Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DecarbCityPipes 2050 (Decarb City Pipes 2050 - Transition roadmaps to energy efficient, zero-carbon urban heating and cooling)
Berichtszeitraum: 2020-07-01 bis 2022-01-31
Climate urgency calls on all political levels to act more stringent and faster. Responsible for roughly half of the EU’s final energy consumption, transitioning heating and cooling to energy efficient, renewable solutions will be critical to bring EU countries in line with their pledged climate and energy targets.
Given the long-life cycles of buildings, their envelopes and their heating systems as well as of the grid infrastructures (district heating, electricity, gas) involved, there is an urgency to start the planning of this transition today. But how? What first? Which systems? How to govern this process? Increasing complexity of the energy system together with technological uncertainties require a high level of knowledge and skills to act wisely. Cities are often still ill-equipped for this. They lack capacity and skills as well as legal empowerment to act.
The EU-project Decarb City Pipes 2050 showcases how local authorities can build up capacity to succeed in this challenge. Six cities - Bilbao, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur - join forces to learn from each other and elaborate innovative responses together. These cities – from frontrunners to beginners – explore pathways suitable for their local challenges and build up skills in the gathering and use of data, planning tools and instruments. They also work out technically and economically feasable options and build up internal know-how regarding process and transition management.
In a participatory process within each city administration and in close cooperation with external stakeholders (mostly uitilities and DSOs), cities develop tangible and actionable transition roadmaps to decarbonize heating and cooling for buildings by 2050 (or even earlier as in the case of Munich, Vienna and Wintherthur), taking up the challenge of phasing out gas and oil. In deep peer-to-peer exchanges, cities and utilities share knowledge to benefit from other perspectives, stages of advancement and planning traditions.
Together, they will also advocate for the needed changes to current framework conditions on all levels. Guided by two scientific partners and a distinguished international advisory board, the project aims to empower more than 220 public officers and improve more than 50 policies. Ultimately, it strives to motivate and support more than 80 cities to start the same roadmap process.
Given the long-life cycles of buildings, their envelopes and their heating systems as well as of the grid infrastructures (district heating, electricity, gas) involved, there is an urgency to start the planning of this transition today. But how? What first? Which systems? How to govern this process? Increasing complexity of the energy system together with technological uncertainties require a high level of knowledge and skills to act wisely. Cities are often still ill-equipped for this. They lack capacity and skills as well as legal empowerment to act.
The EU-project Decarb City Pipes 2050 showcases how local authorities can build up capacity to succeed in this challenge. Six cities - Bilbao, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna and Winterthur - join forces to learn from each other and elaborate innovative responses together. These cities – from frontrunners to beginners – explore pathways suitable for their local challenges and build up skills in the gathering and use of data, planning tools and instruments. They also work out technically and economically feasable options and build up internal know-how regarding process and transition management.
In a participatory process within each city administration and in close cooperation with external stakeholders (mostly uitilities and DSOs), cities develop tangible and actionable transition roadmaps to decarbonize heating and cooling for buildings by 2050 (or even earlier as in the case of Munich, Vienna and Wintherthur), taking up the challenge of phasing out gas and oil. In deep peer-to-peer exchanges, cities and utilities share knowledge to benefit from other perspectives, stages of advancement and planning traditions.
Together, they will also advocate for the needed changes to current framework conditions on all levels. Guided by two scientific partners and a distinguished international advisory board, the project aims to empower more than 220 public officers and improve more than 50 policies. Ultimately, it strives to motivate and support more than 80 cities to start the same roadmap process.
Despite the challenges associated with Covid, the cities are highly motivated to build up capacity to meet the challenge of phasing out fossil fuels for heating and cooling till 2050. Bilbao, Dublin, Munich, Rotterdam, Vienna, and Winterthur have successfully established local working groups to discuss in detail local visions, outlooks, and spatially differentiated heating and cooling plans. These local working groups each represent local framework conditions and include stakeholders from city government as well as utilities, grid operators, etc.
The first task of these local working groups was, with the support of the project´s scientific partners, to discuss and agree upon an Outlook for their city`s future energy demand and energy supply mix in 2050.
Based on that, the cities have now already begun to align their quantitative vision for future demand and supply with local spatial conditions, taking into account issues such as the availability of demand and supply, infrastructure, and local energy potentials and generation capabilities. Halfway through the project, cities are already nearing completion of their heating and cooling plans.
Since face-to-face meetings have not been possible so far due to the pandemic, countermeasures had to be taken during the project to help and support the cities in all their efforts. The goal was to start the conversation between the cities early on and to use the new situation with all the possibilities the virtual world had to offer to create more agile, regular exchange formats. As such, monthly digital capacity building meetings were organized to provide partner cities, as well as administration staff from other cities, with the information they need to further develop heating and cooling forecasts and plans. This opportunity for peer-to-peer learning has also been taken up by other European cities, utilities, etc. (e.g. 3 sister cities, 20 other cities). Under the auspices of Energy Cities, the project seeks to reach an even wider audience, not least through the project's online presence (e.g. website, newsletter, Twitter, etc.): The 45 project-related meetings held so far were attended by a total of about 700 people from the seven partner cities of the project (including Bratislava), as well as from three sister cities, 15 additional cities, and utility companies, DSOs, etc. (about 200 people in total).
During capacity building sessions as well as during the half-year project meetings, members of a distinguished International Advisory Board were specifially asked for input, e.g. on relevant aspects of the Fit for 55 package as well as on the discussion on the gas package.
So what are the next steps in the project? Based on the heating and cooling plans that are currently being developed, the cities - with ongoing support from university partners and advisory board members - will begin developing transition roadmaps in spring 2022 to implement these visions and plans. With these roadmaps, cities will set the framework for how to achieve energy-efficient, zero-carbon local heating and cooling by 2050, for example, by prioritizing options, identifying tools to be used, and defining actions, subgoals, and milestones to be achieved.
The first task of these local working groups was, with the support of the project´s scientific partners, to discuss and agree upon an Outlook for their city`s future energy demand and energy supply mix in 2050.
Based on that, the cities have now already begun to align their quantitative vision for future demand and supply with local spatial conditions, taking into account issues such as the availability of demand and supply, infrastructure, and local energy potentials and generation capabilities. Halfway through the project, cities are already nearing completion of their heating and cooling plans.
Since face-to-face meetings have not been possible so far due to the pandemic, countermeasures had to be taken during the project to help and support the cities in all their efforts. The goal was to start the conversation between the cities early on and to use the new situation with all the possibilities the virtual world had to offer to create more agile, regular exchange formats. As such, monthly digital capacity building meetings were organized to provide partner cities, as well as administration staff from other cities, with the information they need to further develop heating and cooling forecasts and plans. This opportunity for peer-to-peer learning has also been taken up by other European cities, utilities, etc. (e.g. 3 sister cities, 20 other cities). Under the auspices of Energy Cities, the project seeks to reach an even wider audience, not least through the project's online presence (e.g. website, newsletter, Twitter, etc.): The 45 project-related meetings held so far were attended by a total of about 700 people from the seven partner cities of the project (including Bratislava), as well as from three sister cities, 15 additional cities, and utility companies, DSOs, etc. (about 200 people in total).
During capacity building sessions as well as during the half-year project meetings, members of a distinguished International Advisory Board were specifially asked for input, e.g. on relevant aspects of the Fit for 55 package as well as on the discussion on the gas package.
So what are the next steps in the project? Based on the heating and cooling plans that are currently being developed, the cities - with ongoing support from university partners and advisory board members - will begin developing transition roadmaps in spring 2022 to implement these visions and plans. With these roadmaps, cities will set the framework for how to achieve energy-efficient, zero-carbon local heating and cooling by 2050, for example, by prioritizing options, identifying tools to be used, and defining actions, subgoals, and milestones to be achieved.
This project is designed to help cities in their transitioning process towards an energy-efficient, zero-carbon heating and cooling sector by no later than 2050. Cities are often still unable to adequately meet the pressure from various interest groups and lobbyists when it comes to advancing certain issues related to urban heating and cooling.
In addition to capacities and knowledge, this conversion process requires above all a broad spectrum of cooperation, not least between the city, its network operators and utilities, but also with civil society. To this end, all cities set up local working groups at the beginning of the project in accord with their local framework conditions to discuss local conditions and challenges, but also local and spatially differentiated solutions.
To support cities in their in their local discussions, monthly online exchange and peer-to-peer learning sessions on topics relevant and urgent to cities have been set up to build capacity and expertise and promote frequent exchanges between cities and (external) experts.
So what´s the way forward?
So far, all local working groups in the six cities have agreed on a decarbonized urban heating and cooling outlook 2050 (or 2040 or 2035). Cities are now in the process of developing spatially differentiated heating and cooling plans, again in close exchange with their local working groups. Based on these plans, cities will then begin developing transition roadmaps to put their heating and cooling plans into practice. Special attention will then also be paid to instruments and (legal) frameworks needed to be addressed and changed to support cities in their process towards climate neutral heating and cooling.
In addition to capacities and knowledge, this conversion process requires above all a broad spectrum of cooperation, not least between the city, its network operators and utilities, but also with civil society. To this end, all cities set up local working groups at the beginning of the project in accord with their local framework conditions to discuss local conditions and challenges, but also local and spatially differentiated solutions.
To support cities in their in their local discussions, monthly online exchange and peer-to-peer learning sessions on topics relevant and urgent to cities have been set up to build capacity and expertise and promote frequent exchanges between cities and (external) experts.
So what´s the way forward?
So far, all local working groups in the six cities have agreed on a decarbonized urban heating and cooling outlook 2050 (or 2040 or 2035). Cities are now in the process of developing spatially differentiated heating and cooling plans, again in close exchange with their local working groups. Based on these plans, cities will then begin developing transition roadmaps to put their heating and cooling plans into practice. Special attention will then also be paid to instruments and (legal) frameworks needed to be addressed and changed to support cities in their process towards climate neutral heating and cooling.