Swedish city finds way to really go green
With a large population Kalmar still finds a way to cut back on fossil fuels
Laurie Goering
Issue date: 3/9/09 Section: Nation and World
KALMAR, Sweden (MCT) - Though a fraction of Chicago's size, this industrial city in southeast Sweden has plenty of similarities with it, including a long, snowy winter and a football team the town's crazy about.
One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however; it is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.
The city of 60,000 and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community "district heat," produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region's electricity.
Kalmar's publicly owned cars and buses and a growing share of its private and business vehicles run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.
Just as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.
"We are not eco-freaks," said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. "We're just making it easy to change, giving people the tools."
As President Barack Obama looks for ways to revive the sagging U.S. economy, create jobs, trim the country's dependence on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Kalmar's example may prove useful for Chicago and the rest of the nation.
"The technological part is possible. The bigger task is the cultural change, taking on the way of thinking," said Jonas Lohnn, a pastor and Kalmar city commissioner.
By 2030, Kalmar plans to have no net use of fossil fuels, with any remnant use of gas, diesel or oil offset by exports of excess power generation from renewable sources, officials say.
"Politicians laughed at this idea at the beginning, when it was first presented," said Hakan Brynielsson, head of the Kalmar regional council. "Now 95 percent of politicians are convinced of the necessity of doing these things."
Residents say cutting back on fossil fuels has taken some getting used to, but it hasn't made life miserable and it's saving them money.
Nicklas and Sara Svensson, municipal workers who have a 3-year-old daughter, joined on a year ago as one of 12 Kalmar "climate pilot" families experimenting with ways to cut fossil fuel use.
"We wanted to do something so we could look (our daughter) in the eye in 20 years' time and say, 'We tried,'" Sara Svensson said.
Bosse Lindholm, Kalmar city's environment and sustainability development manager, said most of Kalmar's ideas could be adopted anywhere.
"It's important to have small victories, to go the right direction even at low speed rather than the wrong direction at high speed."
One thing is dramatically different about Kalmar, however; it is on the verge of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for good, and with minimal effect on its standard of living.
The city of 60,000 and its surrounding 12-town region, with a quarter-million people has traded in most of its oil, gas and electric furnaces for community "district heat," produced at plants that burn sawdust and wood waste left by timber companies. Hydropower, nuclear power and windmills now provide more than 90 percent of the region's electricity.
Kalmar's publicly owned cars and buses and a growing share of its private and business vehicles run on biogas made from waste wood and chicken manure, or an 85 percent ethanol blend from Brazil.
Just as important, the switch from oil and gas is helping slash fuel bills and preserve jobs in a worldwide economic downturn. And despite dramatic drops in fossil fuel consumption, residents say nobody has been forced to give up the car or huddle around the dining table wearing three sweaters to stay warm.
"We are not eco-freaks," said Carolina Gunnarsson, a sustainability officer with the Kalmar County regional council, as her teenage daughter, wearing a tank top, lounged on their living room sofa on a snowy February afternoon. "We're just making it easy to change, giving people the tools."
As President Barack Obama looks for ways to revive the sagging U.S. economy, create jobs, trim the country's dependence on foreign oil and cut greenhouse gas emissions, Kalmar's example may prove useful for Chicago and the rest of the nation.
"The technological part is possible. The bigger task is the cultural change, taking on the way of thinking," said Jonas Lohnn, a pastor and Kalmar city commissioner.
By 2030, Kalmar plans to have no net use of fossil fuels, with any remnant use of gas, diesel or oil offset by exports of excess power generation from renewable sources, officials say.
"Politicians laughed at this idea at the beginning, when it was first presented," said Hakan Brynielsson, head of the Kalmar regional council. "Now 95 percent of politicians are convinced of the necessity of doing these things."
Residents say cutting back on fossil fuels has taken some getting used to, but it hasn't made life miserable and it's saving them money.
Nicklas and Sara Svensson, municipal workers who have a 3-year-old daughter, joined on a year ago as one of 12 Kalmar "climate pilot" families experimenting with ways to cut fossil fuel use.
"We wanted to do something so we could look (our daughter) in the eye in 20 years' time and say, 'We tried,'" Sara Svensson said.
Bosse Lindholm, Kalmar city's environment and sustainability development manager, said most of Kalmar's ideas could be adopted anywhere.
"It's important to have small victories, to go the right direction even at low speed rather than the wrong direction at high speed."
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