Developing Australia's First Sustainable City

Overcrowded cities, global warming and limited resources. Our future looks bleak if we keep on track to over utilising our precious resources. Rapid urbanisation exerts pressure on freshwater supplies, encroachment onto native animal sanctuaries and habitats, contributes to an increase in the solid waste issue, generating more heat and effecting human health. So what is the solution?

Think sustainable development. This underlying principle can be applied to every aspect of our being and lifestyle. Beyond that, it can expand to building sustainable cities, growing circular economies and managing closed-loop production systems.

What is a circular economy community?

Circular economy communities expand on a collection of closed-loop production systems. At a local community scale, small businesses can reduce energy, resource and solid waste consumption at every step of the production process by reusing and recycling any waste generated. This includes consideration of transportation, energy and waste consumption, packaging and the end-use after the life of a product. This is particularly important as traditionally, many companies products ended up in landfill or had parts that could be recycled with the remaining parts still going to landfill.

On a larger scale, such as creating a circular economy, it is recognised that businesses incorporating closed-loop production systems must work together especially where similar industries exist.

Australia's first circular economy city

Where is Yarrabilba and how does it plan on being Australia’s first circular economy community? The Queensland community of Yarrabilba is working to replace conventional methods of managing waste, energy and transport to create a series of closed-loop system connections that reduce waste, by design:

Determine the location and quantity of waste generated; and
Design and create resources out of waste.

This includes separating waste building materials and repurposing; and using food waste as compost via a digital composting system that tracks the communal compost pile. Using a tracking system can help stem 40% of food waste that exist in current models.

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How cities around the world achieve a circular economy community

More than 50 percent of the world’s population live in cities. The estimated number projected for 2050 is 70 percent. So, which country is leading the way in developing a sustainable city?

By 2025, Denmark is hoping to achieve that goal for its citizens and become the first capital to be a carbon neutral city. At least two-thirds of carbon emissions in the world already come from cities. Copenhagen looks to cut these emissions to zero. But how does one do this and what does this mean?

What is carbon neutral?

For a city, this is generating zero emissions done by creating more renewable energy than energy created from limited resources that a city uses. This is ultimately achieving a net zero worth energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, geothermal, hydropower and biomass in a greater quantity compared to traditional energy sources from coal, natural gas and oil. Copenhagen looks to achieve this goal by focusing on mobility, pollution and energy.

The City is renowned for its bicycle infrastructure and currently, 62 percent of its citizens use it as the main transport to commute to work. It’s taken over 10 years and $300 million to improve existing infrastructure, design and facilities.

Renewable energy is a core part of the Citys energy use and makes up 80 percent of their carbon neutral plan. Much of the success is attributed to one of the world’s largest central heating district systems which works to cut down energy consumption.

The system is made up of a network of pipes to capture residual energy in the form of heat that would otherwise go to waste. Heat can be captured from city production and delivered to homes across the City. In this system, 99 percent of homes in the City are linked together to form the network for heating which efficiently functions as a continuous circular system.

The system also efficiently works as a cooling system by drawing on cool water from the harbour. The cool water runs alongside various district pipes with hot water in the system to cool down heat generated from areas such as buildings, server rooms and factories. This, in turn, reduces the amount of electricity used to lower the temperature in buildings by 70 percent.

Since 2010, there has been a growth rate of citizens by 20 percent however there has been a huge cut in carbon emissions by 42 percent over the same time period.

Even with government intervention, the key to continued growth of carbon neutral sustainable cities is the people. Citizens of Copenhagen prove that action in numbers and their involvement can make a difference.