City-Level Decoupling-Case Studies

23. Fossil Fuel Free Växjö, Sweden

By Gabriela Weber de Morais

Växjö, home to approximately 82,000 inhabitants, is a city in the south of Sweden. Due to the rise of oil prices in the early 1980s, biomass was added to the fuel stock used in the district heating plant, which previously was based exclusively on oil. Today almost 90% of the fuel for heating is obtained from biomass from woodchips, most being a by-product of commercial logging in the region. 216 Although the city has an environmental programme with goals to be accomplished in different fields, the main focus of its strategy is reducing carbon emissions. To achieve its low carbon objective, the Fossil Fuel Free Växjö programme was conceived in 1996 involving public participation through the Local Agenda 21. The strategy encompasses measures related to behaviour change, energy efficiency and the transition to renewable energy in heating, power and transport. The decision to focus on carbon emissions reduction was inspired by the city’s experience with the use of biomass for heating and power generation, and the significant body of relevant knowledge that had been acquired by the university and forestry sector. 217 The programme originally aimed for a 50% reduction in CO 2 emissions by 2010, and a 70% by 2025 based on 1993 emission levels. 218 Yet the municipality admits that when the 2010 goals were agreed it was not known whether they were feasible and which measures were required to meet them. The environmental programme was revised in 2010 and new goals were agreed: a 55% decrease per capita by 2015 (2059 kg) and 100% decrease per capita by 2030 based on 1993 emission levels. By 2009, the city had achieved a 34% CO 2 emission reduction per capita in relation to 1993 levels. 219 The city has become well known for its transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy in the provision of heating. Motivated by a desire to become independent from foreign fossil fuel sources, the municipal energy company involved local companies and supported the forestry sector to develop biofuel production and combustion technology. Local actors were also assisted by the regional organisation Southeast Energy Office, which had the national government’s mandate to contribute to the sustainable restructuring of local energy systems. 220 In 1980, the municipal energy company became the first in Sweden to introduce biofuels in district heating, and a cogeneration plant using renewable energy was launched two years later. 221 A new and more powerful woodchip

co-generation plant was built in 1997, 222 and the municipal energy company has recently started to work with district cooling based on the use of heat instead of electricity to supply large customers. 223 The district heating system in Växjö is unique in the way it has included old buildings. District heating systems using renewable energy exist in other cities, but old buildings are seldom connected to them due to the

Bio-gas is now available as a vehicle fuel in Växjö (Source: Vaxjo Kommun)

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