Located in South West England, Bristol city was awarded the title of European Green Capital 2015. The award recognises many initiatives over the years to protect the environment and improve quality of life.
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The EIB, through the ELENA grant programme, is proud to have played a part in this process by supporting the city's ambitious energy programme.
Bristol's title of Green Capital is well deserved. It is the UK's greenest city. Almost a fifth of Bristol residents walk to work. The number of cyclists has doubled in recent years. Bristol has also been working to reduce the city's contribution to climate change.
Carbon emissions have consistently declined in Bristol since 2005 despite a growing economy. Great strides have also been made in increasing the share of renewable energy in the city's energy mix, improving water and waste treatment, increasing energy efficiency across all sectors and developing the green economy.
Nevertheless, the city does not plan to rest on its laurels and has committed a budget of EUR 500 million for transport improvements by 2015 and up to EUR 300 million for energy efficiency and renewable energy. As a signatory to the Covenant of Mayors in 2009, the city has set ambitious targets to reduce energy use by 30 % and CO2 emissions by 40 % by 2020 and 80 % by 2050 (from 2005 baseline).
In 2012, the city of Bristol received a EUR 2.6 million grant from the ELENA programme in support of a EUR 161 million sustainable energy investment programme (to be implemented by 2016). The programme covers investments to increase the energy efficiency of residential and public buildings, to install photovoltaic panels on public and private rooftops and to renovate or install district heating systems using combined heat and power or renewable sources.
The ELENA facility is a joint initiative by the EIB and the European Commission. It helps local and regional authorities and other public bodies prepare energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and increase their chances of attracting financing. Public authorities that receive grants from ELENA must in turn commit to invest at least 25 times the grant amount in investments aiming to reduce CO2 emissions.
Invetsment programmes can involve the improvement of energy efficiency, the integration of renewable energy sources in buildings, the renovation or installation of district heating systems and urban transport programmes.
Since its inception in 2009, ELENA has supported 36 projects in 14 different EU countries with total grant contribution of some EUR 65 million. ELENA expects to leverage investments of up to EUR 3.5 billion. ■