BALLINA man Richard Barrett is set to take on his biggest project yet, building a €1billion ‘green city’ in South America. The property empire of Treasury Holdings, the largest developer in Ireland, co-owned by Richard Barrett and John Ronan, looks set to transform the Colombian capital of Bogota after it was reported that city planners made an approach to build a green city there.
The offer comes on foot of Colombia’s increasing environmental problems as a result of the growing population which is soaring by 140,000 annually causing the carbon footprint to escalate. The Bogota plan is now said to be similar to Treasury Holdings €1.2 billion ‘eco-city’ near Shanghai in China.
The world’s first purpose- build eco-city at Dongtan on the island of Chongming is now underway with phase one expected to be completed in 2010. It will be finished in time for the World Expo to be held in Shanghai. The area will then be home to 80,000 people.
In an interview with national newspapers last week, Richard Barrett said he is confident that his company is on the cusp of something great. “We’ve got limited amounts of expertise for these projects at the moment, but we’re trying to build larger teams so we can take on new projects outside China. Eco-city developments are a new way of thinking and I’m sure that eventually it’ll be the biggest thing we can do as a company.”
The Ballina barrister and economist developed an interest in property law and was involved in property development prior to founding Treasury Holdings with John Ronan in 1989. Since then, the company has gone on to become internationally recognised and the Dongtan development has generated huge interest across the globe.
The eco-city will combat the carbon footprint problems by using an environ-mental planning scheme. With China in the grip of a population explosion, between now and 2020, the country needs to build 400 new towns to accommodate more than 300 million people from the rural areas. The project was taken on by the Shanghai Industrial Development Corporation (SIIC) who will work with the Irish company to develop a model town.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has lauded the work of Treasury Holdings and described the Shanghai venture as “a most exciting development which highlights the mutual benefits of co-operation between Irish and Chinese companies.”
With Dublin now rivalling Los Angeles in terms of its carbon footprint, the company has shown no moves to use their expertise on home ground. It seems that although there is no development of that type in Ireland to date, it is not something that has gone unnoticed by Mr Barrett.
“If we owned all of Dublin’s North Docks, we could have built an eco-development there,” he said.
Anna-Marie Flynn
Western People
Showing posts with label green city planning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green city planning. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 August 2007
Tuesday, 7 August 2007
Europe's greenest city
It doesn't look like the heart of a green revolution. The smoke stacks stick up jarringly above the line of pine trees and don't make for the most scenic view as you meander around the clear blue waters of the nearby lake.
But it is this power plant that has helped the small Swedish city of Växjö become arguably the greenest place in Europe.
On closer observation, the only thing emerging from the chimneys is the faintest wisp of steam - and inside, it smells more like a sauna than a furnace. That's because it is not oil fuelling the plant, but woodchip and other wood waste from the area's sawmills. As well as generating electricity, it also supplies 90 per cent of this southern Swedish town with heating and hot water.
"We are in the middle of the woodshed and we wanted to take advantage of that" - explained Tommy Sandh, who works in the control room.
The gases produced as the wood burns are condensed into liquid form and are purified before they reach the chimney.
In addition, instead of dumping this liquid, the power plant pumps it around town - some gushes piping-hot out of the town's taps, the rest is directed through plumbing that runs through individual heaters, warming homes and offices.
The pile of wood chippings in the yard towers above head height and takes almost five minutes to stroll around. According to Mr Sandh, that's enough to keep Växjö warm on the snowiest day in winter, or supply it with hot water for a fortnight in summer. It's also a good way of using the paper industry's waste.
As well as the centuries-old Swedish policy of planting a new tree for every one felled, the ashes swept out of the furnace each day find their way back to the forest as fertiliser.
It was this biomass plant that netted Växjö the European Union's inaugural award for sustainable development this year - an accolade which some might say makes it the greenest city on the continent.
More than 10 years ago, when oil prices were hovering around $20 a barrel, Växjö announced its aim of becoming a Fossil Fuel Free City. Later, it set a date for that goal - 2050 - and then added intermediary steps - such as halving the carbon emission per inhabitant by 2010.
Already Växjö is well on course. It has clocked-up a 25 per cent reduction in per-capita emissions and, at 3.5 tonnes of carbon per person, it has the lowest urban level in Europe. It is certainly below the Swedish average of five tonnes and minuscule compared with the United States, where emissions are more than 20 tonnes per person.
However, according to Anders Franzen, the head of planning and development department at the city council, there is no room for complacency - "The battle in the energy sector has been won, yes - but the next battleground is transport."
While the cycle paths are busy on summer evenings as residents travel into town for a meal on two wheels - not four, it is still hard to get them to abandon totally their petrol-hungry Volvos.
The council owns a communal fleet of green cars that run on ethanol and is hoping to get residents to follow suit. Mr Franzen practises what he preaches and drives a Prius.
One carrot the council is offering is free parking for low-emission vehicles and it is also training its gaze on converting the public transport system. However, he added that the government in Stockholm must play its part.
The other innovation that Växjö is trying is wooden buildings - not only are they carbon-neutral, they blend harmoniously into the landscape.
But it is this power plant that has helped the small Swedish city of Växjö become arguably the greenest place in Europe.
On closer observation, the only thing emerging from the chimneys is the faintest wisp of steam - and inside, it smells more like a sauna than a furnace. That's because it is not oil fuelling the plant, but woodchip and other wood waste from the area's sawmills. As well as generating electricity, it also supplies 90 per cent of this southern Swedish town with heating and hot water.
"We are in the middle of the woodshed and we wanted to take advantage of that" - explained Tommy Sandh, who works in the control room.
The gases produced as the wood burns are condensed into liquid form and are purified before they reach the chimney.
In addition, instead of dumping this liquid, the power plant pumps it around town - some gushes piping-hot out of the town's taps, the rest is directed through plumbing that runs through individual heaters, warming homes and offices.
The pile of wood chippings in the yard towers above head height and takes almost five minutes to stroll around. According to Mr Sandh, that's enough to keep Växjö warm on the snowiest day in winter, or supply it with hot water for a fortnight in summer. It's also a good way of using the paper industry's waste.
As well as the centuries-old Swedish policy of planting a new tree for every one felled, the ashes swept out of the furnace each day find their way back to the forest as fertiliser.
It was this biomass plant that netted Växjö the European Union's inaugural award for sustainable development this year - an accolade which some might say makes it the greenest city on the continent.
More than 10 years ago, when oil prices were hovering around $20 a barrel, Växjö announced its aim of becoming a Fossil Fuel Free City. Later, it set a date for that goal - 2050 - and then added intermediary steps - such as halving the carbon emission per inhabitant by 2010.
Already Växjö is well on course. It has clocked-up a 25 per cent reduction in per-capita emissions and, at 3.5 tonnes of carbon per person, it has the lowest urban level in Europe. It is certainly below the Swedish average of five tonnes and minuscule compared with the United States, where emissions are more than 20 tonnes per person.
However, according to Anders Franzen, the head of planning and development department at the city council, there is no room for complacency - "The battle in the energy sector has been won, yes - but the next battleground is transport."
While the cycle paths are busy on summer evenings as residents travel into town for a meal on two wheels - not four, it is still hard to get them to abandon totally their petrol-hungry Volvos.
The council owns a communal fleet of green cars that run on ethanol and is hoping to get residents to follow suit. Mr Franzen practises what he preaches and drives a Prius.
One carrot the council is offering is free parking for low-emission vehicles and it is also training its gaze on converting the public transport system. However, he added that the government in Stockholm must play its part.
The other innovation that Växjö is trying is wooden buildings - not only are they carbon-neutral, they blend harmoniously into the landscape.
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