Dear MEL Topic Readers,
A 'crazy town looking to go fossil free': Sweden's wooden city that was green before Greta
Växjö is a small Swedish city that sits 450 km south-west of Stockholm. Ever since 1996 when the city adopted a policy for the elimination of the use of fossil fuels by 2030, Växjö has been committed to being fossil-free. After 20-some years of work, the city’s per capita carbon emissions were reduced by over 70% from 1990s levels even though the population has grown by a third and per capita GDP has increased by two-fold. Växjö uses a variety of strategies to make progress towards being fossil fuel-free. Waste from the local forest industry is burned to generate power, public and official vehicles run on biofuel made from domestic household organic waste, most energy is sourced from forestry by-products and other biomass, and at least half of new builds are made of wood sourced from nearby forests. Also, restaurants use local, seasonal, and organic dishes, and their food waste is turned into biofuel. Växjö has called itself the greenest city in Europe since 2007. The city’s residents must be very proud of their achievements and themselves.
Read the article and learn about what an ordinary city can do to reduce the use of fossil fuels.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20241114-swedens-wooden-city-that-was-green-before-greta
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