Community energyA city in full economic and demographic expansion, Tampere is looking into how it can reduce its energy consumption and CO2 emissions in order to achieve its 2050 carbon neutrality goals. The city has chosen to invest in cogeneration, high buildings efficiency standards and integrated data. Now citizens and businesses are joining in.
District heating (DH) for less CO2 emissions and lower bills
Tampere is investing in new district heating and cooling production with renewables and at the same time reducing its CO2 emissions and dependence on foreign fossil fuels, such as natural gas and oil. Finland’s biggest wood pellet district heating plant is in operation since 2013 and Tampere is currently building another large wood powered district heating plant. The new waste-to-energy CHP plant will startin 2016 and fuel will be collected mainly from households. Already in 2014, CO2 emissions by district heating had been decreased by 27% since 1990 and the share of renewables in energy production increased from 6% in 2000 to 25%
in 2014. The total CO2 emission in Tampere has been decreased by 15% since 1990.
Spotlight on energy-efficient buildings
The city empowers citizens to reduce energy consumption by installing smart meters at all homes. In addition, Tampere offers 50% reduction in plot rent for five years, when the new building uses 30% less energy than required by building regulations. Furthermore, the city provides free energy advice and a web tool for planning eco-efficient refurbishment and construction of homes for the citizens.
The community contributes to integration and lower energy consumption
It’s not only home owners, tenants and the municipality who contribute to lowering Tampere’s energy consumption: everyone can chip in! Following this idea, Tampere has decided to open up its data and involve businesses, researchers and many regional agencies in the local ITS Factory. It allows the whole community to make the best of the city’s integrated systems by creating new mobility services for residents and implementing a wide array of jointly-developed pilot projects. 2000 professional and amateur weekly users are now part of this growing community aiming to take advantage of Tampere’s smart and integrated infrastructure to make the city cleaner and more livable.
Tampere’s community represents:
- 2000 weekly user
- 30 businesses and research organisations
- 1 million EUR/year
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