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