Cities today issue 12 | Page 62

SPONSORED STATEMENT Photo: Visser & Smit Hanab Anyone gazing out over the Rotterdam skyline on a cold day will have noticed that plumes of smoke escaping from chimneys are becoming increasingly scarce. How come? “More and more buildings are connected to the district central heating system,” Fred Akerboom, programme manager at the city of Rotterdam’s Sustainability and Climate Change Office, says. This is one of many ways in which Rotterdam is working on a sustainable urban environment The Nieuwe Warmteweg pipeline transports residual heat from the port area to the city, allowing half of the city to be heated with sustainable heating by 2030. This pipeline snakes 60 metres below the city surface A and businesses