Category: City, Town, Village

FortZED, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

The Oval, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

  • Target: Net Zero Energy District
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Solar PV, biogas, storage technologies such as fuel cells, and smart meters.
  • Implementation: Fort Collins, Colorado is a municipality located approximately 57 miles north of the state's capitol city of Denver. In 2007, the UniverCity Connections Sustainable Energy Task Force, an initiative of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado, proposed the development of a "Net Zero Energy District". It would be a district within the municipality that would be a model for generating as much electricity as is consumed with renewable sources, combined with conservation, efficiency, and smart grid technologies. Named FortZED, the new district would cover an area of approximately 2 square miles and include the main campus of Colorado State University and downtown businesses and homes. Although completed in 2014, FortZED already showcased a demonstration project by 2011, a which showed that five businesses in the district could collectively reduce peak-load demand on a micro-grid by more than 20 percent during test periods over more than four weeks. The project combined a range of energy solutions, including efficiency, smart meters, demand response, solar PV, biogas, and storage technologies such as fuel cells. Natural gas was used as back up generation. The project also featured electric vehicle charging stations at city offices, and EV car batteries were considered for backup energy during peak-demand periods. This demonstration project was part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Renewable Distributed Systems Integration program.

    FortZED is led by a collaborative team of three entities: Fort Collins Utilities, UniverCity Connections, and the Colorado Clean Energy Cluster, a local economic development organization. Funding sources have included a U.S. Department of Energy grant for $6.3 million, plus nearly $5 million in matching funds and in kind services, along with a $778,000 New Energy Communities grant from Colorado’s Department of Local Affairs and the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office, and $2 million in local matching funds.

    Today, FortZED represents about 10 -15% of Fort Collins Utility’s electric distribution system and serves approximately 7,200 residential and commercial electric utility customers.
  • Population: 164,207 (2016)
  • Area: 57.05 sq mi (147.77 km2)
  • Link: https://www.fcgov.com/fortzed/
The Oval, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Frankfurt, Germany

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Combined heat and power (CHP), solar thermal and PV, wind power, and the use of local organic wastes for both heating and power generation.
  • Implementation: The city of Frankfurt is a global financial hub and has positioned itself as a leader in sustainability and climate protection for several decades. In 1985, it founded one of the first municipal energy and climate protection agencies, which has worked extensively on promoting energy efficiency in local buildings and the adoption of combined heat and power systems. In 2008, the Frankfurt City Council agreed to implement a list of fifty energy saving and climate protection measures. The current Master Plan includes a dynamic array of projects and initiatives designed both to reduce emissions and to increase the adoption of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies. Between 1990 and 2012, the City managed to reduce its emissions by 15% while the economy grew by over 50%.
    Frankfurt implements projects by combining a top-down and bottom-up strategy, involving local citizens and businesses. The city benefits from a highly educated workforce, and a citizenry that broadly supports climate action and the continued expansion of energy efficiency and renewable energy. In addition, both the federal and state-level governments have provided funds to help support Frankfurt’s 100% strategy. The city aims to increase awareness within local schools through a wide range of onsite projects in schools across the city. The City’s Energy Agency is in the process of elaborating on its Master Plan, a strategy whose implementation will involve architects, engineers, consultants, local businesses, public buildings such as schools and hospitals, as well as local residents.
    Due to the fact that Frankfurt is a relatively dense urban area, city representatives and local experts determined Frankfurt would need to rely on neighbouring communities and the surrounding rural area in order to reach the target of supplying 100 % the cities total energy needs from renewable energy sources. The current Master Plan envisions that approximately 25% will be supplied from energy generated within the City, 25% from outside the City, and total energy consumption will be decreased by 50%. Key elements of the strategy include increasing energy efficiency by 50 %, expanding combined heat and power (CHP) and increasing the role of solar (both thermal and PV), wind, and the use of local organic wastes for both heating and power generation. In addition, there are a number of pilots underway, including the initiative to develop a Virtual Power Plant (VPP), which would be designed to integrate several small generators into an interconnected network capable of adjusting to fluctuations in RE output.
  • Population: 746,878 (2017) city, 5,604,523 (2017) metro
  • Area: 248.31 km2 (95.87 sq mi)
  • Link: Renewing Frankfurt’s energy
Frankfurt, Germany

Frederikshavn, Denmark

Frederikshavn, Denmark

  • Target: 100% renewable energy by 2030
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Wind farm, thermal solar collectors, heated water storage, heat pump systems, geothermal energy, and district heating.
  • Implementation: Frederikshavn is a town located in Northern Denmark. In November 2006, a group of Danish energy experts came together for a project called "Energy Camp 06" and  identified Frederikshavn as the ideal location for a model "Energy City," which would shift to 100% renewable sources for electricity, transportation, and heating by 2015. Frederikshavn was chosen because it was a good size for the testing of energy technologies, there were already existing electricity and heating production plants as well as a wind farm research facility, and there was political will to carry out ambitious plans.
    In February 2007, the Frederikshavn City Council approved the Energy City plan, which would be completed over 3 phases. First, it would reach a 40% renewable energy target by 2009. Second, its renewable energy share would annually increase to reach 100% by 2015, with the capacity to exchange energy with surrounding areas. Third, the 100% renewable energy system would be further developed to enable Denmark as a whole to transform to 100% renewable energy by 2030.
    The first phase involved implementing 4 projects, offshore wind  project with a total capacity of 25 MW, 8000 m2 of thermal solar collectors that annually generate about 4 GWh with 1500 cubic meters of water heat storage and an absorption heat pump at the existing CHP plant, a facility that upgrades biogas from a local plant to natural gas quality that fuels cars and is used in the existing cogeneration plants, and finally a heat pump system at the town's waste water treatment plant that extracts 4 GWh of heat from the waste water and produce 6 GWh of heat for the district heating supply. To reach a 100% renewable energy supply by 2015, a waste incineration CHP plant was built. This project prioritises recycling before incineration, the remaining relatively small amount of waste is used to create heat and power via CHP technology. The heating grid was also expanded. Biomass boilers met industry heat demand, while homes not on the district heating grid are  retrofitted to use a combination of solar thermal and electric heat pumps. Then was the shift to electric, plug-in hybrid, and biogas in transportation. A  biogas plant was then built  for electricity, heat, and transportation fuel, using34 million tons of manure per year to produce biogas for the production of methanol, which can be used for district heating. Geothermal energy combined with heat pumps is added to the district heating supply. The rest of the city's energy demand is met by a 15 MW biogas CHP plant and  a 40 MW wind farm.
  • Population: 23,423 (2018)
  • Area: 651.04 km2 (251.37 sq mi)
  • Link: https://stateofgreen.com/en/partners/energy-city-frederikshavn/solutions/master-plan-for-renewable-energy-2030/
Frederikshavn, Denmark

Freiamt, Germany

Freiamt, Germany

  • Target: 100% reliance on renewable sources for power and heat.
  • Status: Achieved - Freiamt consumes 12,000 MWh annually and generates 15,400 MWh annually with renewable resources.
  • RES: Wind power, biomass, biogas, solar, hydropower and a district heating system.
  • Implementation: Freiamt is a small township consisting of of five small villages located in Germany's Black Forest, in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. Taking advantage of laws that incentivize renewable energy, such as the feed-in tariff (Renewable Sources Act), this town uses a variety of renewable energy resources to produce more electricity than it needs—and makes profit by selling the excess to surrounding areas. Freiamt has also made progress in shifting to renewable sources for space heating and hot water. As of 2009, 120 homes were heated using efficient wood pellets, 75 homes used wood chips, and 150 homes used solar thermal collectors. The town aims to increase its renewable heating use, as well as to shift to renewables for transportation. Like many other German towns, Freiamt uses a mix of solar, wind, and biomass, with some hydropower. Local biomass provides fuel for its district heating system.
    The township achieved their 100% target via a series of small steps. This was so locals would become familiar with the technologies and their benefits over time. Any objections can be raised. They began with community cooperative projects. First a wind farm with two turbines was built. Local people were able to buy shares in the turbines, at minimum price of €3,000 (US$4,170). Then came the installation of solar arrays, with a PV array on town hall, and then on roofs of farm buildings. Today farmers own around 300 solar PV systems plus 150 solar thermal collectors being used for water heating. By combining solar PV and wind power, the township is able to balance the energy supplies due to changing weather conditions. The solar panels are able to provide power during times when wind speeds are low but the sunshine is strong. In addition to solar, small biogas co-generation plants were also installed by farmers. The plants convert agricultural waste to methane, which is burnt to provide heating for homes, or run turbines to generate more electrical power.
    Overall, the mix of renewable energy systems has been a success. Today there are five wind turbines that makes the township not only 100% renewable, but also an energy exporter. The township now produces about 14 million kWh of energy annually — about 3 million more than needed.
  • Population: 4,187 (2017)
  • Area: 52.92 km2 (20.43 sq mi)
  • Link: https://www.freiamt.de/buerger/de/unsere-gemeinde/gemeinde/erneuerbare-energien/
Freiamt, Germany

Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

  • Target: Freiburg Green City, using 100% renewable energy by 2050.
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Net-zero and passivhaus building practices, combined heat and power (CHP) generation, solar thermal and photovoltaics systems, and a district heating grid to provide domestic heating and hot water.
  • Implementation: Freiburg is located in south-west Germany, near the borders with France and Switzerland. It is home to universities, public research institutions and has one of Germany’s sunniest and warmest climates. The city has a population with a large proportion of whom are Green Party voters. Since the 1972 Anti-nuclear protests, citizens have pursued sustainable energy standards often above and beyond those set by the German federal government. In 2003, citizen groups began preparing a plan for the municipal council, which eventually became the backbone of Freiburg’s Land Use 2020 plan. The plan brought together community shareholders and civic officials. The focus would be threefold: energy savings, efficient technologies, and renewable energy sources. Action plans were detailed in relation to transportation, waste, water and energy sectors. Today, the Freiburg Environmental Policy provides short, mid and long-term goals for planning, development, and conservation for sustainability and efficiency.  These aspects govern Freiburg’s urban planning process in such a way that most development, or re-development, projects go far beyond the minimum energy standards and installation of renewable energy generation to also include net-zero and passivhaus building practices, combined heat and power (CHP) generation and a district heating grid to provide domestic heating and hot water.
  • Population: 229,636 (2017)
  • Area: 153.07 km2(59.10 sq mi)
  • Link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/mar/23/freiburg.germany.greenest.city
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Georgetown, Texas, USA

Georgetown, Texas, USA

  • Target: Powered by 100 % renewable energy.
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Solar and windpower.
  • Implementation: The city of Georgetown in Texas is powered by 100 % renewable energy  through long-term deals to supply the city with solar and wind power. The decision was made when it was found that renewable energy would be cheaper and more reliable than fossil fuels. The cost of solar panels had fallen by more than 63 % since 2010, with wind showing similar declines. The intervention would secure fixed electricity rates similar to the current rate of about 9.6 cents per kilowatt-hour and would protect the city against fluctuations in the price of fossil fuels. Renewables would require much less water use than traditional power generation, which is a great advantage in drier states such as Texas. Investing in the city’s own renewable energy sources would also create great local economic opportunities. Many companies, especially those in the high-tech sector, have invested in green sources of power for their office and manufacturing facilities. Georgetown’s 100% renewable power supply have helped companies achieve their sustainability goals at a competitive price. A major success has been the city's agreement with SunEdison, a multinational solar energy company, to purchase the power generated from a 150MW solar farm. The deal with SunEdison will be enough to power more than 24,000 homes every year for the next 25 years. Coupled with a 2014 agreement with EDF to purchase a 140-megawatts wind power plant, Georgetown will be able to meet all of its electricity needs without coal, oil, natural gas, or nuclear power.
  • Population: 55,716 (2014)
  • Area: 54.3 sq mi (141 km2)
  • Link: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/28/georgetown-texas-renewable-green-energy
Georgetown, Texas, USA

Gothenburg, Sweden

Gothenburg, Sweden

  • Target: Fossil free by 2050
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: District heating, solar and wind power
  • Implementation: In the early 1990’s, Sweden shifted from oil to district heating. This helped to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions in the housing and service sectors. Today, over 80 per cent of the heat and hot water provided to the country's apartment blocks come from district heating. By heating and cooling buildings from a central plant source, more sustainable and clean forms of fuel can be used. Many district heating networks are making use of recycled heat from industries – energy that would be wasted.

    Gothenburg is Sweden’s second-largest city. It has a 1,200 kilometres long district heating network, which heats 90 per cent of the city’s apartment blocks as well as 12,000 detached homes. Today, over 80% of the heat in the system is based on waste heat and recycled energy. When municipal-owned Gårdstensbostäder acquired Gårdsten in the late 90s, they managed to redevelop 500 apartments into solar houses. The apartments are also self- sufficient by wind power. The city has also enabled through its electric utilities policies, the option for consumers to buy into the eco-labeled district heating.
  • Population: 572,779 city, 1,015,974 metro (2016)
  • Area: 447.76 km2 (172.88 sq mi) city, 3,694.86 km2(1,426.59 sq mi) metro
  • Link: Fossil Free Gothenburg (PDF in Swedish)
Gothenburg, Sweden

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

  • Target: To become a fossil fuel free city, at least in the electricity sector, by 2020.
  • Status: In progress
  • RES: Solar photovoltaic systems, and geothermal systems.
  • Implementation: Grand Rapids is one of the most populous cities in the US state of Michigan.  In 2010, the electricity production was mostly based on coal burning power plants and about 20% came from renewable energies. To achieve the 100%-RE target in the electricity sector, as announced by the mayor in 2005, Grand Rapids has implemented several RE projects. In 2010, the US Department of Energy awarded the city a ‘Congressially Directed Project Grand’. The city has since received financial support to implement photovoltaic systems. It has installed geothermal systems at two fire stations in the city. The US Environmental Protection Agency has also provided financial support to convert a former landfill site into a large scale solar photovoltaic farm.
  • Population: 198,829 (2017)
  • Area: 45.31 sq mi (117.35 km2)
  • Link: https://www.experiencegr.com/about-grand-rapids/green-grand-rapids/
Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA
  • Calder Plaza, Grand Rapids © Steven Depolo CC BY 2.0

Greensburg, Kansas, USA

Greensburg, Kansas, USA

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: Wind farm, small solar installations and biogas and biodiesel generator, LEED Buildings, geothermal heating, charging stations for electric vehicles.
  • Implementation: Greensburg is a small rural town in Kansas, USA. It is a story of triumph from tragedy. In 2007, a tornado hit Greensburg and severely damaged or destroyed 90% of its structures. Shortly after this tragedy, the community, led by Mayor Bob Dixon decided to rebuild Greensburg as a sustainable community. A 'Long-Term Community Recovery Plan' was developed in 2007 and in 2008 Greensburg residents developed a 'Sustainable Comprehensive Plan' for the city’s next 20 years that would focus on cost-effective energy efficiency and on operating with 100% RE. Today, Greensburg Wind Farm supplies 12.5 MW of RE to the town. The RE production is complemented by small solar installations, while biogas and biodiesel generators are used for emergency backup. The town uses only about 1/3 of the power generated and excess power is fed back to the grid and offered as RE credits for other customers. Greensburg's Plan mandated that all city-owned buildings had to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED Platinum rating. This has resulted in 42% energy savings, with 13 community buildings saving a combined total of USD$200,000 in energy costs per year. Also many private buildings are exceeding 40% in energy savings. For the transport sector, the city encourages alternative and efficient transportation options, more pedestrian activity and promoting charging stations for electric vehicles. The creation of the Greensburg Plan essentially involved a range of stakeholders through many community meetings. It included city leaders, business owners, non-profit organisations (e.g. Greensburg Green Town), residents as well as experts from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). To implement Greenburg's Plan, the DOE/NREL team helped identify key steps: bringing stakeholders together, choosing the right leaders, creating a common vision, having goals, finding funds and writing an energy plan.
  • Population: 777 (2010)
  • Area: 1.48 sq mi (3.83 km2)
  • Link: http://www.greensburgks.org
Greensburg, Kansas, USA

Großbardorf, Germany

Großbardorf, Germany

  • Target: 100% renewable energy
  • Status: Achieved
  • RES: A solar photovoltaics farm, a biogas plant, a cogeneration plant and a district heating network.
  • Implementation: In the small Bavarian village of Großbardorf, local citizens invested and raised outside capital worth $19 million over four years to develop rooftop and larger scale solar systems, along with a biogas plant that feeds both a combined heat and power (CHP) plant and a district heating network. Combined, the projects generate 400% of the electricity the village’ needs and 50% of its heating demand. Großbardorf is considering expanding to new business opportunities that rely on its advanced heating network. One example is local fish farming tanks that use heat from the biogas plants to heat the water. Its citizens have also participated in Großbardorf's energy efforts in other ways. The community for example decided to invest in solar panels for the new roof of the town’s football stadium in  exchange for season tickets to games. The income from the electricity produced by the solar panels would pay off the expense of the new roof. The village's renewable energy success would not have been possible without the Renewable Sources Act (EEG), the German feed-in tariff (FIT). The law guarantees interconnection of renewables into the grid, payment of any needed grid upgrades by the utilities, and adequate, long term payment to renewable power generators for any electricity they feed in to the grid.
  • Population: 889 (2017)
  • Area: 16.54 km2 (6.39 sq mi)
  • Link: Energie-Kommune des Monats: Gemeinde Großbardorf
Großbardorf, Germany