POCACITO - Sustainable economic growth

Low-carbon Transition Road Hangzhou pilot project

clf — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 09:24:43 +0000

China is currently facing the predicament that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing with the growth of the economy. In order to enable transition from the old development mode into a new low-carbon approach, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) started a low-carbon pilot program in 2010. Hangzhou has been selected as one of the pilot cities to implement a “low-carbon city pilot project”.

The project was implemented in two stages.The first stage lasted from 2010 to 2015, the second one started in 2015 and will last to 2020. Specific carbon emission reduction targets have been set during the initial planing period aiming to reduce carbon emissions by 20% per GDP unit until 2015 and 50% until 2020. As the city with the highest GDP among the first batch of Chinese cities chosen as low carbon project cities, Hangzhou has set a more ambitious carbon reduction target than the national one. Based on this target, Hangzhou municipal government drafted a more detailed plan, got sufficient local government policy support and covered more social sectors.The low-carbon development transition in Hangzhou was framed as “dominanted by low-carbon industries, based on low-carbon city life and building on low-carbon society”. The low-carbon project includes not only “Low-carbon Development” and “Solution for Climate Change” aspects but also “Ecological Civilization Construction”, “Circular Economy Development”, “Energy Conservation Demonstration”, etc., which cover industry, construction, transportation, ecosystems and waste management sectors.

Whitehill & Bordon regeneration project

clf — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 08:01:58 +0000

The regeneration of Whitehill & Bordon is meant to transform the area into a low carbon, green and sustainable city. The town is expected to grow from 6,000 homes to over 9,000 when fully built, and new jobs and a new city centre will be created. Inclusion processes have been used to develop a master plan for the area, including projects for renewable and efficient energy supply, transport solutions, nature conservation and new business and work opportunities.

Guangyuan's Low Carbon Re-construction

clf — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 09:58:56 +0000

Guangyuan City, a less developed city in southeast China, suffered great loss in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake. In the re-construction period, the city has set up the "low carbon re-construction and development" goal and generally found a good way towards sustainable city development. Its experience with low carbon development is especially precious for other under-developed areas.

Qingdao - China's sailing city goes low carbon

clf — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 14:51:11 +0000

Qingdao, China's sailing city has great determination to solve problems as growing population and increasing emissions from transportation and energy consumption sectors. Following the "one industry, one industrial park, one enterprise and one district" concept as pilot promotion and absorbing excellent foreign experiences and good practices, the city is progressing steadily on its way to low carbon and sustainable development.

Bristol's local currency

clf — Thu, 18 Feb 2016 14:44:28 +0000

The city of Bristol, known as one of the most sustainable European cities, has implemented an alternative currency system designed to support Bristol’s local economy and reduce environmental footprints of long supply chains. The Bristol Pound was launched in 2012 as a joint non-profit enterprise between Bristol Pound Community Interest Company and the bank Bristol Credit Union. The Bristol Pound is a voluntary system based on the citizen's commitment to support the value of living in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable city. It is the UK’s first citywide local currency, the first to have electronic accounts managed by a regulated financial institution and the first that can be used to pay local taxes. At this moment (2015) it is considered the world's most successful local currency with the equivalent of around 700,000 £B in circulation and 800 local businesses involved.

Low-carbon and sustainable development

clf — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 11:29:42 +0000

Shenzhen City, established as “New Town”[1] in 1979, was the first Special Economic Zone and opening-up window of China. In the past 35 years, the city has witnessed a continuous and amazingly fast economic development. In 2014, the per capita GDP of Shenzhen exceeded 24,000 USD while the total population was approaching 11 million. On the other hand, since 2010, Shenzhen has put more and more great efforts into low-carbon city construction. Clear and achievable goals were set up and all kinds of effective measures indented to reach these goals were taken, including the foundation of a carbon trading system in 2013.

[1] “New Town”: planned city/ planned city development

Dona Juana Landfill Gas-to-Energy

clf — Thu, 27 Aug 2015 11:57:11 +0000

The Doña Juana Landfill in the District Capital of Bogotá is the biggest sanitary landfill in Colombia, and one of the largest under the UN Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects in South America. The project involves landfill gas capture (LFG), flaring treatment and use for thermal energy production on-site or in nearby industries. The landfill provides a solution for the disposal of around 2 million tons of household solid waste generated by the almost 8 million inhabitants of the District Capital of Bogotá each year. The technology applied in the project activity is the combustion of the landfill gas captured at the landfill gas network, using different processes like direct flare in burners or gas-to-energy reciprocating engine use for electricity production.