Climate change is a global issue that transversally affects the whole planet. Its impacts can be seen across the world, causing natural disasters, rising seas, and sometimes even reshaping habitats. As a part of this phenomenon, extreme climatic events are becoming more severe and frequent, affecting more and more infrastructures and services of the cities, such as transport, energy, or water distribution. Several infrastructure systems are considered critical since they are essential to ensure a given region’s security, economy, public health, or safety. One of these sectors is the power systems, which are becoming more and more vulnerable to climatic phenomena.  

Along that line, diverse European projects are working on planning, reducing, and adapting to the impact of the extreme events driven by climate change. In the framework of the LOCALISED Project, this is approached from the point of view of decarbonization, seeking as a solution the net zero energy transition as adaptation and mitigation. The analysis goes down to a regional level (or NUT 3), where the most appropriate measures and instruments are sought for each region, taking into account the climate impacts that can affect the power system on the one hand and considering the feasibility of implementing measures at the territorial level available on the other.

As another example, one of LOCALISED’s partners, IREC (Catalonia Energy Research Institute), is also working on another project named ICARIA, which also assesses the electrical network risks due to climate change. The focus of the project is understanding how the impacts on the electricity sector can affect assets in other infrastructures. For instance, efforts are made to calculate the direct and indirect damages that a vital asset in the water sector, such as a treatment plant, may incur due to damages suffered by one of the elements of the electrical network as a result of an extreme weather event, such as a strong wind. To this end, ICARIA is more granular, reaching down to the consumer level. In this context, ICARIA focuses its studies on three specific territories for validation, while in LOCALISED, the study ranges across the European Union.

In summary, regardless of where we put the focus on the results of the power system’s risk assessment, the impacts received from climate change will continue to occur. Such assessments are essential to identify risks but are also required at distinct levels depending on the perspective. Projects such as LOCALISED and ICARIA are necessary to analyze the different aspects involved in these phenomena and aid us in comprehending, anticipating, and strategizing for the tangible effects of climate change, thus strengthening the resilience of the power system.

On February 21, the first session of the Business Vulnerability Workshop against #climatechange was held in Barcelona. The session was organized by the partners IREC in conjunction with the Barcelona City Council (Agenda 2030) within the framework of the LOCALISED project.

On the first day, attendees participated in an exercise to analyze business vulnerability, the risks of sustainable transition, and the adaptation capacity of each company.

Various leading companies from the transportation, building, and industry sectors actively participated in the event, including Mireia Cammany from EPI Industries, Judit Martínez from Transports Generals d’Olesa (TGO), José Luis Pérez from ABIAN Services, and Isidre Lorenzo from TERSA.

Photo: © Arch. Zeininger und Lisi Zeininger. The Smart Block Geblergasse pilot project in Vienna, before and after the restoration of the inner courtyard under which geothermal probes for heat pumps are located.

More than one in four households in Austria still heats with fossil gas – a form of heating with an expiration date. Indeed, in line with the commitments made in the Paris Climate Agreement, Austria must ensure that heating systems with oil and natural gas are replaced by climate-friendly alternatives by 2050. For this transition to be just and feasible, a powerful combination of technical, social and economic efforts is required. Our Vienna-based LOCALISED partner ÖGUT is participating in these efforts by collaborating with the City of Vienna on the “Raus aus Gas”: a policy program consisting on subsidies, information campaigns and specific bans aimed at phasing out fossil fuel heating and replacing gas with district heating and heat pumps. 

Between 2014 and 2018, the building sector accounted for almost 30 percent of the relevant greenhouse gas emissions in the city of Vienna. Especially for heating, cooling and water heating. Nearly 90 percent of CO2emissions in this sector come from gas heating systems, the vast majority of which are accounted for by around half a million gas boilers in homes or workplaces. This situation leaves homeowners with a considerable number of challenges: what are the options available to “get out of gas”? How difficult would it be to implement them? And, importantly, who bears the costs? 

From February 2024, ÖGUT carries out free renovation consultations on behalf of HAUSKUNFT, a service point of the City of Vienna, for interested house and apartment owners who want to make their buildings fit to climate-friendly standards and regulations. ÖGUT’s experts have been working on projects to promote fossil-free and environmentally friendly heating in the city for years, by sharing their expertise through consultations, concrete planning, and placements. Thanks to the agreement with HAUSKUNFT, the experts of ÖGUT are now available to homeowners for free, tailor-made and independent consultations, especially at the beginning of their renovation journey. Advice can be provided by phone, virtually, or in person on-site, depending on citizens’ needs and preferences.

The focus on local efforts and best practices to “get out of gas” is especially relevant for the LOCALISED project, as one of the project activities currently underway is to establish the local adaptation of the renovation wave’s policies and other mitigation initiatives and define mid to long term scenarios at local level.  Focus is given on the contribution of building retrofitting programs and energy efficiency policies to regional mitigation pathways.

For more information on climate-friendly heating options in Austria, check out ÖGUT’s blogpost series, in German language:

• Goodbye gas heating, a series – Part 1: The alternatives.
• Goodbye gas heating, a series – Part 2: The renovation of the house. 
• Goodbye gas heating, a series – Part 3: Anergy networks. 
• Climate friendly heating with heat pumps – questions, answers, and an offer.

Photo: Installation of components of the exhaust gas treatment system onto the support structure.

Image source: https://portczystejenergii.prowly.com/presskits/aktualizowane-zdjecia-z-budowy/7/page

The thermal processing plant for municipal trash in Gdansk – our local partner – is the final hub of the municipal trash management system with a metropolitan impact, as it will receive waste from three municipal facilities covering about 40 communities. The thermal processing of solid and thermal trash contributes to the generation of electricity and heat, reducing the consumption of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions, and, thanks to BAT (Best Available Techniques), minimizes the negative impact on the environment and reduces emissions of harmful substances and maximizes the potential of non-recyclable waste. The plant is expected to be commissioned at the end of the first quarter of 2024.

The parameters of the Clean Energy Port are impressive. The nominal capacity of the boiler is 62.7 MW, and the installed electric and thermal capacities are 16 MWe and 44 MWt, respectively. The facility will produce 109 GWh of electricity annually, which is a significant contribution to local demand. Working in cogeneration, annual heat production will be 509 TJ which will meet the needs of 30,000 households during the heating season. The combustion temperature will oscillate between 850-1050°C, and the daily throughput will be 495 tons. These figures confirm the plant’s importance for the sustainable development of the city and the region.

Investment is also, or even primarily, being made in the education of the public. These activities are aimed at preventing waste, minimizing waste and preparing waste for reuse, which is a key element of a responsible approach to waste management and will contribute to reducing society’s negative impact on the environment.

​

Photo: Port of Clean Energy in Gdansk.

Image source: https://portczystejenergii.prowly.com/presskits/aktualizowane-zdjecia-z-budowy

Photo: Port of Clean Energy in Gdansk.

Image source: https://portczystejenergii.prowly.com/presskits/aktualizowane-zdjecia-z-budowy

In the research and Innovation section of the January issue of ERCIM News, the LOCALISED project is spotlighted for Tailoring Decarbonisation and Resilience Strategies to Drive Regional and Local Action. 

As highlighted in ERCIM News 136, existing European information platforms supporting a shift to a net-zero energy system have so far been limited in providing information for promoting this transition only targeting the national level. Therefore, LOCALISED is designed to close the information gap between national-level decarbonisation plans and local needs for planning and implementing an energy transition towards net-zero while accounting for remaining adaptation.