RG Vanderweil Engineers, Ramboll to conduct low carbon energy supply study for Cambridge city

RG Vanderweil Engineers, Ramboll to conduct low carbon energy supply study for Cambridge city

Together with US based RG Vanderweil Engineers, Ramboll will conduct a low carbon energy supply study for the city of Cambridge and strengthen the ties to the US mark

COPENHAGEN, 28-Nov-2016 — /EuropaWire/ — The City of Cambridge located north of Boston in the USA shares increasing global concerns about climate change and the many challenges it presents. The City has adopted a Climate Protection Action Plan with the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050 and has committed to a range of initiatives to support sustainable lifestyles and move the community toward greater resilience to climate change.

In Cambridge, close to 80% of the greenhouse gas emissions are estimated to result from building operations. So the City has developed a 25-year framework for setting Cambridge on the trajectory to becoming a net zero emissions community, which will require a significant shift in the supply of energy to Cambridge buildings away from fossil fuel based sources and toward low- or zero-carbon sources.

In order for the City to better understand the full potential of renewable energy and low carbon district heating and cooling in Cambridge, the City has commissioned Ramboll with the development of an energy supply strategy to help the City decarbonise its energy supply. Ramboll will study the existing energy use across the city and the sources of supply, look into the possibilities for the future low-carbon supply, assess barriers and suggest ways to overcome them, and create a road map for the City.

“The City selected Ramboll due to our extensive thermal experience from Europe”, says Project Manager Isidore Mc Cormack.

Through the study Ramboll will help the City define:

• Where and how low carbon district energy can happen in Cambridge given current and emerging technologies.
• The role the City can play in developing and enabling district energy and distributed generation.
• Where and how utilities and other parties could begin to modernize the grid infrastructure.
• The full technical and economic potential for solar PV, solar thermal, and other renewable energy sources throughout the city.
• The opportunities and potential for energy storage that improves resiliency and the potential to utilize more renewable energy.
• The policies and investment strategies that should be employed to improve deployment of low carbon and renewable energy.

The contract was signed at a formal ceremony by the City Manager of the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the President and Managing Director for Ramboll Environ USA Thomas Vetrano. Attending the signing were the Crown Prince of Denmark and Denmark’s Minister for Business and Growth, Troels Lund Poulsen.

“This is an exciting win for Ramboll. It will be a door opener to further projects in the US,” says Isidore Mc Cormack.

SOURCE: Ramboll Group

Kontakt

Jens Ole Hansen
Global Market Director
T +45 5161 8591
E jeoh@ramboll.com

Isidore McCormack
Senior Consultant
T +45 5161 8918
E imc@ramboll.dk