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With the power not only to counter climate change but also bringing considerable environmental, economic, and social benefits – the number of renewable energy communities and cooperatives in Europe is increasing. In central and eastern Europe, however, prospective energy communities have to overcome significant odds – with a lack of support and investment at the national level. EU-level rhetoric will have to be backed up by real commitments if the targets to boost such projects are to be met.
In short: - The Czech capital of Prague has fast become a trailblazer in establishing a local circular economy.
- Circle Economy’s ‘Circle Scan’ analysed the material flows, GHG emissions and value generation of Prague’s economy to set priorities and measure the scale of issues.
- Besides the Circle Scan, political endorsement and stakeholder management was instrumental in embedding the circular economy into daily decision-making processes.
While Czech coal mining regions supply heat and electricity to the whole country, local people are often unable to afford heating their own homes, researchers say. More broadly, Czechia is struggling to meet its EU reporting obligations on energy poverty, an issue common to other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Efforts by Polish state-owned utility PGE to expand a brown coal mine near the Czech border is putting Poland at odds with Prague — normally a close ally on energy issues.
The Turów mine's current license expires in April. PGE's goal is to continue mining until 2044 and to expand the mining area to just 100 meters from the border.
The Czech and German towns just a few kilometers from the mine and the smokestacks of PGE's 1.3-gigawatt power plant — Europe’s seventh-most polluting — are furious about the idea.
Free Cities Pact was signed yesterday by the mayors of four European capitals at the Central European University in Budapest. The Mayors of Prague, Budapest, Warsaw and Bratislava confirmed that they will be working together and promoting joint projects. Furthermore, the Pact binds them in the commitment to the values of democracy, freedom, human dignity and the rule of law, as enshrined in the EU Treaties.
Mayors Zdeněk Hřib (Prague), Karácsony Gergely (Budapest), Rafał Trzaskowski (Warsaw) and Matúš Vallo (Bratislava) agreed that the Free Cities Pact will be an open platform for other cities and third parties that share the same values. The four cities want to join forces in tackling common challenges, including climate change, the housing crisis or the use of European subsidies.
The V4 group of countries ignores climate threats, attempts to extend fossil fuel burning, violates air pollution limits and undermines the development of renewable energies. The Visegrad+ Renewable Energy platform has been established to turn this trend around, writes Ada Ámon.
As Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic start phasing out coal, campaigners argue that all actors – including small entrepreneurs, communities and civil society – must be part of the process.
The European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) organised a Policy Lab in Prague in cooperation with the Czech Republic’s Ministry of Regional Development on the theme of Urban Mobility. As one of the Coordinators of the Partnership on Urban Mobility, established in February 2017 as part of the Urban Agenda for the EU, the Czech Republic is highly committed to developing the Partnership’s Action Plan. This document will provide concrete actions and recommendations for the development of sustainable and future-proof mobility and transport policy for cities by defining room for better regulation, better funding and better knowledge exchange.
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On 11 August, the City of Prague reported that it is preparing to convert slag produced from the incineration of waste into building materials. According to Hlubuček, the incinerator produces 65 to 70 thousand tons of slag annually. What is more, the city pays approximately CZK 40 million (EUR 1.5 million) a year for landfilling.
Thanks to research and technological innovations, this waste can now be converted into raw materials and used in the construction industry. More specifically, clean slag reportedly has various useful properties which would allow it to be utilised as a base layer in the construction of roads.
Hlubuček discussed the advantages of transforming slag into raw materials, stressing that it would result in great financial savings and a reduction of CO2 emissions. In turn, it would help bring the capital closer to achieving its climate goals.
The Czech capital will build 21 kilometres of cycle trails
Warmer days are coming, and people are eager to go out once again. As the cycling season is rapidly approaching, the Municipality of Prague has announced that it is planning on investing over 14 million euros (247 million Czech koruna) in cycling infrastructure, design work, and studies aimed at improving the quality of life of cyclists in the Czech capital.
The Czech Republic is on its way to introduce a protectionist food law despite warnings that this could be in violation of the EU's free movement of goods.
Cities worldwide are rising to the common challenges of climate change and environmental degradation, growing inequality and intolerance, and rising housing costs. They increasingly do so in collaboration with one another, pooling resources and exchanging ideas on what works. They rise above partisanship, focusing on ways to provide solutions to their residents.
Our cities are the engines of growth and innovation in the region. As we face many common challenges, we have decided to tackle them together. To this end, we are proud to establish the “Pact of Free Cities” – which is formally launching at the Central European University in Budapest on 16 December.
The ‘climate spring’ arrived in the Czech Republic this year as young students, spurred on by the global school strike movement, abandoned their classrooms to protest the Czech government’s chronic inaction on climate. Josef Patočka situates this new wave of activism in a tradition of ecological mobilisation in the country known for being in the ‘coal heartlands of Europe’. Now that the climate issue has broken into Czech public debate, what can be done to effectively push for structural change and a just transition to clean energy?
Submitted by Francesco Ripa on 01 Apr 2019
Sixty two electric vehicle charging stations will be installed in Slovakia, Czechia and Croatia by June 2020. These will be located to support long-distance travel by electric vehicles. The widespread deployment of cross-border electric vehicle charging infrastructure is a key element of the development of electric mobility.
Atomic promises
The pledge to develop nuclear energy is not new and has been included in the energy policy of the Czech Republic ever since 2004. Almost all governments have de facto voted to do so, with the exception of the coalition government that included the Green Party.
The project of two new reactors at Temelín has even received a positive environmental impact assessment. From today’s perspective, that 10-year-old assessment is greatly out of date. It includes the claim that “in a nuclear power scenario it can be anticipated that the cost of electricity will be as much as 600 CZK /MWh (22 EUR /MWh) lower than in all other scenarios.”
This year’s European Urban Knowledge Network (EUKN) Policy Lab for Spain took place in Madrid and was organised in cooperation with the Ministerio de Fomento, Madrid on the theme of National Urban Agenda in Spain. The event aimed at supporting Spain's commitment to develop its urban agenda built on the existing urban policies at the national level.
The EUKN Policy Lab allowed for an exchange between Spanish experts and experts from national ministries in EUKN countries working in the field of National Urban Policies: France, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands.
Following the fast-paced innovation in renewable technologies in recent years many small businesses, municipalities, communities or single families now own renewable energy sources. More Europeans are becoming so-called “energy citizens” – investing in their own energy source for various reasons. Some want to improve their energy efficiency and save money for bills, while others want to become self-sufficient or make profits.
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