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DIFFERENT STROKES
While Wienholt emphasises that every
city’s requirements will differ, he cites some
examples of the technologies that are helping
some cities score high on the sustainability
front.
“If you look again at Copenhagen, about
98pc of the buildings are connected to the
district heating system, and they use combined
heat and power plant, which helps
them to have a good efficiency level for the
energy supply and, at the same time, to
provide an according yield. They also have
a very good transport network with a
seamless ticketing system. It doesn’t matter
if you go by waterbus, by bus, by train –
you can always use the same ticket, or even
your mobile phone.”
He points also to Vienna, which in 2006
opened Europe’s largest biomass-fuelled
power station in the Simmering district,
which powers over 48,000 homes and
heats some 12,000. Renewable sources account
for over 13pc of the energy consumed
by the city, reducing greenhouse gases significantly.
“Or, if you go to Oslo, they have installed
new technology in their subway which
helps them to save about 30pc of the energy
for the trains because they use the energy
which is released during braking and
store it for later acceleration.
“So, as I say, it’s not like there is one set
of solutions that fits all. It really depends
on the individual needs of the city which
type of combination of solutions makes
more sense.”
Paul Lynam is the CEO of Siemens in Ireland.
He says that it is the financial element
that will create the biggest challenge as we
move Dublin towards a more sustainable
model. “Basically the core of our economy
is still pretty strong, the export orientation
at the moment from FDI is performing very
well, but in order to make this step change
to become a green city there is a capital investment
that is required, and that is one of
the big challenges that Ireland will face.
64 INNOVATION IRELAND REVIEW Issue 2 Spring/Summer 2011