The councilor of Prague is heading to the world climate summit. They will show a plan for 231 billion
In addition to Czech government officials, representatives of the capital city of Prague are now preparing for the ongoing UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland.
The delegation led by the pirate mayor Zdeněk Hřib and the deputy for the environment Petr Hlubuček (STAN) wants to meet with representatives of other metropolises and present projects at the conference, and Prague wants to significantly reduce CO emissions in the coming years.2 and move towards carbon neutrality by 2050.
Mayor Zdeněk Hřib plans that the Czech capital will become a pioneer both in the field of energy transformation and in the overall care of the environment.
“We strive for healthier air and less smog in Prague thanks to the move towards carbon neutrality, more greenery in the city, less waste produced and its reuse or sustainable energy production for Praguers and greater independence from energy supplies from abroad,” says Hřib. “According to the UN estimate, by 2050, 68% of the world’s population will live in cities. The city is therefore essential for improving the environment, “he points out.
This is the first time that Prague councilors have set out for such a top world climate forum.
“We want to meet with representatives of like-minded cities, draw inspiration from them on what we could do better, or, on the contrary, help them by passing on our know-how,” Deputy Mayor Hlubuček told Seznam Zprávy.
According to him, the delegation has planned meetings with representatives of Vienna, Budapest, Paris and London. “We would like to meet with Phoenix representatives for a business lunch. It is already our official sister city, “the deputy added. The councilors will also take part in a panel of European cities on the New Green Deal agenda.
We want to meet with representatives of like-minded cities, draw inspiration from them on what we could do better, or, conversely, help them by passing on our know-how.
The Prague expedition will set out for Scotland shortly after the deputies approved a metropolitan climate plan after a long debate in May this year. 45 percent.
Don’t tell fairy tales
However, the opposition in the council considers the plan and especially the amount of investment unrealistic. Even if they include other sources, including European subsidies from the Modernization Fund and energy savings.
“I have nothing to change in my May words. Yes, we should have ambitions, but we should not set unattainable goals. The climate plan, as proposed, is just a political proclamation. They are completely clear bosses of ideas, but without strategy and concept, “my opposition ODS representatives Zdeněk Zajíček. According to him, the key is that the European subsidy has not yet been secured by the city, so it is still only about virtual money.
“The coalition will only raise unrealistic expectations and over time will have to quietly admit that the plan was unattainable in the parameters presented. They should tell the people of Prague the truth, not the fairy tales, “adds the deputy.
Deputy Hlubuček has previously defended the potential plan, saying that the city will not cause any significant financial burden, the impact on the budget will be “only” two to three billion a year, everything else should go from external sources.
He prefers to deal with transport and expensive energy
Even the YES movement, which is also in opposition in Prague, does not applaud the climatic activities of the current city coalition. Not even councilors travel to Glasgow.
“The mayor should focus on solving the critical traffic situation and the related taming of his deputy Adam Scheinherr in painting bike lanes throughout Prague, closing roads on the waterfront and other nonsense,” said the head of the ANO representative club, Ondřej Prokop.
As far as energy is concerned, according to him, Praguers are now much more worried about the threefold rise in electricity and gas bills. “For most residents, the climate plan is not a topic now, and I do not understand that the mayor cannot prioritize,” said Prokop.
However, representatives of the city’s management state that the planned energy transformation should enable the city organization and the inhabitants of the metropolis to become more independent of current energy suppliers in the future and to be able to break free.
Energy from the treatment plant and biowaste
The climate commitment of the capital means that and indirect emissions of Czech direct (from the energy consumed in the city) will fall from 8.8 million tons (which is the state in 2010) to 4.8 million by the end of the decade. To meet this goal, a total of 69 various measures and projects in the field of energy, transport, building modifications and the circular economy are prepared.
Former Minister of the Environment from the era of Topolánek’s government, Martin Bursík, who now heads the Commission for Sustainable Energy in Prague, led a team of experts who created the material to draw up a 240-page climate plan with a significant degree of climate.
“The biggest portion of the savings is in the energy sector, we have prepared several completely innovative projects,” Bursík told the News List, who is also in the delegations to Glasgow.
According to him, a significant reduction in Prague’s carbon footprint will result from the fact that in the future at the ČEZ power plant in Mělník, where heat is produced for part of the capital (right bank), coal will no longer be burned, but natural gas. The transition to a more climate-friendly source has already begun, the emission footprint after this reconstruction will be only half.
During the presentation of other projects, Martin Bursík points out the use of residual thermal energy from the Prague wastewater treatment plant. “Water flows out of the treatment plant in Podbaba and is almost ten degrees warmer than the surrounding Vltava, so we can install a series of heat pumps there, thus obtaining heat output that corresponds to about a third of the heat supply from Mělník,” said the ex-minister as an example of innovation.
Another new project is to be the construction of a biogas plant at the new incinerators in Malešice. It should process Prague’s biological waste into biomethane, which could then power city buses or trucks of Prague garbage cans.
Pioneers in the democratization of energy?
The former leader of the Green Party, Bursík, is not only talking about reducing emissions, but also that the desired transformation and the shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources should lead not only to Prague “democratization of energy”.
This means that people will no longer be 100% dependent on energy supplies from large energy companies and will be able to produce a substantial part of their consumption from renewable sources themselves. Mainly through photovoltaics on the roofs of buildings, while they could share any surpluses with other people in the area.
“The essence of that transformation is the involvement of citizens, active consumers. After all, this principle is now included in European directives and it is a great victory. The whole philosophy is based on the fact that, unlike coal and nuclear, renewable sources are decentralized, so it is in principle local production and local consumption. And this is an ideal model, “Bursík describes the circumstances under which the democratization of energy should take place.
Wasting resources?
The capital would like to be a pioneer in this direction throughout the Czech Republic. 23,000 buildings in Prague are to be equipped with photovoltaics or cogeneration sources by 2030. The pilot project of the “Prague Solar Power Plant” includes two apartment buildings with photovoltaics in Černý Most. Bursík also talks about the upcoming project with solar panels on the roofs of 37 Prague secondary schools; the zoo, as well as the botanical garden, is to be involved in the introductory phase.
Despite criticism from part of the opposition, Prague recently founded a new contributory organization, the Prague Renewable Energy Community. It is through it that these investments should be supported.
The Community should initially focus on installation on municipal property, but should gradually open up to other members from the private sector. “The project should also be open to homeowners, housing associations and homeowners’ associations. The community will buy surplus electricity and send it to other members, “Bursík paints the idea of a cohesive city of the future.
The Prague opposition to the establishment considers the new city organizations to be another waste of public money. The plan was criticized, for example, by Vladimír Schmalz, a former ODS representative and current member of the municipal committee for infrastructure, technical equipment and the environment. According to him, the city is wasting resources, because the above-mentioned projects can be done by existing city companies.
However, Bursík refuses, saying that the involvement of city-controlled companies, such as Pražská plynárenská, would completely deny the aforementioned democratization goal.