000 DM per year for the insulation of existing housing stock was set up. The programme also covers the replacement of heating systems, the building of low energy houses, and the installation of solar systems for water heating. The installation of solar systems for water heating has a 2,500 DM subsidy.
Until the end of 1996 a special funding programme for the connection to the long-distance gas transport network provided up to 500 DM as a building grant. The cost for a new connection was thereby reduced by one third.
In 1992 the City of Heidelberg installed a 50 square metre photovoltaic facility with the aim of testing the efficiency and profitability of photovoltaic cells in combination with the use of six electric cars. The installed capacity is about 5 kW and the annual energy production is 4,500 kWh. Two smaller solar projects were created in schools in order to demonstrate the technique and effects of solar energy to school children.
Würzner, Eckhardt 1993: Heidelberg: an action-oriented urban programme for the reduction of CO2, in: EA.UE, (ed.), Environment, Traffic and Urban Planning, Workshop reports from Berlin and Delft, Berlin, pp. 29-45
Stadt Heidelberg, (Hg.) 1995: Umweltbericht 1991 - 1994, Heidelberg
Würzner, Eckhardt / Bermich, Ralf 1995: Assessing energy conservation and CO2 reduction potentials, in: Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, (ed.), Environmental Policy. Local Authority Climate Protection in the Federal Republic of Germany. Building Blocks for Local Authority Climate Protection Strategies, Bonn, pp. 45-51
http://www.heidelberg.de/umwelt/
http://www.heidelberg.de/verkehr/
| Name | : | Würzner |
| Firstname | : | Eckhart, Dr. |
| Telefon | : | ++49 / 6221 / 58 18 16 |
| Telefax | : | ++49 / 6221 / 58 18 29 |
| Address | : | Amt für Umweltschutz und |
| Gesundheitsförderung der Stadt | ||
| Heidelberg | ||
| Department for Environmental | ||
| Protection and Health | ||
| Promotion | ||
| Postfach 105 520 | ||
| Prinz Carl Kornmarkt 1 | ||
| D - 69045 Heidelberg |
The City of Heidelberg has the oldest university in Germany with approximately 30,000 students, as well as a number of scientific and cultural institutions. Heidelberg is a major centre of tourism in the south of Germany. The city has no major industries.
Project was added at 27.06.1996
Project was changed at 22.08.2001