12 % of the total EU energy consumption will, by 2010, be covered by renewable energy sources. This is the objective that the Community agreed on in its White Paper on “renewable energies”. At the same time, an European-wide action plan has been set up. In order to achieve these goals, local communities do need to actively contribute to this. The city of Heidelberg is in the middle of the implementation phase of its action plan.

In December 1992, the city council adopted a programme of environmental protection and saving energy, and presented it to the citizens. This programme consists mainly of a catalogue of almost a hundred specific measures in various fields. Each of these measures contains a brief description of the action, and names the various players, the potential CO2 reduction, the priority of the action, and its costs.

The total possible savings amount to 200,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually in private households, business, and industry, and 25,000 tons in transportation. The costs involved are about 870,000 Euro annually in the energy sector alone.

Of the roughly 100 measures proposed in the climate-protection concept, about 20 concern renewable energy sources, including numerous demonstration projects, but also counselling services and broad-based subsidy programmes.

The City of Heidelberg has initiated a remarkable number of measures in its municipal energy and transport policies. After a lengthy and difficult starting phase, these policies have gained a momentum of their own. This is illustrated by the wide support from all political parties, industry, and public services – and not least by the fact that the Stadtwerke Heidelberg has transformed itself from a power utility into an energy services company, which no longer sees its role as simply selling energy.

The City will continue with its climate-protection policy, relying on renewable energy sources as an important pillar in this policy.

Stadt Heidelberg, Umweltamt
Dr. Eckart Würzner, tel. +49 6221 58 18 16

01/12/1999

case

Urban Policy > Urban environment > Environmental sustainability

Energy efficiency