COPENHAGEN –

THE SMART CARBON

NEUTRAL CITY
The city of Copenhagen was founded in 1160, when it was
created two cover two functions: to act as an emerging
trade hub and, in turn, a fortress to protect the Danish
maritime trade and shipping.
Copenhagen has maintained a strategy focused on adapting
public spaces, fostering renewable energies and the
rationalisation of cleaner mobility.
The authorities intend to neutralise 100% of the city's
polluting emissions by 2025, while taking into account that its
urban population of 1.3 million will increase by 20%.
 BIG DATA
 Copenhagen has implemented a sophisticated network of
sensors designed to improve the efficiency of municipal
buildings. A constant review of energy and water
consumption rates helps to minimize waste and the
associated CO2 emissions.
 Despite being a city of canals (or maybe because of that),
Copenhagen also keeps an eye on its water consumption
using multiple sources of data. A dense network of
acoustic leak sensors, smart water meters and intelligent
valves and pumps work in unison with real-time software
modeling to ensure its proper management.
 URBAN GARDENS
 One fourth of the city is made of green spaces. The urban
code also innovates by introducing the concept of green
roofs in newly built buildings, allowing for rooftop
gardens that reduce pollution and make good use of
rainwater in order to sustain themselves.
 BICYCLE FRIENDLY
 Copenhagen is one of the most bicycle-friendly cities in
the entire world. It has about 700,000 bikes, more than one
per car. It’s estimated that about 62% of the population
use it in order to go to work or their education centre
 RENEWABLE ENERGY
 The city, like Denmark itself, has made strong investments
in renewables. Photovoltaic and wind energy will be key
to decarbonise the city, but biomass usage is also
notable.
 Project Holmene will create nine man-made islands
hosting wind and waste-to-energy plants, generating
over 300,000 MWh.
 It is not that the city was not supporting electric vehicles
as a sustainable solution; it is that, directly, a vast
majority of citizens do not need a car. In 2016, there were
675,000 bicycles and just 120,000 cars on the streets of
Copenhagen.
 Around 62% of the city's residents commute to work or
school by bike and almost one third of all journeys across
the city are done with this mode of transport. The aim is
to reach 50% by 2050.
 To do so, the authorities have particularly focused on
certain parameters that are ignored in other countries.
Such as the percentage of citizens that feel safe using
bicycles as a mode of transport. The figure exceeds 76%.
This marker is indicative of another: the deployment and
financing of cycling infrastructures.
 To continue with the record drop in emissions and reach
the national emissions target, the city has drawn up
a climate plan focusing on four pillars:
 Energy consumption.
 Energy production.
 Mobility.
 City administration initiatives.
 The aim in these four years is to invest in wind and solar
energy. The HOFOR plant, which supplies the city, expects
to increase its capacity to reach 460 MW by 2025.