Author: Elisa Abrantes

Stories from Pilot Cities: Leuven is one of the 112 cities participating in the EU Mission to deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities, and the Pilot Cities Programme – a component of the Mission that focuses on exploring and testing pathways to rapid decarbonisation over a two-year period. 

Leuven, a Belgian city of around 100,000 inhabitants, is no stranger to groundbreaking ideas. As home to the Big Bang Theory and KU Leuven, which celebrates its 600th this year and has been recognised as Europe’s most innovative university, it’s no wonder its rich history of science and innovation is being tapped to find solutions to climate change.

“The green heat transition is extremely challenging, but that also makes it exciting,” says Marie Vanderlinden, project coordinator of Leuven’s Pilot City Activity.

In 2019, buildings in Leuven were responsible for 60% of all direct CO2 emissions within the city, which come mostly from fossil fuel-based heating systems, and to decarbonise the heating of local buildings, the city administration is betting on innovative approaches.

“We know we have to decarbonise our city, and so innovation isn’t optional,” says Vanderlinden.

Lighthouse districts: three living labs

Three neighbourhoods have been selected as Lighthouse Districts, each with their own unique context, to serve as real-world laboratories for testing new ideas. In these districts, the city is researching the feasibility of installing collective heating systems to serve multiple households, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions through renewable energy use and enhanced efficiency.

The new heating systems will rely on green heating technologies — solutions that minimise environmental impact by reducing fossil fuel use. Rather than traditional gas boilers, they tap into cleaner energy sources, such as geothermal.

“Setting up these systems in the different neighbourhoods will present unique challenges and opportunities for green heat solutions and will help us understand the different requirements in each context,” says Vanderlinden.

© Proefboring Marie Thumas

The solutions will vary depending on the buildings and infrastructure that exist in the area, as well as the people who own the buildings and live locally.  

Feasibility studies for heat networks are complex. They must evaluate technical requirements, financial viability, and community needs at the neighbourhood level. The city must assess heat sources, energy demand, building density, and spatial constraints like drilling space and water availability, alongside the area’s social and economic profile, including building ownership and rental patterns. Perhaps most importantly, a comprehensive understanding of funding options is critical to bridge financial gaps.  

After the studies, the challenges persist. Key steps to making green heating a reality include integrating green energy sources and installing underground pipe networks for heat delivery. Adaptations on the consumer end will be equally essential, as buildings themselves need upgrades to effectively utilise new types of heating systems. 

“There is no one-size-fits-all green heat solution. Each requires a tailored business model,” says Vanderlinden.  

On the one hand, the tailored approach ensures that solutions will not only be sustainable, but socially inclusive, addressing the realities and needs in each neighbourhood. On the other, such local tailoring also raises questions around scalability and replicability.  

© Shutterstock Leuven, Belgium, July 7, 2023: People, Tourists, Walking, Down, Pedestrian

Energy transition costs are high – but can we afford not to?  

The city administration realise that they’ll have to come up with a staggering amount of money to finance such a transition for the entire city. Therefore, a vital part of their Pilot City Activity is finding out where the money will come from.  

“We’re really using these districts to research what kind of financial and legal structure we actually need to finance these green heat projects,” says Luca Lia, Process Manager for Leuven 2030, a platform for structural cooperation in the city.

The platform brings together citizens, companies, local authorities, and knowledge institutions to accelerate the transition to a climate-neutral Leuven.  

“We are also working on getting the projects to a point where they are interesting to private investors,” says Lia.

The feasibility studies in the lighthouse districts are currently financed by EU grant funding from the Pilot Cities Programme, but once this money has been used, the projects will need to be financed from other sources. So far, it’s clear that it will have to come from a blended approach with public and private investments, but the exact configuration remains to be seen.  

Furthermore, Vanderlinden emphasises the need for a tax shift from electricity to gas in order to make green heat projects viable.

“One major barrier to the adoption of heat networks with individual heat pumps in Belgium is the stark difference between net electricity and gas prices. Even with efficient systems, higher electricity bills discourage households from transitioning to sustainable heating. A tax shift, reducing levies on electricity while increasing them on fossil fuels like gas, is urgently needed to make these solutions more attractive,” she says.  

While the EU’s ETS2 system, set to impose a carbon tax on fossil heating by 2027, may partially address this, quick action on taxation is critical in accelerating the feasibility of heat network projects.  

Unfortunately, this is not something the city expects to see anytime soon.  

The tax difference is not the only obstacle. The creation of a viable business case for heat networks remains challenging due to the significant upfront investment costs.

© Constantin Meunier straat JustNature ResultsDepavement

“Establishing the necessary infrastructure, such as pipelines and pumping systems, requires large-scale funding, which is difficult to secure without long-term policy certainty and sufficient subsidies. While a tax shift could improve the operational costs, addressing the investment barriers is equally critical to making heat networks a viable and sustainable solution,” says Vanderlinden.

Activating Leuven’s ecosystem through civic contracting 

The success of green heat projects hinges on broad involvement from multiple players in the city and ensuring their continued commitment to and participation in such initiatives. Leuven is now testing an innovative approach to ensure they secure such commitments: civic contracting. 

Civic contracting is being trialled as an innovative way to engage the main stakeholders in Leuven, both public and private, by extensively mapping all relevant players involved in the green transition, and formalising clear agreements with them. It is an initiative spearheaded by Leuven 2030, with the city administration now exploring how it can work in the context of green heating. 

According to Luca Lia, civic contracting is being trialled on two levels:

“On a more general level, which we call actor-based civic contracting, and then there’s the place-based model which focuses on specific places or districts we have selected.”  

The civic contracting approach builds on Leuven’s previous work regarding stakeholder engagement. Five years ago, the city and Leuven 2030 developed a roadmap that saw 15 key stakeholders formally sign on to a shared vision. Leuven’s Climate City Contract, submitted last year, has deepened and broadened engagement, containing formal commitments from more than 25 stakeholders, including key players such as KU Leuven, grid operator Fluvius, and intermunicipal waste company EcoWErf. 

Engaging residents 

“Over the past 1.5 years, we’ve experienced an important insight as a result of our lighthouse districts: while we can conduct feasibility studies, we must not overlook the residents living in the areas we’re studying. They play a crucial role in this transition, particularly when it comes to renovating their homes. The question is, how can we effectively engage them in this process?” asks Vanderlinden.   

© Constantin Meunier straat JustNature ResultsDepavement

The local energy cooperative ECoOB is the city’s key partner when it comes to engaging citizens in the Pilot City activity, as they enable communication with residents in the neighbourhoods, and enable their financial participation in the city’s climate transition.  

Further efforts to engage residents are underway in the lighthouse districts through the integration of urban development initiatives with different climate themes. The Constantin Meunier street is one of the lighthouse districts, and it also hosts a separate climate initiative on urban greening and depaving.  

By simultaneously carrying out multiple climate projects in the same street, the city administration is investigating the potential of integrating projects in the same area to maximise efficiency, minimise disruption to residents, and build awareness of climate action and urban improvements locally.  

“It’s beneficial to work on different climate themes in one neighbourhood. So, we are trying to speak more to our colleagues from other departments so we can work more together, which is time and money efficient,” says Vanderlinden.

These integrated efforts also contribute to mainstreaming climate action across the city government, thus breaking down departmental silos. 

From lighthouse districts to beacon city – more bang for the buck 

Leuven’s goal is to achieve a significant reduction in building-related CO2 emissions, establish a robust, community-supported framework for implementing green heat solutions, and enhance energy security and affordability for residents. 

Solutions around financing and investment potential, how to reach and include all residents and stakeholders, and how to join and optimise urban projects are coming as they build.  

“Everything we’re doing there is something we can learn from, but we have to dare to take steps, even if we are not sure they will work,” says Vanderlinden.  

Looking ahead, they hope to use the insights from their Pilot City work to inform their broader climate strategy and develop a model for green heat transition that can be scaled across the city and replicated across Europe. It’s an ambitious ask, but we may just see another big bang from the Belgian city. 

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