Freiburg – Greenest City in Europe?

Posted on June 3, 2011 by John Bolduc

Kaiser Joseph Strasse, in Freiburg Center

I’m on a personal study tour of Germany and Holland to see what German and Dutch cities are doing about reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change. The tour is organized by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, an organization that the City of Cambridge has been a member of since 1999. Our tour leader, Jade Jackson, is leading our group of 4 Canadians and 2 Americans through Freiburg and Dresden Germany, and then on to Bonn to attend the ICLEI Climate Resilient Communities conference. We will end up in Rotterdam in The Netherlands. I thought I would try to share what I see and learn along the way. I hope you find it useful and interesting.

In Cambridge, we often look to Europe for examples of how to make the city more sustainable given that we are a dense urban community that in many ways is more similar to European cities than American. On this tour, I’m looking to see how the cities here have implemented actions that we have thought about, and actions that we have not even considered yet, particularly in regard to adaptation.

Freiburg, of the Black Forest, is our first stop. It might be the greenest city in Europe [or the world?]. Renewable energy is a big focus here. But they also have a very admirable sustainable transportation system, waste management, and land use.

Freiburg’s old city center was largely destroyed in World War II. About 80% of the city center was bombed toward the end of the war. After the war, the city decided to keep the historic street pattern and re-build on the foundations of the destroyed buildings, reconstructing in the historic style. Much larger new development surrounds the old city, but within the city boundaries there are large areas devoted to farms, vineyards, and protected forests; about half of the city is open space. Today, Freiburg is a growing city of about 220,000 people with a major university and service base.

"Nuclear power, no thank you."

We met with Franziska Breyer, of the City’s environment agency, who presented the history and overview of the city’s sustainability efforts. Freiburg’s green movement began with anti-nuclear protests in 1973, when new nuclear plants were proposed just across the border in France and nuclear waste storage was proposed nearby in Germany. Those protests led to people thinking that they could not just be against nuclear power, but need to be for something. I visited Freiburg 30 years ago as I was involved myself during college in anti-nuclear protest at home and wanted to see what the fuss was about here. Ironically, as we arrived in Freiburg last weekend, there were again anti-nuclear protests taking place as the Conservative government reconsidered its nuclear policy in the wake of Fukushima and reversed course, deciding to plan to phase out nuclear energy by 2022. So I imagine the protests were part celebratory.

The alternatives Freiburg has come up with encompass energy efficient construction, solar energy, district energy, wind energy, biomass, a well-integrated, multi-modal transportation system, and waste reduction practices. I’m sure we didn’t hear about everything.

Freiburg has set a goal in 2007 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 1992 levels by 2030. As of 2009, the city has achieved an 18.6% reduction. The municipal government has a climate protection budget of 1.2 million Euros, which is largely funded by annual payments from utilities for use of public space for infrastructure. The budget does not include additional funds set aside for energy efficiency subsidies provided to residents (21 million Euros since 2003), investment in public facilities and infrastructure, transportation, and other services.

Frau Breyer talked about the sustainability concept that the city’s efforts are based on. While it is common to think of sustainability in terms of balancing the 3 “E’s” – ecology, economy, and equity, she said in Freiburg they see sustainability as fundamentally based on ecology and that this is not negotiable. Without a sound ecology, there cannot be a viable economy and equitable society. The economy and social welfare flow from this sound ecological base.

The city is working to grow its green economy. The green city initiatives are seen as a factor in attracting green businesses to locate in Freiburg. There are about 1,500 green businesses employing about 10,000 people. Of those ten thousand, about 1,500 people are employed in the solar energy sector.

The energy strategy is based on energy saving, efficient generation, and renewable energy. About 10% of the electricity is supplied by nuclear in Freiburg. About half is produced by co-generation units that also provide heat through district heating systems. In addition to larger co-gen units, there are about 90 small CHP units around the city.

Badenova Sports Stadium roofs covered with Solar PV

Solar energy is very visible around Freiburg. Currently 12.3 MW of solar capacity is in place, producing over 10 million kilowatt-hours annually. For context, the City of Cambridge consumes about 40 million kwh of total electricity annually,which is a small percentage of total use in Cambridge. Cambridge has close to 1 MW of solar PV in place. In Freiburg, solar thermal panels cover about 15,000 square meters. Solar PV has been ramped up by very generous feed-in tariffs created by the federal government, which pays owners for the electricity production. The federal government is now moving to phase out the feed-in tariffs as they believe they have served their function of creating a solar industry. We were told that while the feed-in tariffs have been successful in expanding the use of solar PV, the price of solar PV has not really decreased, which was one of the goals of the policy. And while solar panels are a common sight in Freiburg, they are installed on a minority of buildings.

There are 5 medium sized wind turbines installed on the hills around the city. They produce 14 million kwh every year, more than produced by all the solar PV panels.

Bugginger StrasseHi-Rise, first to meet Passivhaus energy standards

We were told that increasing efficiency in existing buildings remains a challenge. The City has invested 21 million Euros since 2003, which has leveraged an additional 23 million Euros. Generally the funds have been used toward efficiency improvements when buildings are undergoing major renovations. This investment has reached about 3 to 4% of the building stock.

The Vice Mayor said they see the future trend being toward more short-distance district heating, noting the high cost of installing infrastructure, and more micro-CHP.

There is more to admire in Freiburg’s energy practices, including their eco-villages with buildings meeting Passivhaus standards and Plus Energy houses.

Upcoming: Sustainable Transportation and Freiburg’s eco-villages – Vauban and Rieselfeld.

Fostering Sustainable Behavior

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Tara Holmes

This past Friday, I attended a workshop lead by Dr. Doug McKenzie-Mohr entitled “An Introduction to Community-Based Social Marketing: Fostering Sustainable Behavior.” As someone who’s personally very intrigued by the oftentimes overlooked (and dare I say critical) link between our everyday psychology and environmental sustainability, I was eager to attend. What I learned was both enlightening and somewhat anticipated.

In brief, humans, at least the populations Dr. McKenzie-Mohr has studied, tend to default to the easiest common denominator of behavior when it comes to environmentalism. Of course, this isn’t to say there aren’t outlier personalities who go above and beyond the “green” call, but overall, unless regulated to do so, or cajoled by neighbors or friends, most people will resort to the path of least resistance. Knowing this intrinsic behavior trend, Dr. McKenzie-Mohr was able to extrapolate on how to best create systems whereby these same individuals could easily do their part to create a more sustainable, healthy and balanced planet.

One interesting example is recycling. Initially in the 1980s, recycling was seen as a confusing burden to the majority of consumers. Today however, many people view recycling as commonplace and most US cities have recycling facilities in operation. Now, to what extent these materials actually are recycled is another policy issue altogether (Cambridge has historically recycled at a rate of 35% and now with added single-stream recycling, that’s expected to increase by 10-25% in recycling tons). Even so, the mere act of recycling, sorting out plastic from paper and glass from cardboard is today viewed as a commonplace action that requires little thought. So, how did this behavior change happen? Interestingly, Dr. McKenzie-Mohr cites community influence and social norms coupled with municipality engagement. If a person sees their neighbors, family members or friends recycling, they may begin to question their own behavior and adapt accordingly.

Energy efficiency and green energy demand is another example. Today, consumers have a multitude of product options from CFLs via utility rebates to energy-saving Energy Star appliances, but, as Dr. McKenzie-Mohr pointed out, there remains a disconnect between awareness of the the product’s existence, where to get the rebate for said product and product installation. These barriers may seem trivial, but they can lead to significant impacts, both environmentally and programmatically. During the workshop, Dr. McKenzie-Mohr cited an example of a user who purchased a low-flow shower head only to have it sit in a drawer due to installation confusion. It’s thereby key to not only increase awareness of energy efficiency products, but to educate the consumer on proper follow through behavior and maintenance resources to ensure the true benefit of the product is achieved.

In brief, sustainable behavior impediments can be boiled down to the following barriers: commitment, affordability, convenience, and incentives. The Cambridge Energy Alliance, like many local and national energy efficiency organizations, strives to reach consumers and the community via outreach and education and aims to address each of the mentioned barriers, which is a key first step. The critical next step is up to the consumer: application and follow through. Only then do they – and the planet – reap the true benefits of increased sustainable behavior.

Nextransit: The Next Generation of Mobility

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Tara Holmes

So there’s a new iPhone app in town, actually a couple. Sure, iPhone apps have saturated the market, but these new apps, courtesy of Cambridge-based Nextransit, are something to pay attention to. In recent years, cities such as San Francisco, New York, DC and Boston have granted mobile app designers access to real-time transit GPS data, enabling commuters and local patrons alike the ability to not only predict, but to pinpoint when the next bus, or subway, will arrive. Say goodbye to waiting in the rain, or snow drifts as high as 10 feet — as with this past winter in Cambridge — for the next bus. Nextransit makes it a point to turn the typical bus ride into a calculated, visual, streamlined and, dare we say, even fun experience.

The Nextime app, which currently services Boston, DC, San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles, among other cities, has a unique and useful push notification tracking feature that allows users to be notified when they need to leave their home to catch the bus. No more guessing, missing or faltering through hard-to-navigate public transit maps; Nextime and it’s more Boston-centric Nexmap, are designed with the future in mind and are subsequently revolutionizing how people look at public transportation. And if recent press hasn’t scared you enough, more and more articles are predicting increased traffic gridlock to the point of immobility by 2040 for many major metropolitan regions, including Boston. Whatever your opinion about public transportation, ridership will dramatically increase in the coming years and services like Nextransit are going to be critical, as are increased subway, bus and high-speed rail infrustructure to accommodate this new demand. For the moment however, enjoy being on the cutting edge with Nextransit technology and soon your friends will be relying on you when they next have to catch the T!

Energy Star Rating Standards to Tighten

Posted on March 17, 2011 by mdlittlehale

The Environmental Protection Agency recently announced updates to its Energy Star Rating requirements on televisions and cable boxes. The revisions are the first in a list of about 20 products that will receive updates to their Energy Star Rating requirements this year.

Currently, Energy Star rated televisions hold at least 70% of the Market Share. The stricter standards mean, according to the EPA, “substantial overall energy bill reduction, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions reductions.”

The new standards are requiring a 40% reduction in watt usage. For example, a 60 inch television currently averages about 282 watts, but the come September the same 60 inch TV will be required to use less than 108 watts to receive an Energy Star Rating. Talk about saving a watt!

In its announcement, the EPA states that if all U.S. homes had Energy Star rated TVs and cable boxes under these new requirements, savings would reach $5 billion a year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions equal to that of taking over 700 million cars off the road.

Japan Tragedy Highlights Nuclear Doubts

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Tara Holmes

After the devastating 8.8 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck Japan last week, millions are without power, adequate food or water supply. The earthquake was so powerful, that Japan moved 8 feet and the axis of the Earth shifted. The human death toll is still being determined, however, recent reports are comparing this natural disaster to the massive destruction caused during WWII; nothing has taken a similar toll on Japan since.

To add confusion to chaos, Japan is now dealing with a number of nuclear power plans that may face possible meltdown. A cause for local and global concern, Japanese officials have resorted to using sea water to cool a reactor that exploded a couple of days ago in hopes to keep it under control while electricity supplies remain down. Countries like France have begun using Japan as an example of why nuclear energy is too dangerous too rely upon for energy use. This argument however brings up the classic question: If not nuclear, then what? Nuclear does not contribute to harmful GHG emissions which contribute to climate change. Do we then regress to using coal on a massive scale? Nuclear, and proponents of nuclear energy, argue it’s the “cleaner” alternative to fossil fuels — although waste and potential nuclear meltdown, as what’s currently on display in Japan — remain serious concerns. Solar and wind technologies, while actively in use in many countries including the U.S., still remain at a high market cost, particularly solar, and are thus not able to complete with the cheaper, fossil fuel competitors that currently supply the bulk of the planet’s energy supply. It’s a sticky situation with many political and industry incentives at stake, but in the end, the fallout of nuclear energy may not be worth the energy it produces.

We are all hoping a full nuclear meltdown at one or more of the nuclear power plants does not occur on top of what the Japanese are already enduring, but at present time, it’s unclear what the outcome will be. Japan is receiving international aid, yet this tragedy will take many weeks, months, if not years to recover from. If you want to help, the American Red Cross is accepting donations: http://www.redcross.org.

Hydrofracking Poses Serious Concerns

Posted on March 5, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Photo by flickr.com/photos/arimoore/

On February 26th, The New York Times released a front page exposé on the new “gold rush” of natural gas exploration in the United States: Hydrofracking. Natural gas is a relatively plentiful domestic energy resource and some environmentalists and policy-makers alike have heralded the recent jump in natural gas exploration as a means to curb carbon emissions (natural gas, supposedly, releases less carbon into the atmosphere than fossil fuels like oil and coal).

Nevertheless, the NYTimes article presents a disturbing case against such massive, and oftentimes unregulated, exploration. Hydrofracking, or the injection of water and chemicals under high pressure into rock formations to extract natural gas, can directly impact the quality of groundwater, and inevitably, our drinking water. Drilling supporters have responded that no contamination of groundwater has been directly linked to the practice, however, the NYTimes reported that the EPA has been aware of the potential risk associated with this technique citing internal documents “from the Environmental Protection Agency, state regulators and drillers [that] show that the dangers to the environment and health are greater than previously understood.”

Potential dangers of hydrofracking include leaked radioactive materials and other drilling wastes, such as corrosive salts and carcinogens, which are inadequately treated before being discharged directly into adjacent rivers that supply drinking water. Alarmingly, the NYTimes also disclosed a never made public 2009 EPA document that concluded some hydrofracking treatment plants in Pennsylvania could not remove wastewater contaminants and were thus violating the law. Furthermore, other undisclosed studies by the EPA and a confidential study by the drilling industry found that radioactivity in drilling waste cannot be completely diluted via discharge into rivers and other waterways. Yet, despite these startling findings, the EPA has taken no action to safeguard public water supplies and water sources downstream of hydrofracking wastewater and discharge sites have not been required to test for radioactivity. “In other words,” the NYTimes concludes, “there is no way of guaranteeing that the drinking water taken in by all these plants is safe.”

To learn more about hydrofracking and action steps, you can watch Gasland or visit the Sierra Club’s hydrofracking group at: http://connect.sierraclub.org/Team/Hydrofracking_Team.

The High-Speed Rail Future?

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Following the release of President Obama’s 2012 federal budget, buzz around high speed rail projects in the US has increased. In the budget, $8 billion is allocated for high speed rail projects in FY 2012 and $53 billion is allocated over the next six years. Vice President Biden, a self-proclaimed train lover and regular rider, stated recently “We know that public infrastructure investment increases private-sector productivity, promotes growth, and creates jobs.”

Nevertheless, debate on up-front costs, accessibility and ridership continues to haunt the high-speed rail future in the US, even though Ray LaHood, the current Secretary of Transportation, believes that no realistic alternative currently exists that makes more sense stating “…there is no amount of money that could build enough capacity on our highways and at airports to keep up with our expected population growth in coming decades. America’s population will grow by 70 million in the next 25 years and 100 million in the next 40 years. Adding capacity to an interstate highway in the congested Northeast would cost more than $40 million per mile and cause enormous traffic backups, assuming we even had the space. A relatively “inexpensive” airport runway can cost half a billion dollars to construct.” From LaHood’s quote alone, it’s clear an alternative to the existing train, car and airplane must take tangible shape, and soon.

High-speed rail is already regularly and heavily used in other parts of the world – France’s TGV, Japan’s Shinkansen and Shanghai’s Maglev Train to name a few of the successful lines. SNCF, the company that operates the TGV in France, has in fact proposed its services to the US a number of times with little to no movement from the US government. In addition, Talgo, a Spanish-owned rail manufacturer, recently set up business operations in Milwaukee, Wisconsin hiring more than 100 American workers with anticipated growth, however, when Governor Scott Walker closed the door on Wisconsin’s high-speed rail segment, Talgo ended its operations in that region and moved out. Amtrak’s Acela, which runs along the bustling Northeast corridor between Washington, DC and Boston, has demonstrated great success and high ridership, yet cannot match the high-speeds of TGV or Shinkansen, for example, due to federal speed regulation and existing landscape challenges. Nevertheless, high-speed rail segments are currently in plan and construction in Illinois and California with the aim of more to come.

That said, President Obama’s 2012 budget highlights the need to move high-speed rail to the front and center of the economic agenda. High-speed rail creates long-term domestic jobs, decreases carbon emissions through an efficient method of mass transportation and connects US business centers and cities in a much more streamlined, accessible – and rapid – way than what currently exists. As Ray LaHood said, “President Obama is launching a high-speed rail network that will serve 80% of Americans and its legacy will be more than trains, tracks, and ties. It will be an economy on the move and a future that we are prepared to win.”

Everyday Smart Alternatives to Car Congestion Woes

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Tara Holmes

Sick of traffic? Tired of the long, isolated commute to and from the office? You’re not alone, and many analysts say it’s only going to get worse. In fact, according to a recent Grist article, Texas A&M just released its Urban Mobility Report, a report that quantifies just how much of a toll daily commuting and car congestion take on your physical, financial and emotional well being. Not to mention how much personal time you lose sitting idle in traffic. It was also reported that metro Chicago and DC are the worst-off given the current “years delay per auto commuter” index. Astoundingly, Chicagoan and Washingtonian car commuters lose 70 hours of their lives to rush-hour traffic every year. These cities are, not surprisingly, followed closely by Los Angeles at 63 hours and Houston at 58 hours.

Thankfully, there are alternatives if you’re willing to alter your lifestyle a bit and are willing to get to know your neighbors. Relay Rides, a startup that just launched recently in Boston, aims at car sharing as a better, more transparent modern-day model for car users. Riders can “rent out” their car by the hour to those in need of wheels. Need an extra incentive? The owner can make upwards of a few thousand dollars a year just by doing so, and insurance is covered by Relay Rides. There are also (of course) Zipcar and City CarShare in San Francisco, to name a few.

If you’re not into cars, and you live in an urban center, there are often subway lines or buses you can take. While at first many people dismiss public transportation in the US as old and unreliable, it’s an essential public service that needs consumer support to thrive and improve. Imagine if each person you saw on the T coming home from work was instead driving? How many more cars would be added to the road? It’s simply unfathomable. So, instead of festering in your car each day with road rage, explore your options for car sharing, or public transportation. Or, simply good old fashioned car-pooling. You get to meet new people, plus it’s good for your soul and the environment!

2005 and 2010 Tied for Hottest Years on Record

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Tara Holmes

The NYTimes recently cited that current NASA data matches NOAA data making 2005 and 2010 the two hottest years on Earth in recorded history. [NASA data is available here.]

From extreme flooding in Pakistan, California, Australia and Tennessee, to significant snow fall in England and France, to raging fires in Russia and extreme heat in New England, 2010 was indeed a notable weather year. While climate deniers continue to correlate varying weather patterns with the natural cycle of the Earth, climatologists disagree stating that the global average surface temperature was 1.12 degrees Fahrenheit above the average for the entire 20th century. In fact, according to the NYTimes article, 9 of the 10 warmest years on record have occurred since the year 2000. It will be interesting – and perhaps startling – to see what occurs in 2011. This data is a reminder that climate change is real, and immediate global action, both political and personal, is imperative to maintain a healthy, livable planet for all.

Massachusetts = Belgium?

Posted on January 10, 2011 by Tara Holmes

A recent Sierra Club magazine article illustrates, in a unique diagram, how the United States, with 4.5% of the world’s population, is responsible for nearly 20% of global carbon dioxide emissions. In fact, state by state, U.S. CO2 output equals that of entire countries, as illustrated on the map. Data are from the 2007 U.S. Energy Information Administration.

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