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A NEWS MAGAZINE FROM COWI ABOUT
ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND ECONOMICS
OCTOBER 2010, NO. 22
Good cities are
like parties
The globetrotting architect
Jan Gehl offers tips on how
to create vital urban spaces

A news mAgAzine from Cowi About
engineering, enVironmentAL sCienCe And eConomiCs
oCtober 2010, no. 22
A DAY IN
THE LIFE
OF A COWI SPECIALIST
Software specialist Charlotte
Hybschmann Jacobsen has retooled
her shipbuilding skills and put them
to use for COWI
18
4 FROM A PEDESTRIAN’S POINT-OF-VIEW
Architects Jan Gehl and Mette Mogensen agree:
good cities are pedestrian-friendly cities.
11 WATER CYCLE REINVENTED
Sustainable solutions are needed to address cities’ growing
demand for water.
17 BLOGGERS REMIX CONCRETE
Two cowi specialists have launched an interdisciplinary blog exploring
ways to make concrete production more sustainable.
20 HARVESTING FUEL FOR SWEDEN’S LORRIES
Half of the diesel used by Europe’s heavy-duty traffic can be
replaced with a by-product from the paper industry.
Good cities are
like parties
The globetrotting architect
Jan Gehl offers tips on how
to create vital urban spaces
26 A ROAD LESS BUMPY
A specially modified Mercedes packed with laser sensors, GPS and a
digital camera helps smooth out the bumps on bike lanes.
29 PATCHING PEOPLE INTO THE GRID
A Danish city is making smart energy nets everyone’s business.
The city-party comparison
is a favourite of architect
Jan Gehl.
Photo: Das Büro
News magazine about engineering,
environmental science and economics
from COWI. Feature is published in
Danish and in English. The magazine
is distributed to customers, partners
and employees.
Editorial staff:
Bo Øksnebjerg (editor-in-chief),
boog@cowi.com
Christina Tækker (editor), cht@cowi.com
Uzi Frank, uzif@cowi.com
Lotte Lykke Pedersen, llp@cowi.com
Anja Fabech Jensen, afj@cowi.com
Rewrite: Kevin McGwin, in-other-words
Design and layout
Josina W. Bergsøe, jwb@cowi.com
Helle Martini, hmar@cowi.com
Hanne Bjørn Nielsen, hbn@cowi.com
Marianne Rom, mrom@cowi.com
Mette Schou, msux@cowi.com
Editorial input closed
21 September 2010
Reproduction is permitted with
appropriate source references
Print run: 6,000
Production: Rosendahl-Schultz Grafisk
ISSN 1903-8909
Published by COWI A/S
Parallelvej 2
DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby
Tel +45 45 97 22 11 Fax +45 45 97 22 12
www.cowi.com
COWI is a leading Northern European
consulting group. We provide state-of-theart
services within the fields of engineering,
environmental science and economics
with due consideration for the environment
and society. COWI is a leader within
its fields because COWI's 6,000 employees
are leaders within theirs.
Behind the story
A COWI photographer takes aim at one of the company’s
Piper-Chieftains as it is towed from its hanger at Roskilde
Airport in preparation for a mapping mission.
Read more, page 36. Photo: Das Büro
Hold the mercury, please
Fish and other seafood could
soon be safer to eat if a global
mercury agreement is reached
as expected
34
At home on the
30 GETTING SMART ABOUT POWER GRIDS
In the future, heat and electricity customers will also be producers
in two-way intelligent energy nets.
36 CLEAR FOR TAKE-OFF
cowi’s aerial cartographers need to keep their eyes on the sky
as well as the terrain.
COWI interns have collected 9,000 soil
samples that will help give a better
picture of how much
CO2 RANGE
CO2 is released by
agricultural wetlands
Locations represented in this issue of Feature:
New York
Iceland
Norway
Faroe Islands Sweden
Denmark Lithuania
Britain Germany
Serbia
12
Japan
China
International news magazine from cowi • 3

Copenhagen’s Kartoffelrække (Potato Rows)
neighbourhood has all the right elements for
good urban living, according to Gehl.
Architects Jan Gehl and
cowi’s Mette Mogensen agree:
people make good cities.
But where do cars fit in
Looking
at cities at
eye level
By Eva Isager
Cities are something like parties –
people stay much longer than really
necessary if they are enjoying themselves.
Think of Venice or New York.
Or the waterfront in Oslo. They are
all places where you can experience
the city happening all around you
as you stroll idly by. The truth, however,
is that over the past 50 years,
many cities have slowly been
drained of their vitality. Traffic congestion,
high-rises and sprawling
lawns have forced out the plazas
and squares where people once
congregated.
The city-party comparison is a
favourite of architect Jan Gehl. A
pioneer in efforts to reclaim cities for
humans, his influence is unmatched
in the area. Some 95 per cent of the
projects his Copenhagen office undertakes
are located outside of Denmark.
Most recently, he has offered
his insights to officials in New York,
Mexico City, Guangzhou, Muscat
and Melbourne on how to design
successful cities. More often than
not, his model is Copenhagen,
where he began his studies of urban
living in the 1960s.
Gehl’s recently released book
“Cities for People”, available in Danish,
English and Chinese, takes up
this issue of how to create peoplefriendly
cities.
Feature sat Gehl down with cowi
architect and R&D Manager Mette
Mogensen for a discussion about
what makes cities good, and what
prevents them from achieving complete
people-friendliness.
Life in the slow lane
Jan Gehl (JG): “The good city is a
negotiation between form and life –
the city’s structure and its residents’
activities, if you will. But architects
worldwide have increasingly emphasised
form. They design weird-looking
buildings that resemble perfume
bottles and forget to think holistically.
City life develops naturally when
you can sit, walk or bike and experience
what is going on around you by
looking at other people or interesting
facades. But, we need to be invited
into the slow lane.”
Mette Mogensen (MM): “The job
is also a matter of creating a social,
economic and environmentally sustainable
foundation that makes it
possible to put creative thinking
into practice. It is unfortunate that
there are not more architects out
there who build neighbourhoods
they would like to live in themselves.”
JG: “That is right. They all live in
closely-knit, gentrified neighbour-
Architect Jan Gehl is a pioneering
figure in a global campaign to wrest cities from domination
by cars. Photos: Das Büro
International news magazine from cowi • 5

Mogensen and Gehl agree
that car traffic can be detrimental to
good urban living.
“It is unfortunate that there
are not more architects out
there who build neighbourhoods
they would like to
live in themselves”
Mette Mogensen, architect and R&D Manager
hoods that have everything it takes
to make them good places to live.
But when it comes to designing
housing for other people, things
just fall apart. Architecture schools
do not really teach tomorrow’s architects
what it takes to make cities
thrive. This has been an important
issue for me, since for a long time no
one else was interested in it.”
MM: “Cities need to do more to
involve developers and the people
who use cities – like residents and
merchants – early on in the process,
so they can find out if what they
need is a high-rise or a shop, and so
they can find out if someone is willing
to pay to have it built. If you
want stores and cafes and more activity
at street-level, cities and developers
need to set rental rates that do
not price that type of business out
of the market.”
JG: “When they started developing
Oslo’s waterfront, they thought
in terms of activity first, buildings
second. The result was an area that
draws 30,000 people a day in the
summertime. Copenhagen did the
exact opposite. In general, the things
Danish developers are coming up
with lag far behind what is going on
in Norway, Germany and the Netherlands.
The best new development to
come out of Copenhagen actually lies
across the water in Malmö, Sweden.
All around the world we see cities
and neighbourhoods being built
that look good from a bird’s eye view,
but are just hopeless at eye level.
“Human senses are stimulated in
the city when we pass through it on
foot at a speed of five kilometres an
hour. That is the reason why I am a
proponent of being careful with
what we do on the ground floor. If
high rent strangles life and variation
at street level, rents should be
lowered for ground level properties
and raised for the other storeys. But
good cities can also help raise rent
levels, and that can help convince
investors to get involved with
projects to remake cities. When
sections of Broadway were closed
to traffic, people started lingering
longer, and rents shot up 75 per cent.”
Fewer cars in cities
Both Gehl and Mogensen agree that
cars can be an obstacle for efforts to
promote the good life in cities. But
what to do with them
MM: “Planners need to consider
cars when planning new neighbourhoods.
Cars are part of the cityscape,
and if I am in a rush to get to work,
I drive. Cities are not just a place for
coffee-sipping cafe guests; they are
places people come to, leave from
and pass through.”
JG: “I am not anti-car, I am propeople.
Mette’s car driving days are
numbered though. We can no longer
use cars to keep our cities running
– we do not have the room or
the energy for them. Over the next
20 years, traffic volumes will fall as
we build better public transit and
implement congestion charges. We
are also going to see cities like New
York, Melbourne and Sydney start
building bike lanes modelled after
those we have in Copenhagen.
The good city allows people to
experience things, and it is a healthy
and sustainable place. Cycling is one
thing that helps on both
accounts. Cities in the
developing world, like
Bogota, are improving
their network of bike
lanes while at the same
time investing money
into public transit. The
rapid growth of cities in
the developing world is the world’s
biggest challenge, but urban planning
with a human element – building
pavements, bike lanes and good
public transit – are just a couple of
examples of how we can help the
world’s poor.”
MM: “The challenges the developing
world faces are on a much different
scale than those faced by the
“The good city is a negotiation
between form and life – the city’s
structure and its residents’
activities, if you will”
Jan Gehl, architect
6 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 7

developed world. Their environmental
problems undermine good
urban development. Denmark,
though, has unsolved problems of
its own, new suburban neighbourhoods,
for example.”
JG: “Denmark is not very strong
when it comes to designing new
buildings. But, in general, we see a
positive development, and I would
like to inspire the rest of the world
to think in terms of more humanoriented
urban development. I want
developers and city officials to understand
they need to show empathy
and sympathy towards city residents.
They need to know that it is better
to set up benches than it is
to build high-rises and then hope
people will come out on their own.”
@ Mette
Mogensen, architect and
R&D Manager, mtmo@cowi.com
www.gehlarchitects.com
http://byudvikling.wordpress.com
Karl Johan, Oslo
Oslo’s Karl Johan Street is alive
with the bustle of cafes and
strolling pedestrians. Cafe
guests and pedestrians have
unobstructed views of each
other.
New York
A number of sections of Broadway
have been closed to traffic. The result
has been a blossoming of slowpaced
city living in the Big Apple.
New Road, Brighton
New Road, one of Brighton, England’s
most important streets, has
been transformed from a traditional,
motorist-dominated road to
a shared surface road. Cars must
now yield the right-of-way to
pedestrians, and the road is the
site of numerous activities.
Rome
The daily activities in a pizzeria
on a Roman side street are in
plain view to passers-by. When
ground floor facades vary
widely, the experience is much
richer for pedestrians.
Gehl wants to teach the
rest of the world how to plan cities in a more
humanistic manner.
Terreaux, Lyon
A boy studies the fountain at
Place de Terreaux in Lyon, France.
Roads and plazas function best
when they offer something for
every generation.
Paris
Varied ground floor facades,
such as these in central Paris,
help shape the city from the
pedestrian’s eye view.
Planners need to consider
cars when planning new neighbourhoods,
What
works...
Aker Brygge, Oslo
A few years ago, Oslo nearly
doubled the number of benches
in its waterfront Aker Brygge
neighbourhood. The result has
been a near doubling of the
number of people who stop to
sit on a bench in the area.
Singapore
Singapore is known for its
long lines of traffic and its
towering skyscrapers, but narrow
pedestrian steets like this
one provide relief for tourists
and residents alike.
Bryant Park, New York City
The movable chairs of Bryant Park
make it a flexible, comfortable oasis in
the heart of New York City. Park guests
can place the chairs wherever they like.
Mogensen says.
8 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 9
Photos: Gehl Architects

Finding a way to
quench cities’ thirst
By Kathrine Schmeichel
The world’s rapidly
growing cities have
stretched water
supplies to the limit,
but a project under
development by cowi
could make the urban
water cycle more
sustainable
The ingredients making up the new concept 'sustainable
urban water' are simple: rainwater, drinking water,
wastewater and recreational water.
“Our basic premise is that all water begins as rainwater,”
says Jes Clauson-Kaas, a Senior Project Manager at
cowi. “It then runs off into streams, lakes or underground
aquifers.”
He and other cowi specialists have joined the Danish
Hydraulic Institute and consultancy ALECTIA Aqua to
develop this basic premise and apply it to sustainable
water solutions in new cities and neighbourhoods.
Pressure on the world’s water resources
is so significant, explains Clauson-Kaas,
that it can only be mitigated if sustainable
water and sewage networks are integrated
in the early planning phase of cities.
“A sustainable use of rainwater will
involve using precipitation locally, which
reduces the cost of treatment and transport,
as well as helping to prevent drought
and flooding.”
Photo: Ulrik Jantzen
Mapping hate crimes and discrimination
cowi consultants Mikael Keller and Mads Ted Drud-
Jensen, together with the Danish Institute for Human
Rights, have created the most complete picture to date
of homophobia, transphobia and discrimination on the
grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Their
report has been expanded to include 20 non-EU states
that sit on the Council of Europe, and is published at a
time when the European Commission is considering a
horizontal EU directive against discrimination which
would include sexual orientation.
@ Mikael
@ Mads
Keller, Project Manager,
mikl@cowi.com
Ted Drud-Jensen,
sociologist, mtdj@cowi.com
Read more at cowi.com
under projects
Wanted: test city
The big challenge right now for the team
working on the sustainable urban water
project is to identify a city they can use as
a proving ground for their ideas.
The group is keeping an especially close
watch on China, which they say has major
problems with its water supplies.
“Especially northern China,” Clauson-Kaas says.
“Within the past couple of years, 40 new cities have been
built, and many of those cities would benefit from our
concept.”
The Gulf region, which has also seen cities sprouting
up and water supplies dwindling, is another area the
group is watching.
@ Jes
Clauson-Kaas, Senior Project
Manager, jkc@cowi.com
http://www.dhigroup.com/
http://en.alectia.com/Emner/
Forretningsenheder/Aqua.aspx
www.cowi.com/sustainable
China and the Middle East have seen cities shoot up at a
rapid pace, and COWI’s water experts say that a
sustainable urban water plan has a lot of potential
in both areas. Photo: COWI
10 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 11

Mapping
the
North
Sea
Skagerrak
Denmark
River Guden
Kattegat
Sweden
CO 2
landscape
Germany
Copenhagen
Baltic
Sea
1 The core sampler is loaded onto an all terrain vehicle,
which can make it past even the toughest obstacles.
2 Once the soil cores are drilled, it takes more hand
power to pull them out of the sampler.
3 The cylinder-shaped soil core after it comes out of
the sampler.
Over the summer, COWI
interns took 9,000 soil
samples to help register
CO 2 emissions from
Denmark's agricultural
wetlands
1 2 3
By Henrik Olsen
The tell-tale drone grows louder as the ATV bounces its
way over the bumpy terrain along the river, zigzagging
between grazing cows. The four-wheeler stops, and the
driver turns off the engine. After ripping off the helmet
and shaking out a mane of blonde hair, he scans the
horizon.
We are standing on the banks of the River Guden in
eastern Jutland, what many consider to be Denmark’s
most beautiful natural area. With the drone of the
motor gone, the larks resume their song. Meanwhile,
the grazing cattle meander closer to inspect the fireengine
red ATV.
But it is not the lark or the view that Nielsen is here
to admire. He and 25 other cowi interns are spending
their summer break collecting soil samples from 9,000
locations in agricultural wetlands from all across Denmark.
The samples, being collected for Aarhus University,
will show how much carbon is stored in the peat, and
how much CO2 it releases into the atmosphere.
The amount of CO2 released from peat soils depends
on the content of the organic materials in the ground
and its land use. In order to find out just how much CO2
the peat soils contain, a team of scientists from Aarhus
University has undertaken a project mapping existing
occurrences of peat throughout Denmark. Once the
team has compared carbon levels with farming methods,
they will be able to come up with a precise calculation of
how much CO2 is released, as well as ways to cut CO2
emissions by planting other crops.
Potato — part of the high CO2 diet
“If you want to get the most out of our mapping, one
example would be to stop planting potatoes in peaty
soil. Potatoes have an effect deep down in the soil, and
you till the soil more than just once,” says Mogens H.
Greve, who is leading the study for Aarhus University.
When the peat is tilled, large quantities of oxygen
make their way into the soil. The oxygen mineralises
the organic material producing CO2 which is released
into the atmosphere contributing to climate change. If
farmers switched from potatoes to grass or grains, the
negative effect on the climate would be reduced.
The results of the study will be included in the
national CO2 account, which will be used to show
COWI intern Kristoffer Nielsen collects soil
samples from around Denmark using
hand-powered core samplers. Photos:
Niels Åge Skovbo
International news magazine from cowi • 13

4 Drill site locations are measured precisely using
GPS units.
5 Soil make-up, lime content and pH value are measured
before the sample is packed for shipping to the lab
where the organic content will be measured.
6 Yellow stakes mark the spot where the sample was
taken.
How the offroading
intern helps map Denmark
Collecting 9,000 soil samples
over two summers takes strong arms,
a love of the great outdoors
and good logistics
4 5 6
whether the country is meeting its Kyoto obligations. By
2012, Denmark needs to cut its emissions by 21 per cent
on 1990 levels. The current mapping programme will
probably show that the country is closer to meeting its
goals than previously thought.
But Denmark is not the only country that could
benefit from such a study. Even though mapping is
expensive, the financial benefits could far outstrip the
costs. If the study can document a reduction in CO2
emissions from farmlands, it means fewer CO2 quotas
need to be bought in order to live up to Kyoto Protocol
obligations.
“Documenting that we can save EUR 200 million on
quotas by spending EUR 9 million on the project is the
kind of return on investment we like,” Greve says.
Three more samples
Back on the banks of the River Guden, Nielsen packs his
drilling equipment and hammers a little yellow stake
into the ground in order to mark the spot where he sampled.
The ATV roars to life, and its drone drowns out the
larks as it speeds off towards the horizon. It has gotten
late, and there are still three more locations to sample
today.
@ Kerim Martinez, Project
Manager, kemr@cowi.com
@ Mogens
H. Greve, Research
Unit Head, Aarhus University,
mogensh.greve@djf.au.dk
When peat is ploughed, oxygen
(O2) penetrates deep into the soil,
causing organic material to
decompose and release CO2.
Illustration: COWI
By Henrik Olsen
Kristoffer Nielsen is one of 25
cowi interns who has spent the
past two summers taking 9,000
soil samples as part of an effort to map Denmark’s agricultural
wetlands. For him, life in the field is as good as
it gets.
“Peace, quiet and rich birdlife. It is just idyllic,” says
Nielsen, a Master’s degree student at the University of
Copenhagen’s Faculty of Life Sciences.
When the 24-year-old is jaunting around the Danish
countryside on his ATV, he is equipped with a map and a
GPS unit programmed with the coordinates for the
sampling sites. The first thing he does once he reaches a
site is to record his location with the GPS. Then he
presses his core sampler 30 centimetres into the soil.
The core is analysed on the spot: does it contain
organic material What else is it made of He tests the
pH of the soil and uses hydrochloric acid to test if it
contains lime before putting it into a container that will
be sent to a lab, where it will be tested to see how much
carbon it holds.
If the core contains peat, Nielsen digs down another
30 cm and takes another sample. He repeats the process
until he hits mineral soil or reaches a depth of 1.2 metres.
Before packing his equipment and rolling on to the
next sampling site, Nielsen marks the site with a yellow
stake that will make it easier to locate at a later date. He
also takes pictures of the surrounding countryside for
future use.
Even though the work is demanding and requires
strong arms, Nielsen says he has no complaints. Not
even the weather, which occasionally can be uncomfortably
warm.
“Field work normally takes place near water, so you
can always stop and soak your feet,” he says.
Logistical challenge
The hard work lies not only in the field but in the office
as well.
“Collecting 9,000 samples throughout Denmark
poses a number of challenges,” Project Manager Kerim
Martinez says.
Martinez, who is heading the collection efforts for
cowi, says it involves everything from operations and
data management, equipment maintenance, logistics
and daily quality control.
“Considerable coordination is required to carry out
such a task. And what is more, daily you have to deal
with issues and field obstacles that differ throughout
the country.”
@ Kerim
@ Mogens
Martinez, Project
Manager, kemr@cowi.com
H. Greve, Research
Unit Head, Aarhus University,
mogensh.greve@djf.au.dk
COWI intern Kristoffer Nielsen collecting soil samples.
Photo: Niels Åge Skovbo
14 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 15

Photo: BIG & Fuglark
Three schools under one roof
Students in the Faroe Islands will gather at the same
address after the summer holiday in 2014, regardless of
whether they are learning a trade, studying business or
going to high school. The North Atlantic island nation is
merging three institutions in an effort to save money
and secure better facilities for students. During the
planning process, efforts were made to preserve the
schools’ individual identities while achieving the maximum
benefit from the merger. cowi served as an
all-around consultant to the client, Landsverk, and
oversaw the design contest for the building, which
the Faeroese firm FUGLARK and Copenhagen-based
BIG won.
@
Heidi
Lund Hansen,
Client Advisor, hlha@cowi.com
www.cowi.com/faroeislands
By Uzi Frank
Concrete production accounts for five per cent of the
“The concrete industry is pretty
world’s CO 2 emissions.
conservative,” says sustainability and
climate specialist Rune Klitgaard.
But the industry’s major players seem more focused
Photo: Morten Larsen
on improving their public image rather than making
more environmentally friendly products, according to
two cowi concrete specialists.
“Every concrete company and every cement factory
has introduced green initiatives, but are they merely
decorative greenery” asks Kirsten Eriksen, a chemical
engineer, who has been delving into concrete’s microstructure
for over 30 years.
“If they’re only doing something to look good in the
greener
media, it will not be enough.”
concrete
Ash from Iceland
Together with Rune Klitgaard, a sustainability and
climate specialist, she has launched a blog called
‘Sustainable Concrete’.
The two hope their interdisciplinary approach
can encourage the industry’s leaders to re-evaluate
concrete production and develop greener alternatives.
“The entire concrete industry is pretty conservative,”
says Klitgaard. “By focusing on carbon emissions, I think
we are putting pressure on the producers to improve.”
The site is their first foray into the blogosphere,
but they feel it provides an ideal medium for promoting
debate.
Future blog postings will describe, for example, how
Eriksen used ash from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull
as a replacement for the cement typically used as a
binder in concrete.
She is in the midst of testing the ash-based
concrete, but acknowledges that even in the best
scenario, it and other alternatives cannot replace the
traditional cement-based products used to make
bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure projects.
“We have to make reforms step by step,” says Eriksen.
“But if we do not start, we will not go anywhere.”
@
Kirsten Eriksen, chemical engineer, kie@cowi.com
@ Rune
Klitgaard, sustainability and climate specialist,
rukl@cowi.com
http://greenconcrete.word press.com/
Bloggers seek a
recipe
Volcanic ash could
open the door to
more environmentally
friendly forms of
concrete, according
to two cowi specialists
in a new blog
Chemical engineer Kirsten Eriksen is in
the midst of testing ash-based concrete.
Photo: Ulrik Jantzen
International news magazine from cowi • 17

a day in the life of a cowi specialist
Name : Charlotte Hybschmann Jacobsen
Age: 47
Title: Section Manager
Family: Married, mother to Christian (23), Katrine (20) and Matilde (14).
New world, same program
“There are not many
people in the country who
have the skills we have”
Charlotte Hybschmann Jacobsen, Section Manager
Charlotte Hybschmann Jacobsen is a computer
specialist working with the SmartPlant software
system. She was hired by cowi six months ago
together with four of her colleagues after receiving
word that they would be losing their jobs
Told to journalist Christina Tækker
cowi was aware that Odense Steel
Shipyard had a group of employees
working with SmartPlant, and who
would be losing their jobs when the
facility closed in 2012.
The computer system is one that
is widely used by oil and gas companies
exploring possible new fields.
As soon as I and the 11 others who
worked with me using SmartPlant at
Odense realised cowi could be interested
in our skills, we sent them a
group application.
I met with representatives from
cowi’s oil and gas unit a few times,
and we talked about how our skills
could match their needs. They wound
up hiring five of us to set up and run
the system. I do not recall that there
was anything special about the day
the decision was made. It had been
a long time in the making, but it was
a great feeling to know that a whole
group of us had been hired.
We negotiated the deal we wanted:
we can still maintain the systems at
the shipyard if they need help, and
we can stay in Odense our hometown.
But really it was just a great
feeling knowing that someone needed
us. The benefit of being hired the
way we were was that we all knew
each other and could each contribute
something to the team. We all still
work together, we have our internal
jokes, and we can laugh at each
other.
cowi is the first consultancy firm
in Denmark to use SmartPlant. There
are not many people in the country
who have the skills we have. The
system is user-friendly, but each
client has a special set of rules and
system setup that we are responsible
for implementing. That, together
with customising the system, is the
challenging part.
A new world
SmartPlant was created to help
design and build ships. It utilises
databases and supports online 3D
modelling that can be accessed by
partners. During the past 12 years,
we have worked with Intergraph and
three global shipyards to develop the
system, and since 2005 it has been
used to build 31 state-of-the-art
ships at Odense.
Consultancy is a new world for me.
I have to concentrate on selling our
services to customers, not just on the
project. Before, we had a customer,
and we were used to everything –
from design to production – being
done right there at the shipyard. cowi
provides consultancy during the engineering
phase, and then someone
else takes over during the production
phase. Some of the ingenuity of the
system gets lost doing it that way, so
we have changed the way we do
things slightly.
Among our current projects is a
water cooling system in Dubai that is
linked to a natural gas plant. We won
the project because we were the only
bidder that could offer SmartPlant as
part of our tender. In Denmark, we
have two customers – Haldor Topsoe
and F.L. Smidth – who are revamping
their production procedures.
Taking blood from hens
I have a degree in molecular biology.
And, as one cowi department head
joked, it was the first time he had
held a job interview with someone
who had taken blood samples from
hens. I worked for a period for a small
company called Amrose, which developed
software for welding robots. The
company closed, but a group of us
was hired by Odense Steel Shipyard
to work in a unit that specialised in
robot software. I have always found
communication fascinating, and I
like coordinating things. At Odense
Steel Shipyard, I was working on
my degree in ship engineering, but I
started to take management courses
as soon as we found out the shipyard
was going to close. I am currently
working on my final project.
My classes are eating up all my
free time at the moment. But my
husband and I understand each
other’s work, and that often leads
to interesting discussions. As one of
the founders of Amrose, he knows a
lot about robots. I normally talk a lot
about SmartPlant. But our jobs are
also our hobbies.
@ Charlotte
Hybschmann Jacobsen,
Section Manager, chja@cowi.com
Full circle: Expertise in the SmartPlant
computer program helped Charlotte
make the transition from building
ships in Denmark to designing water
cooling systems in the UAE.
Photo: Niels Åge Skovbo
18 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 19

for Sweden’s
trucks
Photo: Husqvarna
A sticky by-product
from Sweden's paper
industry might one day
power half of Europe's
diesel-powered lorries

1. Forest
2. Pulp plant
A new chemical plant
at a paper mill in
northern Sweden produces
an almost CO 2 -
netural fuel that has
the potential to power
motor vehicles
Norway
Volvo trucks in field tests
The raw material for the production of
bio-DME is black liquor – an energy-rich,
highly viscous by-product of the pulp
industry. Gasification of the black liquor
generates a clean and energy-efficient
fuel. Volvo is building a number of trucks
to run on bio-DME that will be used in
field operations by selected customers
in various parts of Sweden.
Source: Volvo
3. Paper pulp 4. Black liquor
By Henrik Larsen
In September 2009, Swedish King Carl
XIV Gustav was given the honour of
cutting the first sod for a new chemical
plant at a paper mill in the town of Piteå,
some 800 kilometres from the capital,
Stockholm. The king, known as something
of an environmentalist, chose to
take part in the groundbreaking, not
because of the plant itself, but because
it is part of a pilot project with great
perspectives. The plant will
produce a clean, almost
CO2 neutral fuel that
Piteå
in 20 years could
replace half of the
Domsjö
diesel fuel used
for land-based
Finland
cargo in the EU.
Just like many
of Sweden’s paper
Karlstad
Sweden
6. Bio-DME vehicle fuel
5. Gasification plant
mills, the Piteå facility has long produced
more energy than it consumes.
By burning what is known as black
liquor – a thick, sticky by-product of
the process used to turn wood into
pulp for making paper – mills have
been able to produce more than
enough energy to run their own plants.
Black liquor can also be used as one
of the basic components in the production
of dimethyl ether (DME), a gas
that was first identified in the 1800s and
is today used a propellant in aerosol
cans and as a solvent. In China, DME is
quickly gaining popularity as a cooking
and home heating fuel, in large part
because it is easy to transport.
But DME’s real promise comes
from its potential to become a new fuel
for powering motor vehicles.
EU project
There is no shortage of projects seeking
to find a replacement for fossil
fuels, but the EU is pinning its hopes
on DME because it has all the benefits
of diesel and nearly none of the drawbacks.
Bio-DME, DME produced
from biomass, is seen by the EU and
energy experts as one of the most
promising biofuels for lorries and
buses.
One of the positive aspects of DME
made from black liquor is that it has a
higher energy content than other biofuels,
according to Uno Olsson, Head
of cowi’s Karlstad office. “At the same
time,” he points out, “the agricultural
land used to produce DME is farmed
five times more effectively than land
used to produce other biofuels.”
According to EU calculations,
given the available resources, bio-
DME has the potential to replace
half of the diesel fuel used by the
transport industry by 2030.
In order to determine whether
bio-DME is a viable, CO2-neutral replacement
option as a fuel for lorries,
the EU has allocated EUR 15 million
to fund the Piteå plant. The Swedish
lorry producer Volvo is involved in
the project, which used the sod-cutting
event as an opportunity to demonstrate
the world’s first lorry running
on bio-DME.
The pilot project is headed by
Chemrec, which specialises in creaing
chemical treatment facilities, and
which has patented a gasification
technology that can convert black
“The beautiful thing about this
process is that the wood is already
being used to make pulp for paper,
and that we are turning its
by-product into fuel”
Uno Olsson, Head of COWI's Karlstad office
liquor to a synthesised gas that can
be used to make DME or a number of
other types of fuels and chemicals.
cowi’s Swedish offices were commissioned
by Chemrec to design, plan
and build the entire Piteå facility as
part of a paper mill owned by Irelandbased
Smurfit Kappa.
Also involved was another Danish
company, Haldor Topsøe, which provided
the catalysation technology
used during the production process.
The fuel will be distributed and sold
by the Preem chain of service stations.
The combination of companies
participation in the pilot project ensures
that all phases of the production
process, from well to wheels, are
covered. Over the next three years,
Swedish transport firms will be
chosen to transport goods using
DME-powered Volvo lorries.
Perfect alternative
EU enthusiasm for DME is primarily
due to its combustion process, which
releases 95 per cent less CO2 in lorries,
far fewer particulate matter and no
soot.
Volvo’s DME-powered motors are
every bit as powerful as traditional
diesel motors, and have even been
measured to have greater pulling
power at low RPM. Moreover, they
make less noise. And because all of
that means less impact on the environment,
bio-DME lorries will not
have to meet the same strict requirements
as traditional lorries.
DME is a liquid at five bars, which
makes it easy to use as a fuel for
lorries and buses. But even though
DME is more efficient than other
bio-fuels, it is not as efficient as diesel
and requires a larger fuel tank.
An ideal by-product
Black liquor is a liquid biomass feedstock. It is a by-product
at existing pulp mills and is traditionally burned to recover
cooking chemicals and produce process steam and power
for mill. Black liquor has properties uniquely suitable for
gasification:
• It is liquid and easily pumped into the pressurised gasifier.
• The liquid form makes it easy to atomise into droplets.
• It is highly reactive due to high sodium and potassium
content.
These properties make the gasification of black liquor
easier and faster than for any other biomass feedstock.
Source: Chemrec
Photo: Chemrec
Denmark
22 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 23

One of Volvo's newly
developed, DME-powered
trucks. The fuel tank
behind the front wheels is
enlarged to accommodate
DME's lower energy content.
Photo: Volvo
Photo: COWI
“We are eliminiating waste and
by replacing fossil fuels with DME
we are making an important
contribution to reducing CO 2 ”
Uno Olsson, Head of COWI´s Karlstad office
The Bio-DME main process modules were
erected at the Piteå plant on 30 May 2010.
Photo: Chemrec
And because the fuel system is pressurised,
tanks and fuel injectors
must be kept completely sealed, just
as the electronic motor control
needs to be kept adjusted. Other
than that, the moving parts in a bio-
DME motor are exactly the same as
in a diesel motor.
And once the lorry is on the road,
the driver does not notice a difference.
Environmental perspective
Chemrec has worked with cowi for
years helping paper mills in Sweden
and the US to turn the by-products
of the paper-making process into
sustainably produced chemicals and
fuels.
“The beautiful thing about this
process is that the wood is already
being used to make pulp for paper,
and that we are turning its by-product
into fuel,” says Olsson. “We are
eliminating waste and by replacing
fossil fuels with DME, we are making
an important contribution to reducing
CO2.”
In addition to the engineering
challenges involved with the pilot
project, Olsson is also motivated
by its potential environmental
prospects.
“I am enthused about doing this –
and I think I can safely say that my
colleagues feel the same way. It can
have a major benefit for the environment
and our world. That means a
lot.”
A year after the groundbreaking
ceremony in Piteå, the facility is
finished and ready to begin turning
the black liquor from the papermaking
process into four tonnes of
DME a day. In 2012, once the plant
has been on line for three years and
shown whether it can provide an
alternative to diesel, bio-DME, will
move to the next step: commercial
production.
Down the line
And while the Piteå facility will only
turn a small fraction of the black
liquor produced by the paper
mill into DME, a larger plant at a
paper mill run by Domsjö Fabriker
scheduled to be built in the town of
Örnsköldsvik, 500 kilometres north
of Stockholm, will convert its entire
production of black liquor into upwards
of 300 tonnes of DME a day.
The Örnsköldsvik project will
cost approximately EUR 300 million,
and Olsson and his team of
engineers have already begun
planning it.
@ Uno
Olsson, Head of COWI’s
Karlstad office, uo@cowi.se
24 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 25

At just 1.55 metres across, the tiny
Mercedes turned heads as it made
its way down bike lanes to measure
bumps. Photos: Stig Stasig
Tiny car
helps make
Bumpy bike
lanes are unpleasant
to ride on and
pose a safety hazard
for cyclists. cowi has
joined forces with
Dynatest Denmark
in the development
and marketing of a
new measurement
concept
By Christina Tækker
The tiny little Mercedes Smart puttering down the bike
lane at 25 km/h gets its share of comments. Some giggle
that the little car resembles an overgrown child’s toy.
Others – typically cycle commuters in a hurry – impatiently
bang on it and urge it to get out of the way. Car
drivers, meanwhile, try to tuck in behind it in the hopes
they can bypass traffic on the main road.
In reality, the car, which measures a slender 1.55
metres at its widest, is hard at work. Loaded with
laser sensors, blinking yellow lights, a GPS and digital
camera, it measures out bike lanes millimetre by
millimetre for the bumps, potholes, tree roots and other
imperfections that make riding on some bike lanes
anything but smooth sailing.
“Previously, we only conducted a visual scan of bike
lane surfacing,” says cowi Project Manager Brian
Henriksen. “There are no requirements for how smooth
a bike lane needs to be, and these types of measurements
will allow local authorities to determine whether
they are spending money on bike lane maintenance as
wisely as possible.”
Bumpy road to inspiration
Henriksen, working with Dynatest, a producer of pavement
testing and evaluation equipment, developed the
measurement technique and the equipment. The idea
came to him on his daily commute on a bike lane
between Copenhagen suburbs. At one point, he got so
fed up with the rough pavement that he pledged to find
a way to objectively measure the smoothness of bike
lane surfacing.
Since cyclists experience the condition of asphalt differently
than motorists, Henriksen was unable to use
the International Roughness Index, the standard reference
for measuring how smooth asphalt is. Instead, he
big improvements for cyclists
took a look at the asphalt from a different perspective
and after a number of tests in 2004, he and the Dynatest
team came up with a new method known as the Bicycle
Profile Index, which calculates overall smoothness by
measuring the longitudinal profile in 2.5 centimetre
sections.
The equipment used in the procedure was originally
developed for the US market where it is used by
contractors to measure the smoothness of asphalt or
concrete road surfacing. In their initial tests, cowi and
Dynatest placed the equipment in a golf cart, but in order
to allow them to work in all types of weather they later
swapped the cart with the smallest car on the market.
Fast tracking cycle lane repairs
The first measurements were made in 2005 in the city
of Odense, which at that time was marketing itself as
Denmark’s best city for biking and was looking for new
cycling initiatives. The results were presented at the
following Road Forum conference and were received
Precise measurements
of defects on bike lane
surfaces will give a
smoother ride.
26 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 27

Brian Henriksen and Dynatest
have outfitted a Mercedes
Smart with the equipment
they developed for measuring
bike lane surfacing.
positively by road engineers. Since then cowi and
Dynatest have measured the comfort of bike lanes in
cities throughout Denmark, as well as Gothenburg and
Stockholm, Sweden. The most recent measurements
were made on the ‘Albertslund route’, a route that is a
part of the coming Greater Copenhagen cycle commuter
route system.
“Local authorities have a history of neglecting bike
lanes compared to roads, but that is all changing,”
Henriksen says. “More and more people are commuting
by bike, and since biking helps reduce healthcare
costs, it makes sense from an economic
perspective. Beyond that, there is a general
interest in making bike lanes a little nicer.”
A detour through ‘the Hell of the North’
The next step will be to ask Danish road authorities
to approve the BPI. If that happens, it
would make it easier for cowi and Dynatest to
bring their technology to other cycling nations
such as the Netherlands and Germany. It
would also mean that contractors hired to
build new bike lanes in Denmark potentially
could meet a smoothness requirement in future tender
documents. The ultimate goal for Henriksen is the approval
of the BPI index as the world wide smoothness
index for bike lanes.
Henriksen, though, says it is his dream to take the
little Smart over the rough cobblestones of the Paris-
Roubaix bike race.
“I want to find out just what bike riders are going
through during their ride through ‘the Hell of the
North’. If I’m ever near those parts, the Smart and I will
be making a detour.”
@ Brian
Henriksen, Project
Manager, brhe@cowi.com
Mercedes Smart LWP
The Mercedes Smart LWP (Light Weight Profiler) averages about 25
km/h while making measurements of bike lane smoothness. Attached
to the back of the car are two laser sensors that make 16,000
measurements a second. Inside the car, a computer registers the
longitudinal profile measurements and creates 2.5 centimetre
average sections, which are later used as the input to the mathematical
algorithm that calculates the BPI value.
Sitting on the car’s roof is a GPS unit that updates its position
every second. A digital camera is also used to document the condition
of the surface and the surrounding areas of the bike lanes.
All the results are later transferred to geographical information
systems and related municipal maintenance programmes.
Examples of different BPI figures in
relation to different types of pavement
Photos: COWI/Dynatest
Bicycle Profile Index
figures
Bicycle Profile Index
figures
Bicycle Profile Index
figures
Bicycle Profile Index
figures
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
60
50
40
30
20
10
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Soft asphalt pavement
Concrete slabs
Cobblestones
Polished granite slabs
Smart energy
grids are everyone’s
business
For officials in Aarhus,
Denmark, getting residents
and businesses on board
is crucial for developing
tomorrow’s energy systems
By Kathrine Schmeichel
Ask the Climate Manager in Denmark’s
second largest city about what
the most important thing is when it
comes to breaking our dependence
on fossil fuels and his answer is clear:
intelligent energy systems. But, that
is not the only thing.
Communication and coordination
are just as important, says Jan
Nielsen, of the Aarhus Climate
Department.
Aarhus plans to be CO2-neutural
by 2030. But already by 2015, Nielsen
expects the city’s heating systems,
which account for 60 per cent of the
energy consumption of its 300,000
inhabitants, to be almost CO2-netural.
“We want to be the nexus that
allows everyone involved to be in
contact with each other – wind
turbine makers, energy companies,
producers of consumer-end components
and software,”
he says. As part of
the effort, cowi will
be mapping out the
organisations that
will be involved
and find ways to
ensure they speak
with each other.
A major step
One of the major steps to becoming
CO2-netural will be a programme
that will give homeowners free
access to technology that will give
them a digital portrait of their home.
The service, due to begin this autumn,
will also include suggestions
for cost-efficient energy savings
in the short and the long term. Also
involved are the banks and the
builders and other workers needed
to help make the suggestions
become reality.
Nielsen says the approach supports
the city’s philosophy that
climate-friendly can also mean
growth-oriented. “There is an enormous
benefit for everyone in this.”
@ Jan Nielsen, Manager, Climate
Department, jni@aarhus.dk
@ Anne
Mette R. von Benzon,
R&D Manager, anb@cowi.com
Aarhus plans to be
CO2-neutral by 2030.
Photo: Polfoto
28 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 29

Getting smart
about power grids
By Kathrine Schmeichel
Intelligent energy systems that allow customers to
produce energy will help tap the potential of renewables
and make it easier for us to wean ourselves off fossil
fuels, according to cowi energy expert Jens Ole Hansen
In a not too distant future, heat and
electricity customers will also act as
producers, generating electricity,
heat and cooling for an ‘intelligent’
energy system.
By drawing on the sun, wind and
biomass to generate electricity, the
network will ensure that homes, offices
and electric cars work together
with combined heat and power
plants, wind farms and district
heating stations to meet our power
needs.
For the individual household,
the intelligent energy system will
make it possible to programme
“As it is today, we have a ton of
‘dumb’ networks for electricity,
cooling and heating that operate
totally independently”
washing machines to turn on when
there is excess capacity on the network
– normally at night – when
rates are also lowest. Rooftop solar
panels, meanwhile, can generate
electricity for use elsewhere on the
network. At night, excess electricity
can be used to recharge the family’s
electric car, or be sent out on to
the network should there be a
demand for it.
Even though this vision of the
future will not be coming true tomorrow,
Head of Department and
energy expert Jens Ole Hansen believes
the intelligent energy systems
are the only future possible if we are
to break our reliance on coal and oil.
“As it is today, we have a ton of
‘dumb’ networks for electricity, cooling
and heating that operate totally
independently. What we need to do
is to integrate them so they can
communicate with each other,”
Hansen says.
Doing so, according to
Hansen, will allow us to make
better use of renewable, but
unpredictable, energy sources
like wind and solar.
“In Denmark we get more
than a fourth of our electricity
from renewable sources,
but sometimes
our excess production
is so
high that we
wind up delivering it to the German
electrical grid for almost free.”
Being able to use more renewable
energy sources, Hansen says,
requires creating an interactive
system that allows power to flow to
and from the end-user, in contrast
to the one-way orientation of
today’s networks.
Electrical grid overhaul
In addition to
being the foundation
for our
indepen-
Smart grids building momentum
Worldwide, there are only a handful of projects involving
intelligent energy systems. One of them is in Boulder, Colorado,
where Xcel Energy is involved in a pilot project to
transform the city’s power grid to a smart grid that will use
digital technology to let its 100,000 residents track their
energy use and scale it back during peak hours. Homes with
rooftop solar panels will be able to sell any excess power
they generate back to Xcel Energy.
In March, Energinet.dk, an independent public enterprise
that owns Denmark’s main electricity and natural gas grids,
joined together with 13 European partners to apply for EUR
15 million in EU funding to build the Eco Grid EU smart grid
project on the island of Bornholm. The goal of the project is
to make it possible to use more than 50 per cent renewable
energy.
Source: Ingeniøren and sustainablecities.dk
dence from
fossil fuels,
Hansen sees intelligent
energy
systems as necessary
for preventing
global climate change.
“If we do not want
temperatures to rise by
more than 2° C by the end
of the next century, we
need to begin using more renewables
right now. But even
if countries’ renewable use
amounts to less than 30 per cent
of their total needs, the world’s
electrical grid still needs a major
overhaul.”
“Even though there are few realworld
examples to go by, global interest
in intelligent energy systems
continues to grow,” Hansen says,
adding that many wrongly use the
term ‘smart grids’ to describe them.
“Smart grids apply only to the
electrical grid. Intelligent energy
systems also include heating and
cooling networks.”
Holding the network together
Energy policy, technology and new
ways to store electricity are all key
components in the development
of intelligent energy systems.
“We want to be the engine that
drives development of intelligent
energy systems,” Hansen says. “As
a consultancy, it is our job to make
sure things work together, and that
they perform optimally, be it strategy
and project management or implementation
and development of
energy concepts. Thanks to core
competences that include energy
systems, district heating, wind,
biomass and waste to energy, we
have a competitive advantage that
we expect will make us a leader
internationally.”
When it comes down to it,
Hansen points out, many cowi
projects relate in some way or another
to intelligent energy systems.
“And that applies whether you are
talking about wind farms, micro
“We need to come up with
a system that allows everyone
to use and contribute energy,
but which does not rely on
any one single technology”
heat plant demonstration projects
for homes or sustainable energy
concepts for buildings and neighbourhoods.”
Demonstration projects
Hansen explains that in order to
ensure cowi continues to undertake
new demonstration projects that
can lead to the creation of new technologies,
the company maintains an
open dialogue with local authorities,
energy
companies,
research institutes
and manufacturers.
“Right now
we are trying
to finalise the
details of a project involving intelligent
energy systems in a mediumsized
Danish town.”
Asked what the shape of tomorrow’s
energy supply system will
look like, Hansen answers:
“We need to come up with a system
that allows everyone to use and
contribute energy, but which does
not rely on any one single technology.”
30 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 31
Photo: FotoCD
@ Jens
Ole Hansen, department
head and energy expert,
jha@cowi.com
COWI department head
Jens Ole Hansen. Photo:
Morten Larsen

Solar power and heat
Smart sensors
Wind turbines
Tomorrow’s
energy net
The sun can be used to generate electricity
using solar panels or to power solar heating
systems for individual consumers, as
well as to supply the intelligent net. Solar
energy will be used in decentralised
plants as well as in larger facilities.
The intelligent energy net will require the use
of advanced sensors that can manage communication
between consumers and the net,
as well as measure the flow of energy to and
from homes. Tomorrow’s homes will have
solar panels and wind turbines that can
deliver power to the net.
The generating capacity of wind farms
on land and at sea is growing rapidly.
But the unpredictable nature of wind
power requires that the intelligent
energy net can store surplus power
or can supply consumers with other
power sources when the wind is not
blowing.
In the years to come, district
cooling and heating systems will
be integrated with the electrical
grid into an intelligent energy net
that directs the flow of energy
resources from producer to
consumer
Bigger combined
heat and power plants
Eventually, most electrical power plants will be
converted to combined heat and power plants,
which use excess heat for district heating and cooling
networks. Combined heat and power plants can
be fired by coal, oil, natural gas, biomass or waste.
Office buildings
Office buildings will deliver the
excess power generated by their
solar panels and wind turbines,
as well as heat and cooling
generated by incinerators. The
office building of tomorrow will
deliver heat to the network
when there is less need for it
in the building, such as at night.
Decentralised combined
heat and power plants
Decentralised heating plants will convert from
fossil fuels to less expensive, more environmentally
friendly biomass or waste. These small, heatproducing
plants can be fired by coal, oil, natural
gas, biomass or waste.
Industry
Homes
Homes will produce electricity using solar panels, fuel
cells and wind turbines, as well as make use of solar heating
systems. Excess heat and cooling will be delivered to
the intelligent energy net. Washing machines and other
appliances will turn on at night, when there is an excess
of power. Electric and hybrid vehicles will also be
recharged at night.
Illustration: Allan Højen
Transport
Public transport systems will tap into the intelligent
net in order to power trains, cars and buses. Public
transport vehicles will be able to generate power
for the net using fuel cells, as well as store energy.
Industrial producers will deliver the excess
power generated by their solar panels and
wind turbines, as well as surplus heat and
cooling from production processes and
waste that can be used in incinerators.
The intelligent energy net can go a long
way towards making sure that industrial
producers’ excess energy is put to use.
32 • International news magazine from cowi
International news magazine from cowi • 33

“There
is a good
chance that the
negotiations will
finally result in a
global agreement on
mercury sometime
in 2013”
A global agreement to limit the
use and release of mercury could
see the light of day in 2013,
keeping the toxin out of fish
and the rest of the food chain
In June 2010, the Nordic Council of Ministers hosted the
first meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee (ICN1), in Stockholm, in order to continue its
work towards a binding global agreement by 2013.
“Denmark and the other Nordic countries have made
much progress towards the elimination of mercury, and
because of that we have a lot of examples to show,”
Maag says, adding that other EU and western countries
have also made significant progress.
Denmark, according to Maag, has reduced its annual
consumption of mercury from 16 tonnes three decades
“Growth in countries like China and India means more
fossil fuels are being burned,” Maag says. “And that is
an enormous challenge, since filtering is still under
improvement in most places.”
Toxic yield
COWI, which according to Maag is a world leader in identifying
mercury pollution, as well as advising on replacement
technologies and legislation, has developed an inventory
toolkit for the UN's environmental programme,
UNEP, that can calculate the amounts of mercury
Global quicksilver
agreement close at hand
Photo: Polfoto
Quicksilver –
the natural
neurotoxin
Even small amounts of
mercury, also known as quicksilver,
are dangerous to the brain
and nervous system, especially in
unborn babies. US studies have
shown that about eight per cent of
women have levels of mercury in their
blood that could lead to adverse effects on
their unborn babies. The most common
sources of mercury are fish and aquatic
foods as well as, for example, amalgam
fillings.
Source: the Danish Environmental Protection Agency
By Kathrine Schmeichel
Sixty years after the world’s first mass mercury
poisoning, the world is on the threshold
of a global agreement that will
limit pollution with the toxin.
Nearly a generation of
children in the Japanese village
of Minamata were born with
damage to their nervous systems after their
mothers had eaten fish contaminated
with mercury released into the water
by a factory owned by the Chisso
Corporation.
The mercury made its way
up the food chain, accumulating
in fish which were later
eaten by people in the area.
But even though shocking photographs
of contorted, brain damaged
children went around the
world in the 1960s, it was not
until 2003 that the cornerstone was laid for a new
agreement that would limit mercury’s use and release
globally. The break came that year when the UN
Environmental Programme’s governing council recognised
that mercury is a global problem.
The basis for the decision was the UNEP report ‘Global
Mercury Assessment’. cowi was the lead author of the
report, which gave an overview of the environmental
problems related to mercury and how it becomes
pollution.
According to cowi mercury expert Jakob Maag, who
contributed to the UN report, countries have met every
two years since 2003 in order to continue discussions
about what they can do to limit the amount of mercury
that slips out into nature.
ago to just under two tonnes today. Meanwhile, the
amount of mercury released into nature has fallen by
two-thirds.
Major reductions possible
Mercury is used in fluorescent light tubes, batteries,
thermometers and amalgam fillings, but it is also found
naturally in coal and metal ore. Key sources of mercury
pollution today are mining and power plants that burn
fossil fuels. Mercury pollution spreads easily due to its
low evaporation temperature.
“Mercury is the only metal that is a liquid at room temperature,”
Maag says. “And even at room temperature
there is a lot of evaporation. And because vaporised mercury
can spread thousands of kilometres from its source,
it is a problem the countries need to work on together.
We are all affected by each other’s mercury pollution.”
In their recently released report ‘Mercury – Reductions
are Feasible’, the Danish Environmental Protection
Agency and the Nordic Council of Ministers state that
between 1,200 and 2,900 tonnes of mercury are emitted
into the atmosphere annually worldwide, with half that
coming from coal-fired power plants.
The report, which Maag contributed to, was presented
at INC1 in June and provides a concise overview of ways
for cutting mercury pollution to less than half using existing
technologies and sustainable economic principles.
Preventing mercury emissions from power plants
requires installing scrubbers on smokestacks, which can
also remove other types of pollutants.
The biggest challenges are in countries undergoing
rapid development.
released to the environment on a country-bycountry
basis.
COWI is currently reviewing the mercury
inventory toolkit and will test it with funding
from the Danish EPA in Latin America
as a way to help countries there identify
mercury pollution. In Latin America, one
of the major issues is mercury pollution
from small-scale gold mining.
“In order to extract the gold from the ore,
miners use the centuries-old technique of
mixing the ore with mercury, then pouring off
the mixture onto a pan which is heated to reveal
the gold,” Maag says. “Doing so gives off
clouds of mercury vapour, which, in addition to polluting
the
environment, is harmful to the health of the miners who
inhale the fumes.”
The solution, according to Maag, is to train miners
how to use a simple release reduction technology.
“If small-scale gold miners invest in a retort, basically a
camp stove that can be produced locally and costs only a
few dollars, they can contain the mercury fumes and
reuse the mercury itself.”
Economically and environmentally the use of retorts
and similar techniques are a ‘win-win situation’. Even
with the challenges, Maag says he is an optimist.
“There is a good chance that the negotiations will
finally result in a global agreement on mercury sometime
in 2013, helping us to protect people and animals from
one of the most dangerous substances we know.”
@
Jakob
Maag, mercury specialist, jam@cowi.com
http://www.unep.org/hazard oussubstances/
Mercury/Negotiations/INC1/tabid/3324/language/
en-US/Default.aspx
“Denmark and
the other Nordic
countries have made
much progress
towards the
elimination of
mercury”
34 • International news magazine from cowi
International news magazine from cowi • 35

Norway
Finland
North
Sea
Denmark
Sweden
Latvia
Eatonia
Lithuania
Britain
Netherlands
Belgium
Germany
Poland
Czech Rep.
Atlantic Ocean
France
Switzerland
Austria
Serbia
We only fly when the
sun is shining
From his base at Roskilde Airport, pilot
Per Nørgreen is in charge of a fleet of
airplanes that fly missions over most of
Europe, and as far away as Africa and
the Middle East. Having to take weather,
schedules and maintenance into
account makes planning a difficult task
By Christina Tækker
The Piper PA31-350 Chieftain is ready and waiting to
proceed from the tarmac outside cowi’s hangar at Denmark’s
Roskilde Airport and onto the runway for takeoff.
Per Nørgreen is inspecting the plane to check that it has
been fitted with the right equipment. As Section Manager
of cowi’s flight wing, it is his job to make sure that
the company’s planes are at the right place and at the
right time. That is nothing out of the ordinary for a fleet
manager, but the cowi aircraft at his disposal are different.
They do not abide by a strict timetable, nor are its
passengers holidaymakers in search of a little sun.
Instead, cowi’s four planes only take to the wing
when the sun is shining, when the skies are clear, and
when items on the ground are not casting long shadows.
And the only people on board are a pilot and a navigator,
who carry out aerial photography mapping projects
using professional quality digital cameras or scanners.
The strict weather requirements pose special challenges
when it comes to planning missions which run concurrently
over the skies of Norway, Sweden, Britain,
Germany, Serbia, Lithuania and Denmark.
COWI's flight wing takes high and low
pressure systems into account when
planning mapmaking missions.
Photos: Das Büro
International news magazine from cowi • 37

Section Manager Per Nørgreen says that when it
comes to planning COWI’s mapping flights, his list
of priorities is weather, deadline and assignment.
Photo: Das Büro
“My priorities are weather and project deadline,”
Nørgreen says. “If the weather is fair over Britain and
Denmark at the same time, I will send the planes
wherever we need to be finished first.”
Head in the clouds
As a youngster, Nørgreen had his introduction to aviation
when he saw an advertisement in his local newspaper
inviting visitors to a small regional airstrip where
they could get a behind the scenes look at the job of a
pilot. Nørgreen went with one of his mates, and quickly
found himself dazzled by the pilots and their uniforms.
From that moment, his career path was clear.
After earning his Danish pilot licence, Nørgreen
worked as an instructor in the US. After three years
there he returned home to a job piloting air taxis. A few
years later, he signed on with SAS as the airline’s Performance
Engineer on the turboprop fleet of Fokker
50’s and the Dash 8 aircraft. In 2005, he joined cowi,
where he manages the company’s fleet of airplanes.
Today, his office is in a low building outside Roskilde
Airport where he sits with the rest of the flight wing’s 11
permanent employees and seven freelancers. The building
serves as the wing’s nerve centre as Nørgreen and his
colleagues keep track of weather across Europe to make
plans for where to send the fleet and when. The weather,
however, is just one of many variables he needs to consider.
The past two years cowi’s flight wing has carried out
projects in Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
There, the biggest challenge is finding the right fuel for
the planes. Normally, they use 100 octane unleaded aviation
fuel that can be hard to come by in the Middle East.
Another problem can be air traffic in and out of busy
airports. When preparing for missions over London,
which has some of Europe’s busiest skies, cowi is often
advised to wait until weekends, since taking pictures requires
them to fly patterns of parallel lines over the target
area at a height that can interfere with other airplanes.
“To be honest, we don’t have anything to do with the
air travel industry,” Nørgreen says. “We belong in the
geo and mapping field. Air traffic controllers at major
airports simply can’t understand why we don’t know
precisely when we need to take off or land. A request
like ‘we’d like to fly when the sun comes out is not really
very useful for them.”
In the air seven days a week
One of Nørgreen’s other important jobs is to make sure
that maintenance schedules are being kept. Some
planes need a check up after every 50 hours of flying
time. When planes hit 100-hours, they need to go in for
a check up that lasts two to four days, and having a
plane out of service for so long has a significant impact
on Nørgreen’s planning. When the sun is out, pilots fly
ten-hour missions, so it does not take long to rack up
the hours. Making a schedule for pilots, he says, is
almost a science in and of itself.
“Our employees are away for
weeks at a time, but just about all of
them have families, and that needs
www.cowi.com/flight
to be taken into consideration.” But
during prime flying season from
March to October, Nørgreen says he
has planes flying seven days a week.
“We need to fly as much as possible,
and we cannot be making special
See video from Roskilde Airport
considerations just because it is a
weekend or holiday.”
Fighter escort
The fascinating thing about his job is that all the pieces
need to fall into place. It can be hard to get them to fit,
but working in the flight wing is enjoyable. He remembers
that once, as a cowi plane was making its way
through Dutch and German airspace on its way home
from Britain during the 2006 World Cup, the pilot was
asked by German air traffic controllers to change frequencies.
The request, however, was never heard, and
concerned about the threat of terrorism, the German air
force dispatched two F-16s to make visual contact with
the unresponsive airplane. They escorted the plane as
“Major airports do not really get it when we tell them that
we do not know when to take off or land. A message like ‘we will fly
when the sun comes out’ is not really very useful for them”
“We need to fly as much as possible, and
we cannot be making special considerations just
because it is a weekend or holiday”
Photo: COWI
New technology
Thermal scanning. Measures heat loss from buildings. Thermography
measures temperature differences using an infrared
camera. Thermal scanning can be used to determine
where buildings are losing most of their heat, so steps can be
taken to improve indoor climate and reduce CO 2 emissions.
Mobile mapping. Similar to Google Street View. Makes it possible
to register items as small as post boxes and benches.
Mobile maps are made using a 360 digital camera and are
combined with aerial photos.
Oblique aerial photography. Makes it possible to see buildings
in near 3D detail from all sides, as well as places that cannot
be seen from street level or from directly above. Frequently
used by estate agents to show potential buyers how a neighbourhood
looks.
Lidar scanners. Similar to sonar. Maps the contours of the
earth’s surface. Makes it possible to see the effects of flooding.
Lidar scanners can take pictures at any time of day or
night. The equipment also means that COWI can fly outside
the March-October season.
it slowly made its way out of German airspace, even
though they were having trouble flying as slow as
cowi’s propeller plane.
@ Per
Nørgreen, Section Manager,
pno@cowi.com
Two international projects
cowi is mapping Serbia as part of a major EU project being
carried out to reconstruct the country. The maps will help
create a register of individual buildings and plots of land.
In Sweden, cowi is working with the mapmakers at Blom to
conduct laser scanning of the entire country. The informa-
tion will be used to create a new elevation map that can
be used to record where high-tension power lines are
located, as well as to keep an eye on the condition of dikes
and whether river valleys are drying out. In addition, urban
planners and forestry managers will also be able to use the
information.
International news magazine from cowi • 39

Picture courtesy of the Reframing Initiative
Giving commuters a mental break
This past August, the hustle and bustle of Copenhagen’s
Kongens Nytorv Metro station was replaced for a week
by an oasis of light and sound. The soft lighting, soothing
sounds and video projections of ballet dancers on
the raw concrete walls were part of a work of art that
sought to give commuters a mental break as they were
transported on the station's escalators. Urban Forest,
led by Cecilie Waagner Falkenstrøm and Patrick Coard,
came up with the idea. cowi provided technical
assistance and lighting design for the installation.
Urban Forest is the first of a number of projects coming
soon to London, Paris, New York and Shanghai.
@ Nikolaj Birkelund, lighting designer,
nbpe@cowi.com