PRINCIP

PRINCIP stands for Proactive and INtegrated Climate change In Resource Planning and is a project financed by Interreg Öresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak, an EU program with a focus on cross-border cooperation between partners from Norway, Sweden and Denmark.

The goal of the project was to identify how regions can reduce their carbon footprint by working with energy efficiency improvements in terms of reduced consumption. This was achieved by creating climate and energy plans for participating municipalities to estimate the potentials for improvement. See an example of Gothenburg potentials to reduce the climate impact of the energy system in the table below:

The project also examined specific barriers and concrete solution proposals for energy efficiency improvements in three selected sectors: Energy Renovation of Buildings, Sustainable transport and Retail and food businesses.

In the field of energy renovation, the technology is available but other factors such as lack of knowledge and insufficient legal requirements may be obstacles. To prevent buildings being renovated without improving their energy performance, stricter requirements in e.g. the "Planning and Building Act" are needed, and the level of knowledge in the area needs to increase.

Improving the transport sector is very much a matter of change in traveler behavior, as there are currently not enough renewable fuels available to supply the entire vehicle fleet. This calls for investment in children and youth, when it comes to choosing energy-efficient modes of transport such as public transport and cycling.

For grocery stores, financial barriers are still the central issue. Many of these companies are small and have a reduced financial leeway. Additionally, many owners of small shops work 50-60 hours a week and do not have time to also work on issues related to energy and the environment.

During the project period a variety of good experiences from municipalities and regions in the Kattegat / Skagerrak area were collected and distributed via an inspiration catalog in the form of a wiki-page.

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Visit the projects wiki-page