European Green City Index | Copenhagen_DenmarkEuropean Green City Index | Copenhagen_Denmark

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Copenhagen_Denmark

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The City of Copenhagen is relatively small byEuropean standards, being home to just overhalf a million people. This is around one-tenth ofDenmarks total population. The local economy isdominated by the services sector. Copenhagen isthe main business and financial centre of thecountry and it is also one of western Europesleading locations for international companyheadquarters and distribution centres. Impor-tant sectors include life sciences, shipping,research and development activities and infor-mation technology. Manufacturing firms haverelocated out of Copenhagen in recent decades,with the result that the sector now accounts for arelatively small share of total output. This has hada beneficial impact on the citys environment.Copenhagen achieves the highest ranking in theEuropean Green City Index, with a score of 87.31out of 100. The city performed well in all eightcategories in the index and places joint first in the

Population: 504,000

GDP per head, PPP: 43,640

CO2 emissions per head: 5.38 tonnes

Energy consumption per head: 80.63 gigajoules*

Percentage of renewable energy consumed by the city: 18.76 %

Total percentage of citizens walking,cycling or taking public transport to work: 68 %

Annual water consumption per head: 147 m3

Share of waste recycled: 23.61 %

sub-category for environmental governance.Successive governments at both the national andmunicipal level have shown strong support forpromoting sustainable development a com-mitment that dates back to the oil crisis of the1970s, which spurred the development of thecitys district heating system and a nationwidedrive towards renewable energy generation. Thelegacy of these political decisions is relatively lowenergy consumption and energy intensity today.In all index categories, Copenhagen ranks in thetop ten, and the municipal authoritys environ-mental strategy, as set out in the MetropolitanMilieu (2007) and the climate change plan(2009), establishes ambitious targets to improvethe citys performance in the coming years. InDecember 2009 the city will host the UN ClimateChange Conference in Co pen hagen (COP15),which aims to provide a successor to the Kyotoprotocol on climate change.

Copenhagen places joint first, however, in thegreen land use policies sub-category, thanks tothe ongoing redevelopment of brownfield sitesand the widespread availability of green spaces(almost 80% of the residents in the municipalityof Copenhagen live within 300 metres of a parkor recreational area). Although municipal wasteproduction is comparatively high, the propor-tion of this going to landfill is small, at around2.5%. Some 55% of all waste is recycled (althoughthe proportion for household waste is lower, at24%), and much of the remainder is incineratedin plants connected to the district heating sys-tem. The City Council has approved a WasteManagement Plan for 2009-12, aimed at furtherreducing the production of waste. Initiative: The vast majority (80%) of newdevelopments this decade have been built onbrownfield sites, including redevelopment of

the harbour front. A major greenfield develop-ment is underway to the south of the city centre,where the eco-friendly Copenhagen Towers hoteland office complex is due to open in late 2009.

In 2006 the municipality set a goal of raisingto 90% the share of residents who live within 15minutes walk of a park, nature area or harbourpool. To this end, by 2015 the municipality willestablish 14 new small pocket parks, as well asplanting 3,000 trees to create greener streets.

Air quality: Copenhagen is ranked fifth in thecategory for air quality, with a broadly similarscore to several other north European cities.Copenhagen is located near the coast, with flatterrain and relatively high average wind speeds.This should provide the basis for favourable airquality, but traffic-congested streets, combinedwith the style of many older buildings, creates

1) GDP is from 2006. 2) Rebased. Copenhagen envisions becoming CO2 neutral -- according to the city, this corresponds to an approx. reduction of actuall emissions by 56% to 2025; rest made up from quotas. 3) All energy data in total actual, except transport energy.City trying to produce an estimate, though advise our estimate is probably correct. 4) Based on estimate provided by the city of Copenhagen for renewable energy in electricity and district heating. 5) Advised by city authorities; no data though. 6) This is only householdwaste. Municipal waste is not calculated in Copenhagen. Commercial waste includes also industrial waste, so cannot be simply added.

Average Copenhagen Year Source

CO2 emissions per capita (tonnes/inhabitant) 5.21 5.38 2007 City of Copenhagen (CO2 emissions); Danish statistical office (population)

CO2 emissions per unit GDP (g/) 356.12 89.64 1 2007 City of Copenhagen (CO2 emissions); Eurostat (GDP)

CO2 reduction target to 2020 (% pa, from yr in which target set) 14.48 75.00 2 2007 City of Copenhagen

Energy consumption per capita (GJ/inhabitant) 80.87 80.63 3 2007 Copenhagen statistical office (energy); Danish statistical office (population)

Energy consumption per unit GDP (MJ/ GDP) 5.25 1.34 2007 Copenhagen statistical office (energy); Eurostat (GDP)

% of renewable energy consumed by the city (%) 7.30 18.76 4 2007 City of Copenhagen

Energy consumption of residential buildings (MJ/m2) 908.88 553.54 2007 Copenhagen statistical office (energy); Urban Audit (floor space)

Share of people walking or cycling to work (%) 20.94 51.00 2007 City of Copenhagen

Share of people taking public transport to work (%) 41.56 17.00 2007 City of Copenhagen

Length of cycle lanes (km/km2) 1.15 3.89 2007 European Green City Award Application

Length of public transport network (km/km2) 2.33 2.07 2007 Danish statistical office

Annual water consumption per capita (m3/inhabitant) 105.43 147.00 2007 City of Copenhagen

Water system leakages (%) 22.63 5.00 2007 Water utility company

Dwellings connected to the sewage system (%) 95.02 100.00 5 2007 City of Copenhagen

Municipal waste per capita (kg/inhabitant) 510.93 477.05 6 2007 City of Copenhagen

Share of waste recycled (%) 17.62 23.61 2007 City of Copenhagen

Average daily nitrogen dioxide emissions (ug/m3) 35.18 19.21 2007 EEA airbase

Average daily ozone emissions (ug/m3) 40.38 54.61 2007 EEA airbase

Average daily particulate matter (ug/m3) 34.86 23.40 2005 EEA airbase

Average daily SO2 emissions (ug/m3) 6.96 3.30 2007 EEA airbase

Quantitative Indicators: Copenhagen

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street canyons in which the dispersion of emis-sions is restricted. As is the case in many Euro-pean cities, a large number of streets in Copen-hagen do not meet EU air-quality standards fornitrogen dioxide and larger particulate matter.The vast majority of air pollutants measured inCopenhagen come from traffic. Initiative: Specific actions include new speedand parking controls, cycle plans, the creation ofan Environmental Zone in the city centre.

Environmental governance: Copenhagen isranked joint first in the category for environ-mental governance. Responsibility for environ-mental management falls to the citys Technicaland Environmental Administration. Recently,the municipality has taken steps to ensure inte-grated environmental management across all itsvarious departments, appointing environmentalco-ordinators for each administrative unit. Themunicipal authority takes a lead in promotingsustainability, benchmarking the municipalitysown performance on a range of issues fromenergy consumption, water use and waste tothe consumption of organic food in public insti-tutions. Initiative: The city also plays an important rolein educating the public, such as through its freeClimate Check service (which helps Copen-hageners to reduce carbon emissions from theirhomes). Its 2015 plan envisages educating anew generation of environmentally aware citi-zens through projects in schools and the estab-lishment of new science centre in the city.

CO2 emissions: Copenhagen ranks in fourthplace, thanks to good scores in the CO2 intensityand CO2 reduction strategy sub-categories. How-ever, the city is ranked 18th in terms of its actualcarbon emissions, reflecting the fact that thecitys primary fuel sources are coal, oil and natur-al gas. A drive to improve energy efficiency hascontributed to a significant fall in emissions overthe past decade or so: total CO2 emissions havefallen by about 20% from 1990 to 2005, despitean increase in population of 7%. The fall in emis-sions in recent decades is in part due to theexpansion of district heating, as well as the useof cleaner fuels in combined heat and power (CHP)stations. On a per head basis, the city now pro-duces some 5.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions, abovethe index average of approximately 5.2 tonnes. Initiative: The 2009 climate change plan in -cludes a target to reduce CO2 emissions by a fur-ther 20% by 2015 (from 2005 levels), with 50specific initiatives for energy production, trans-port, buildings and consumption. The plan alsosets an ambitious long-term goal for the city tobecome carbon neutral by 2025.

Energy: Copenhagen is ranked in second placein the category for energy. Denmarks energypolicy has sought to reduce the countrys depen-dence on coal and oil, in favour of natural gasand renewable energy sources. Coal, for exam-ple, accounted for 20% of Denmarks total fuelconsumption in 2008, down from around 40%in 1990. Renewable energy sources also play anincreasingly important role, accounting for 17%of total energy consumption in 2008 and 27% ofelectricity consumption. In per head terms, Den-mark is the worlds largest producer of windelectricity, with a large share of this producedoff-shore. Two-thirds of heat is sourced fromfour large CHP power plants, which are linkedwith four waste incinerators (supplying a further30% of heat). Initiative: The national governments climatechange strategy aims to raise the share ofrenewable energy sources to 30% of total con-sumption by 2025. The 209 mw Horns Rev 2wind farm came on stream in 2009, and meetsthe electricity needs of around 200,000 Danishhouseholds. Rodsand 2, a 207 mw wind farm, isexpected to come on stream in 2010, with otherwind farms currently at the planning stage.

The municipalitys climate change strategyforesees a shift in fuel used by the citys Amagerpower station, reducing use of coal in favour ofbiofuels. Unit 1 of the plant is currently beingrenovated and converted to biomass-firing, fol-lowing the conversion of Unit 2. Biomass con-sumption by the Amager plant is expected to risefrom 70,000 tonnes per year to 150,000 tonnesfrom 2009.

A demonstration geothermal facility cameinto operation in 2005 and supplies 1% of theCopenhagen area with district heating.

Buildings: Copenhagen is ranked fourth in thebuildings category. Danish buildings are amongthe most energy-efficient in the world, despitethe ageing housing stock (two-thirds of houseswere built before the second world war and only7% were built in the last 20 years). Energy con-sumption in residential buildings, at 554 mega-joules per square metre, was the lowest of the30 cities in the survey. The fact that almost allbuildings in the Danish capital are connected tothe district heating system helps to keep overallenergy consumption low. Buildings are subjectto strict insulation standards, which has spurredthe development of an innovative building ma -terials industry. Regulations require the con-struction of new buildings and renovation ofexisting buildings to meet energy conservationcriteria. Energy labelling is mandatory through-out Denmark when selling and letting all build-ings. There are rules to ensure that both existingand new boilers and heating installations are asenergy efficient as possible. Initiative: The Copenhagen municipality aimsto achieve 10% of its total CO2 reductionthrough construction and renovation projects.Government subsidies for green renovations areavailable on a national level. Copenhagen mu -nicipality offers extensive support in terms ofanalysing potential to reduce energy consump-tion and offering information and advice on theexecution and financing of renovations. Themunicipality intends to upgrade all municipalbuildings to ensure compliance at the highestenergy standards.

The University of Copenhagen is collaborat-ing with several other partners to build a cli-mate-friendly building of the future, the so-called Green Lighthouse. Architecturallyde signed to minimise heat loss and energy use,the building is expected to consume only 22kwh per square metre per year by 2020, wellbelow the standard set by Danish building regu-lations for a maximum of 30.7 kwh. The buildingwill be included as an exemplary project forCOP15.

Transport: Copenhagen is ranked third in thecategory for transport. Car ownership in Den-mark is much lower than in many other Euro-pean countries, a result of high car taxes thatmake the country the most expensive place inEurope to buy a new car. The city performs wellin terms of the size of the non-car network andgreen transport promotion. However, it per-forms slightly less well on the level of usage ofthe non-car transport network. Although the

Carbon-neutral neighbourhoods

In partnership with energy companies, archi-

tects, construction firms and other interested

parties, the municipality has launched two

flagship urban development projects to create

carbon-neutral neighbourhoods, charac-

terised by low-energy buildings, sustainable

energy networks and environmentally friendly

transport. One such development is in the

Amager Faelled district, south of central

Copenhagen, where it is expected that some

300,000 square metres of residential and

commercial buildings will be built. Before a fi-

nal development plan for the area is adopted

in 2012, the city authorities will conduct an

analysis of the technologies required to en-

sure that the districts energy supply, build-

ings, transport and waste management sys-

tems can be operated on a carbon-neutral

basis. Another major new urban development

will take place at Nordhavn, a 200-hectare site

situated at the northernmost part of the citys

docks. It is envisaged that a first phase of de-

velopment will begin in 2011, with a second

phase scheduled for 2018.

City planners are also examining how to re-

duce CO2 emissions in existing neighbour-

hoods under development. One notable ex-

ample is the district of Valby, around 5 km

from the city centre, which has become the

test-bed for a number of solar cell projects.

A partnership between the private and public

sectors, the Valby project aims to supply 15%

of the districts electricity from solar cells by

2025.

Copenhagen a Better Place to live

In May 2009 the City of Copenhagen signed

an agreement with a US-based firm, Better

Place, jointly to develop a plan to accelerate

the roll-out of electric vehicles (EV), including

the necessary charging infrastructure. Initial-

ly the partnership will focus on ensuring an

EV pilot project is ready for demonstration at

the COP15 conference in Copenhagen in De-

cember 2009. The city authorities therefore

agreed to speed up the permit process so

that private operators can install a large num-

ber of charging points throughout the city.

The agreement also promises to develop a

model for the future deployment of infra-

structure across the municipality, including

mapping the network of charging points and

battery switch stations and new rapid ap-

provals procedures. In partnership with

DONG Energy, the Danish state-owned ener-

gy company, Better Place aims to roll out a

network of 20,000 charging stations for elec-

tric cars by 2011. The stations, which will be

built in car parks and outside houses, will be

powered by DONGs wind turbine network.

This will provide a new means of storing re-

newable electricity it is assumed that

most owners of electric-powered cars would

recharge their vehicles during night-time

hours, when demand for electricity is low.

Also involved in the project is Renault-Nissan

(France/Japan), which will supply the vehicles

and the lithium-ion batteries necessary to

power them.

city authorities have adopted a number of mea-sures to reduce car use, traffic congestionremains a problem in the city, especially duringpeak hours. Copenhagen has an extensive pub-lic transport system including a Metro, a sub-urban rail and bus networks with the resultthat virtually all residents live within 350 metresof public transport services. There are around388 km of cycle routes, the vast majority ofwhich are physically separated from the road. Initiative: Measures include improving condi-tions for cyclists (such as a Green Wave trafficlight system that means that cyclists shouldnever encounter a red light); the construction ofa new metro service between 2002 and 2007;new parking controls (with higher prices aimedat deterring commuter traffic and free parkingfor car sharers); and the creation in September2008 of an Environmental Zone that excludesheavy vehicles without particle filters from cen-tral Copenhagen.

Copenhagen has set itself the objective ofbecoming the Worlds Best Cycle City and aimsto raise the share of the capitals inhabitantswho regularly use a bicycle to go to their place ofwork or education from the current 36% to 50%by 2015. The City Council will continue toreduce road capacity by only allowing pedestri-ans, cyclists and buses to use shopping streetsand some main arteries into the city.

The citys Metro system will undergo a majorexpansion with the construction of the CityRing, a circle line with 16 new stations.

Copenhagen aims to introduce a system ofcongestion charging. The city has also installed1,500 solar-powered pay-and-display parkingticket machines, as part of a wider plan aimed atreducing car traffic and inner-city congestion.

Water: Ranked in joint fifth place in the catego-ry for water along with Zurich, Copenhagens

score is dragged down by high levels of waterconsumption which, at 147 cubic metres perinhabitant per year, was almost three timeshigher than the category leaders. However,Copenhagen claimed the top slot for water sys-tem leakages, wastewater treatment and waterefficiency. All drinking water is produced entire-ly from ground water, collected mainly in areasoutside the municipality. Water metering hasbeen mandatory since 1999 for all propertiesconnected to the general water supply (al -though only one meter is necessary in resi-dences with multiple apartments). Water con-sumption has fallen considerably in recentdecades, thanks to greater use of water-savingequipment, campaigns to deter excessive con-sumption, efforts to increase the use of re -claimed water and higher water prices. Waterlosses as a result of leakages from Copenhagensmains network, at around 5%, are far below the30-city average of 23%. Initiative: The municipality has a target toreduce household consumption from 114 litresper person per day in 2007 to 100 litres per per-son in 2012. The City Council spends aroundDkr2 million (about 269,000) each year onwater-saving initiatives, including subsidies forthe installation of water metres in individual flatsin apartment blocks and water-saving toilets.

In 2001 it was decided that the entire mainsnetwork would need to be replaced over the cur-rent century, implying renovation of 1% (or 9km) of the network each year.

The municipality aims to increase the use ofreclaimed water to 2% of total consumption by2011 and to 4% by 2017, with financing avail-able to support the construction of reclaimedwater plants.

Waste and land use: Copenhagen ranks sev-enth in the category for waste and land use.

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