Sonderborg, the town in southern Denmark has an ambitious goal - to be absolutely carbon free in 2029!

To reach this goal, the municipality has cooperated with several private companies and inhabitants are backing up the initiative by applying more and more renewable resources in their daily life.

Lifestyles has the story.

Located on the small island of Als in southern Denmark, the town of Sonderborg has a population of 27,000.

A few large companies like Danfoss and Siemens are located in this town and its surrounding areas for a common goal - "Project Zero", which is aimed to lower this town's carbon emissions to around zero in 2029.

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　PETER　RATHJE,　CEO,　PROJECT　ZERO
"The project - or the vision - was initiated by a local think tank who wanted to create growth this area and for whom sustainability was a key issue. The vision later was anchored with five funding. It is the Danfoss Cooperation, the municipality of Sonderborg, the national energy company DONG, SE, the local utility company and the biggest bank in Scandinavia, the Nordea Bank. So these are the five parties who initiated 'Project Zero' and stand behind and give us the finances to carry out the secretariat needs to do. "

To reach the goal of zero carbon in 2029, the project uses many different ways to reduce the energy consumption, such as district heating control in this housing area where the old installations and hot water tanks have been removed from the cellars and instead the hot water pumps are adjusted directly from the apartments which save around 30 percent of the energy consumption and save money on the energy bill.

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　HENNING　BOYSEN,　PRODUCT　MANAGER,　DANFOSS:
"This is a unit in a dwelling. Each dwelling has such a unit for producing domestic hot water for the dwelling here in this heat exchanger. We have a thermostat here for keeping the pipes heated prepared for domestic hot water consumption and this is the heat meter which counts only the heat consumption in this dwelling."

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　AASE　NYEGAARD,　MAYOR　OF　SONDERBORG:
"This is the whole community - not only the municipality - not only one private company. But it is all. When we stick together it makes something for the citizens and inhabitants and it means a lot for people that they can see that this is going to take place in 2029. And also in my own company - the municipality - we invest a lot of money to do the right things ourselves when we build new buildings but also we change the old buildings to save light and we save fuel. Of course we do that. We also drive in electric cars. And I think when people see that we not only say what we should do - but actually do it. "

On the island Als where Sonderborg lies you can find everywhere clues to how the goal of being a carbon free area will be accomplished. Solar energy plants are popping up, the district energy plants are shifting from fossil fuel to waste incineration and thermo heating which use hot water pumped up from 250 meters below the surface.  Along with biomass plants, wind and solar energy, this will replace the old ways of producing heat and electricity. And some houses even produce their own energy.

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　PETER　RATHJE,　CEO,　PROJECT　ZERO:
"The house behind me basically looks like any other modern, good looking comfortable house. It has a very thick isolation all over the house of 50 centimeters to lower the need for heat. It has a neat pump which takes the energy out of the ground and energy is also coming from the solar panels on the roof. Together with this we have all kinds of modern technologies to help the family save energy and of course all appliances used in the house are of A plus A class. By the way the family has had two weeks of training how to live in such a house."

Along with the energy savings, the project Zero has also set a goal to create more green jobs which will eventually contribute to developing Sonderborg into a modern and attractive part of Denmark.

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　PETER　RATHJE,　CEO,　PROJECT　ZERO:
"(Do you have a target for how many green jobs you can create in 2029?)
We would like to create 5000 green jobs in this area; And not only in the industry. Also plumbers and other craftsmen will be needed. So the green jobs are all over. Both in the schools and in the kindergartens we are teaching the kids in sustainability so we are turning this whole area and the thinking of this area green."

Another example of innovative energy thinking is the Diamant, a newly build sports facility. Electricity comes from solar panels on the roof, and a sophisticated ventilation system based on a completely new technique recycles the heat and ensures energy-efficient cooling of the building. This saves energy by 30 percent compared to previously known ventilation systems while reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent. And even more, it sets an example of inspiration for the rest of the world.

SOUNDBITE　(ENGLISH)　AASE　NYEGAARD,　MAYOR　OF　SONDERBORG:
"The world needs to be improved. Both regarding energy and the environment and that’s because of my kids and all the other kids that are growing up or not born yet."