Växjö: Europe's Greenest City?
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles on 07.25.07
Could Växjö, a small city in southern Sweden, really be the greenest of the green? Though we are typically loath to make such hyperbolic statements, this particular city makes a strong case for holding that lofty title. In fact, the European Union recently bestowed its inaugural award for sustainable development on this tiny city - an award many equate with the distinction of being the "greenest city in Europe."
The key to their sustainable success? A single power plant. Unlike most power plants, which rely on coal or oil as a source of energy, Växjö's plant runs entirely on woodchips and other biomass waste from the area's sawmills. In addition to providing electricity, the plant also supplies 90% of the city's heating and hot water. "We are in the middle of the woodshed and we wanted to take advantage of that," said Tommy Sandh, who works in the plant's control room. The way the plant operates is simple: the gases produced as wood burns are condensed into a liquid, which is purified and then pumped around town - providing tap water and a source of heating.
What is perhaps most unusual about this small Swedish city is just how early it decided to go green. After announcing that it was planning on becoming a "Fossil Fuel Free City" by 2050 more than 10 years ago, Växjö has taken several intermediate steps and is well on its way: it has already managed to reduce per-capita carbon emissions by 25% and now has the lowest urban level in Europe.
The next step: cutting emissions caused by cars and buildings. Though the city council already owns a fleet of ethanol-powered cars, it hasn't yet been able to convince all of Växjö's residents to follow suit. Besides for seeking additional support and funding from the Swedish government, the council plans on converting its public transportation system and is considering offering free parking for all low-emission vehicles. To minimize emissions from homes and offices, the city is turning to an elegant and carbon-neutral solution: wooden buildings.
It's clear to us that, as Anders Franzen, the city's head of planning and development, put it, we "could learn a lot from Växjö."
Via ::The Independent: In Europe's greenest city, even its power plant smells more like a sauna (newspaper)
See also: ::Pee-Cycling: Green Toilet Idea From Olde Europe, ::Sweden Introduces “Green Car” Cash Bonus, ::Sweden Raises The Renewable Energy Bar
Image courtesy of urbanlegend
Though we are typically loth of making such hyperbolic statements
It's 'loath to make'
actually you can say loth, it is used as an adjective
Sorry, but someone has to say it.
Scandinavia has the coolest placenames.
How many acres of forest do we have to cut down near our city before we too are considered "green"? Is it tied to population?
Do we get to count the extra trees that'll be cut down to make up for the lack of chip-board and particle-board that we'd otherwise use the wood chips and sawdust for?
HEllo,
Nice reading.
But also to the Roger Strong.
You know about Salix(in estonian Paju),itś fastly growing wood material what is often used to produse heat and electicity as a wooschip .
So no need to cut down a beautiful tall trees and also to wait when they crow back.
With regards,
Marika
I live in Växjö. It is a truly beautiful place to live!
I think that one of the reasons why wood can stand for such a large portion of energy creation is that the "county" where Växjö is the center of commerce was hit hard by a storm some years ago, and it felled a large numbers of pine trees. The cleanup work has still not been finished in the area, and each day I see trainloads of tree trunks that come in from the trunk-storage areas. So these trunks may be used for energy production, as they are not quite fit for bulding construction due to the decomposing of these...
Just a theory.