The Hague is hard at work to become a more climate friendly city. The municipality has made goals to:
› become CO2-neutral by 2040
› reduce its CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2020
› use 20 percent more sustainable energy
› use 20 percent less energy overall (compared to 1990).
The Hague’s new Climate Plan (Klimaatplan Den Haag) outlines its overall strategy for the coming year.
Becoming a CO2-neutral city by 2040 will not be an easy task. It will require using less energy, and the city aims to generate energy without any release of CO2. As a result, natural gas will no longer be used to produce heat in the city but only sustainable energy sources like wind energy and solar energy.
The Hague’s Climate Plan and Energy Outlook are focusing on the following seven points in their mission to become CO2 neutral:
› Energy savings
› Underground heat & cold storage
› Solar energy
› Wind energy
› Geothermal energy (the use of terrestrial heat for heating homes & businesses)
› More district heating (e.g. heating your home with hot water supplied by pipes)
› Extraction of energy from biomass (e.g. burning plant waste)
Beyond putting these seven points into practice, the municipality is also studying various other forms of renewable energy, as well as the economic repercussions of their use, and is keeping an eye on national developments with respect to sustainable energy.
To take advantage of the knowledge and strengths the city has to offer, the municipality will look at whether a local renewable power company and climate centre are possible. The municipality will cooperate with local residents and businesses in order to make the dream of a CO2-neutral city a reality.
For more information download The Hague’s Climate Plan (pdf)