The 2014 Energy Summit held on the UW-Madison campus provided a Perspectives of Future Cities panel discussion on sustainability in Madison and the country of Germany Wednesday with local and international representatives.
Two of the panelists, who participated in one of many events held during the summit, were Mayor of Madison Paul Soglin and Franziska Breyer, the environmental director for Madison’s sister city of Freiburg, Germany. Much of the discussion was focused around the differences in policies between Freiburg and Madison which explain why Freiburg is such a sustainable city.
Breyer said Germany has initiatives in place to greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions which have facilitated more than a one million ton reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in Freiburg alone since 1992. Many of Freiburg’s accomplishments are credited to the positive influence that schools, soccer stadiums and other prominent facilities have on private homeowners who install their own solar panels.
“We have a huge variety of private households widely invested in solar panels,” Breyer said. “We’ve arrived at a point that it is mainstream.”
Freiburg is also a leader in sustainable transportation opportunities. Biking is viewed as “avantgarde” and preferred over driving a car, Breyer said. Officials in Freiburg found that by making sustainable transit a social trend, the public is much more likely to take advantage of the tram and bike paths.
Conversely, Soglin pointed out issues with energy providers in Madison creating “disincentives” for homeowners to seek sustainable energy.
Madison Gas and Electric recently presented a proposal to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin that seeks to increase the cost of electric energy by approximately $2.80 for the average residential customer and decrease the cost of natural gas, according to Steve Schultz, the corporate communications manager at MGE.
One of the goals aimed at improving Madison’s sustainability is to increase public transit.
“We’re facing a crisis with Madison Metro,” Soglin said. “We need to buy more buses and we don’t have the capacity because of state regulation ... If we had $30 or $40 million in Madison, we could offer free public transit ridership to everyone.”
