Seven European cities are getting real about phasing out fossil fuels from urban heating and cooling

Heating and cooling are responsible
for roughly half of the EU’s energy consumption, addressing this issue will be
critical to bring EU countries in line with their pledged climate targets. Cities
have a key role in tackling climate change but often lack the resources and
capacity to deliver. Seven cities – Bilbao, Bratislava, Dublin, Munich,
Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur – want to change this. Within the H2020
project Decarb City Pipes 2050, they will acquire the skills and knowledge to
decarbonise heating and cooling in buildings by 2050, with a special focus on
phasing out natural gas.

An urgent need to plan the heating and cooling transition

Given the long life-cycles of the grid infrastructures involved, there is an urgency to start the planning of the transition to energy-efficient and renewable heating and cooling today. “That’s easier said than done”, states coordinator of this effort Judith Neyer of Urban Innovation Vienna, the city’ energy agency, at the occasion of the project’s kick-off meeting with the Advisory Board. “The energy system is profoundly complex, notoriously sluggish with substantial technological uncertainties to face. For a city to act wisely, it needs high levels of knowledge and skills as well as a legal mandate to act – all of which is frankly lacking. Our answer to this is teamwork – and to recruit the most competent and distinguished help available!”

Cities are the linchpin of decarbonisation. It is fantastic that cities are driving the agenda for zero-emissions and fossil-free heating systems.

Lisa Fischer, Senior Policy Adviser at think tank E3G

Lisa Fischer, Senior Policy Adviser at think tank E3G is convinced,
“Cities are the linchpin of decarbonisation. It is fantastic that cities are
driving the agenda for zero-emissions and fossil-free heating systems. I am
looking forward to help think through how national and EU frameworks can catch
up with, support and eventually scale this bottom up innovation.”

Collaboration between cities, at the core of the project

The project Decarb City Pipes 2050
brings together a diverse group of European cities, from frontrunners to
beginners, who have teamed up to learn from one another, coordinate their work and
share solutions. Together, the cities will build up their skills in the use of
data, planning tools, governance framework as well as process and transition
management.

Andris Piebalgs, former EU Energy
Commissioner and Professor at the Florence School of Regulation supports the
cities as Advisory Board Member: “I
applaud these cities for their determination to get real with the energy
transition. My hope is that the project will motivate and enable many more
cities across Europe to follow their lead.”

Our answer is teamwork – and to recruit the most competent and distinguished help available!

Judith Neyer, coordinator of the Decarb City Pipes 2050 project

Local energy utilities and distributors: key stakeholders in the transition

The cities make a point of planning
this transition with the key players they need to get the job done. This is why
the local energy utilities and distributors are on board. Pallas Agterberg,
Head of Strategy and Innovation at Dutch energy distributor Alliander is happy
to contribute with her advice on the role of the energy distributors in the
transition. “We at Alliander have chosen
to take the bull by its horns and become a part of the energy transition. I am
looking forward to engage with my colleagues across the EU on how to organise
the markets to deliver reliable, sustainable heating for all households”.

Kees van der Leun is convinced, “The solutions for a zero-emission energy
system are available”. The Director of Guidehouse NL thinks “the question is how to
speed up implementation and lower costs. I am honoured to help these cities
find some good answers.”

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Fuente: ENERGY CITIES
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