You've heard about a climate action plan, but what about a municipal heat plan? In January 2024, Germany passed a law requiring every municipality to develop a heat plan to decarbonize heating. We interview Paula Möhring, Senior Consultant at Hamburg Institut Consulting GmbH, about the ongoing transformation of the heating sector in Germany. She has been working with municipalities across Germany on heat plans. Larry met Paula on a November clean energy trip organized by the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.

Resources: (Some of these will require google translate or something like it) 

• City Climate Corner - 60 Best Climate Change podcasts (we're #24!)
• Heat map of Norderstedt - 84,000 population, near Hamburg. Copyright HIC Hamburg Institut Comsulting GmbH.
  • Expansion of the grid is in light orange (Wärmenetzausbaugebiete)
  • Examination areas where it is not yet clear are in pink (Prüfgebiete).
  • Dark Orange are existing district heating grids.
  • White is decentralized heating (e.g. heat pumps)
• Heat Planning and heat transition in Denmark - comprehensive report (English): Organisational Structures in the Danish District Heating ...Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena)https://www.dena.de › Projektportrait › CoLAB
• Act on Heat Planning and Decarbonization of District Heating (in German, translate in Browser) WPG - nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis 
• "Energy in Buildings Act“ / Act on Energy Conservation and the Use of Renewable Energies for Heating and Cooling in Buildings (in German, translate in Browser) GEG - nichtamtliches Inhaltsverzeichnis
• Official Guidelines for Heat Planning in Germany (German, pdf) via this site: https://www.bmwsb.bund.de/Webs/BMWSB/DE/themen/stadt-wohnen/WPG/WPG-node.html
• Example 1 of Heat Planning City of Hamburg: https://www.hamburg.de/politik-und-verwaltung/behoerden/bukea/themen/energie/kommunale-waermeplanung
• Example 2 of Heat Planning City of Norderstedt: https://www.norderstedt.de/Aktuelles-und-Service/Aktuelle-Projekte/W%C3%A4rmeplanung-/
• Example 3 of Heat Planning City of Freiburg https://www.freiburg.de/pb/1847688.html
• Evaluation of 136 existing heat plans in Baden-Württemberg, south-west Germany (German pdf): https://www.ifeu.de/fileadmin/uploads/Publikationen/Energie/Waermegipfel/2024-10-21_Waermegipfel_Auswertung_Waermeplaene_ifeu.pdf

Crookston is a 7000+ person community in the northwest corner of Minnesota that has big ambitions to improve the life of its residents by leveraging the clean energy transition. We interview City Council Member Tim Lenard, Exec. Director of Crookston Housing Development Karie Kirshbaum, Exec. Director of NW MN Regional Sustainable Development Program Shannon Stassen, and John Vaughn,  Fresh Energy's Managing Director of Community Development to learn about the Empower Crookston effort and how it spawned an I Love Crookston program.

Resources

• Empower Crookston website
• City of Crookston website
• Minnesota information on local climate action grants
• Fresh Energy website

The negative impacts of the fossil-fuel based energy system and policies have disproportionately harmed and burdened low-income and BIPOC communities. As we transition to a clean energy economy, how do we make sure that what we put in place is equitable and just? We interview Michelle Vigen Ralston, Principal and Founder at Common Spark Consulting, about the work her team does with cities, counties, advocates, and other organizations to facilitate the creation of equitable energy policy.

Resources

• Common Spark website
• Trainings mentioned
• Jemez principles

YoGo BikeShare is launching a new 100% e-bike micro-mobility platform in Youngstown, a city of about 60,000 in population. We interview YoGo President Ronnel Elkins and VP of Operations Corey Patrick, and learn about their vision, the obstacles they've faced, and how the service will address the first and last mile problem of public transportation.

Resources:

• YoGo website
• Bikeshare in Youngstown gets rolling - article in The Vindicator
• ‘These are your bikes:’ City celebrates start of YoGo Bikeshare in Youngstown article in Mahoning Matters

There's a heat pump revolution happening in Maine. Already over 100,000 of the 600,000 homes in Maine have heat pumps, and their plan is to be over 300,000 by 2027. One out of every 14 heat pumps in the U.S. is going to Maine, though it is only 0.42% of the US's population. We talk to Andy Meyer, Senior Program Manager at Efficiency Maine, to learn how they've done it, and how it's saving Maine residents a lot of money, even in a cold-weather climate.

Resource

• Efficiency Maine website

Lincoln Nebraska may not be the first city that comes to mind when you think of climate action, but maybe it should be. We interview Kim Morrow, Chief Sustainability Officer for Lincoln, about some exciting city programs, including EV infrastructure, an innovative approach to Rental Rehabilitation using Tax Increment Financing (TIF), heat pump rebates, and biochar as well as their efforts on the EPA's Climate Pollution Reduction Grants.  

Resources

• Resilient Lincoln web page (Resilient Lincoln is the name of the Mayor's priority initiative that involves implementing the Climate Action Plan)
• Lincoln's Vision for a Climate-Smart Future (this is the background study behind the Climate Action Plan)
• Climate Action Plan
• EV Readiness Plan
• Press release regarding the Rental Rehabilitation Program
• Heat pump incentive program
  • Press release announcing the program
  • Heat pump incentive program web page
  • Lincoln Electric System Sustainable Energy Program
• Lincoln Biochar Initiative
• Local Food Plan

There's a lot of exciting things happening in the world of geothermal power. We explore geothermal in general and examine a novel approach leveraging groundwater to substantially reduce the footprint needed. We interview Darcy Solutions CTO Dan King about how their technology is being used by some cities to provide carbon free heating and cooling.

Resources:

• Darcy Solutions website
• Water Well Journal explanatory article

Abby, Larry, and Isaiah review 2023 and talk about what's coming in 2024.

On the shores of Lake Superior, Duluth has received publicity as a "climate proof city" though faces distinct challenges with its cold weather climate. With grants, they are pursuing exciting approaches to creating a geothermal district heating system from their waste water treatment plant and separately, creating resilience in their building stock with solar plus storage and microgrids. We interview Sustainability Officer Mindy Granley,  Community Resilience Project Coordinator Bret Crecelius, and Americorps service member Ella Stewart about Duluth's unique 5-year at a time approach to climate planning.

Resources

• Duluth Climate Action Work Plan
• Grant for geothermal district heating
• Renewables Advancing Community Energy Resilience (RACER) Funding Program
• Duluth Sustainability webpage

Groundswell's exciting SOUL (Save On Utilities Long term) program is rolling out right now in LaGrange, GA. SOUL is a Pay As You Save model that reduces utility bills by improving home energy efficiency, without upfront costs. It prioritizes households with lower incomes and high energy burdens. We interview Nicole Sonderegger of Groundswell and Leon Childs of Groundswell and a City Councilmember in LaGrange about how the program works and the lives it is changing.

Resources

• Groundswell SOUL program website
• LaGrange SOUL program
• City of LaGrange website