Background
The City of Amsterdam invites startups to re-think how we produce, distribute and use energy in our cities. Fossil fuels are the biggest cause of climate change and are still our primary source of energy. The world’s cities emit 70% of the world’s carbon dioxide – and that figure is probably even higher when consumption emissions are included. We need to end our reliance on fossil fuels, while also ending energy poverty by providing access to reliable and affordable energy to everyone. To achieve this, we need to generate more clean, green energy, meaning renewable, passive or kinetic energy – or simply anything but fossil fuels. We will also need to use energy more wisely: more efficiently and less wasteful. We have to think differently about how we source our energy and how we use it.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels with today’s technology means changing our cityscapes: retrofitting existing buildings to reduce energy consumption and integrating energy infrastructure much more seamlessly across the metropolitan landscape, in our neighbourhoods, and in our homes. But strict regulations, a lack of space and the perceived ugliness of clean energy interventions have become a barrier to their adoption in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area.
We invite startups to rethink how energy can be saved, generated, transported and stored in a way that aligns with the cultural and historic values of the city and its surrounding landscape. That’s why, for Amsterdam, we are calling for creative spatial interventions, products, services, systems and stories that reconcile liveability with the need to transition to renewable energy.
Clean forms of electricity generation work well as decentralised, small-scale installations. Consider neighbourhood-level interventions to generate and supply energy in the form of electricity, heat or cooling, in beautiful, inspiring and educational ways.
We encourage solutions that can modify footpaths, squares, bicycle parking, tram stops, public gardens, parks and community centres to generate, save or store clean energy.
The Challenge:
Come up with an innovative solution to embed clean energy in the Amsterdam cityscape
Criteria:
Issued by: Ruimte en Duurzaamheid, Amsterdam Metropolitan Area & Chief Technology Office