ENG93000 - Sustainable Engineering in Copenhagen: Future Focus

This case study critically analyzes the sustainable engineering management practices in Copenhagen, highlighting the city's initiatives in waste reduction, enhanced waste sorting, and carbon emission control. It emphasizes Copenhagen's commitment to carbon neutrality, sustainable planning, and cooperation with natural forces. The study showcases the city's integrated transportation system, clean harbor solutions, and focus on citizen well-being through cycling and organic consumption. Copenhagen's achievements, such as being named the Green Capital of Europe and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2025, serve as a benchmark for other cities. The research methodology relies on secondary data from academic journals, government reports, and trusted websites to assess the city's progress and future directions in sustainable development.

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The findings of have been sourced from various forms of secondary
data. Both qualitative and quantitative data have been sourced
from secondary sources. The latter has been chosen since it was
not feasible to gather data from any form of primary source.
Academically certified journal, peer reviewed journals, annual
reports of companies, government reports and trusted websites
where the sources of the secondary data from which the information
has been collected.
Being able to attain the title of carbon free is considered a huge
feat. Be it the city of Denmark or any city with an eye for
sustainability, the achievement a carbon free-state can be
considered as gruesome and challenging task. The recognition of
the fact that the country can aim their sustainability activities
towards achievement of the goal of complete free is a mere
paradoxical situation. Every form of life is said to emit some
form of carbon or another. Complete freedom from carbon is thus an
unachievable feet at present. However the CO2 emissions that are
considered harmful can be manipulated and checked. Copenhagen can
be considered a city that is perfectly prepared for the future.
Through dedicated bike routes, green parks and eco-friendly
hotels, buildings and personal, it can be said that Copenhagen is
the sustainable city of tomorrow. The engineers of the city have
figured out sustainable ways to deal with their problems. They
have devised methods to deal with the cold winters, designed
mechanisms to cope with the comparatively hot summers and have
been successful in adapt to the changing way of lifestyle of
people. Not only they have carried out projects that make their
sustainability goals an achievable target, they have also been
able to transform the whole city and present it to the rest of the
On a concluding note, it can be said that the adverse
environmental effects have been rightfully detected by the
engineers and citizens of the city of Copenhagen. They have been
successful in adopting sustainable ways to deal with environment
threatening problems. The city has been established as the green
capital of Europe in the past and due credit goes to the
sustainability efforts of the city. They have been successful in
cleaning the water system of the city. They have rejuvenated the
harbors and the coasts, made water drinkable and accessible to the
majority of the population. This has resulted in diversified
socialization among the citizens of the city. Furthermore their
initiative of sustainability in heath has been received by the
citizen of the city in a productive way (Christensen, Morsing and
Thyssen 2015). Irrespective of the standard of life people of the
employ extensive use of bicycles which reduce economic costs and
provide numerous health benefits along with increased mobility.
Moreover, most of the residences and hotels in the city are eco-
friendly certified. The extensive recycling of waste has been
responsible for making Copenhagen a rich state that has abundance
of natural resources. It can be said that initiatives of the city,
its goals and implementation of the same has made Copenhagen
competent enough to achieve the goal of becoming carbon emission
free by the year of 2025.
Problems associated with environmental sustainability issues are rising at alarming rates (Viitanen and
Kingston 2014,p. 815). The demand for power in big metropolitan cities is leading to resources
depletion. Resources that are used to run bug cities consume energy coming mostly from non-renewable
sources such as fossil fuels. Coal, petrol, diesel are amongst some of the forms of fossil fuels that
are used as sources of the energy required to power the big cities. The operations of cites involve
various forms of industries and vehicular operations that leads to accumulation of waste. Most of the
waste thus formed are dumped into water bodies making them unfit for use and unfit for the aquatic life
(Stoecker 2017, p. 323). More over this often leads to contamination of the underground water channel
that can have sever effects on the en users of such resources.
The city of Copenhagen have been dealing with such issues in a wholesome and different approach. The
engineers, policy makers and citizen of Copenhagen have worked in efficiently adapting to the changing
environmental conditions. The city has realised the importance of achieving carbon neutrality,
sustainable planning and cooperation with the natural forces in order to ensure a better future for all
the components of the ecosystem.
The importance of well being and sustainability of the citizens has been rightfully identified by the
people of Copenhagen. People from different backgrounds, irrespective of their income use bicycles for
commuting form place to place (Chataway 2014, p.39). The ease of travelling from one place to another
along with the fact that it is cost effective and it has no harmful emissions makes it one of the most
eco friendly and economic modes of transportation. Additionally the practice helps keep the rate of
obesity under check. The use of bicycles to commute has lead to establishment of healthy relationships
and socialisation between the citizens. The use of the same has supposedly reduced the costs associated
with health expenses by approximately 230 million euros per year.
Most countries who have faced economic growth, has resulted in rising number of personally owned
vehicles. This has resulted in rising rates of traffic congestion. This problem has resulted in emission
of harmful gasses that deplete the condition of the environment and the efficacy of the dwelling
conditions of the society. The city of Copenhagen has responded to this issue by incorporating a system
of integrated transportation. The network that has been created has helped in contributing to the
sustainability of the city. It has led to accumulation of lesser amount of carbon emissions. The
planners have introduced a system of integrated transportation network through which they have been able
to add up to the economic and ecological sustainability of the environment. The city has facilities such
as one ticket transit through all forms of transport, live tracking of the public transports and various
other facilities that help in the initiative of a sustainable society.
The harbours and coasts of the city of Copenhagen where previously considered inhabitable, have now been
catered to by the clean harbour solution (Rive 2013, p.324). The use of waste treatment plants have been
successful in removing impurities such as hazardous salts and heavy metals. The sea water is then
transferred to water reservoirs through which a channel of interconnected reservoirs is formed. Further
decoupling and harvesting of rainwater ensure the longevity of the sewer system underneath the city. The
water channels and systems have been refurbished and established thus giving rise to sustainability of
the marine life (Zeuthen et al. 2013, p.5022). This initiative has resulted in purification of the
natural water bodies as well which has resulted in economic bolstering of the same. Reduced risk of
flooding and pollution has led to growth of flora and fauna in the adjacent areas. Furthermore this has
resulted in a rise of accommodations being born in front of or adjacent to the water bodies and also
Most of the results that were found from the research imply that
the initiative of sustainable development and engineering has been
achieved by the engineers and citizen of Copenhagen. The findings
have been listed as follows:
a) Reduced wastage
•By incorporating reuse and recycling the city aims to increase the
proportion of re-used and recycled to the proportion of newly
created products.
•Minimised wastage of food and initiation of resource and food
awareness programs.
•Establishment of Cycling centres and institutions which will impart
knowledge regarding sustainability and waste minimisation.
The city has reduced annual wastage by approximately 6000 tonnes by
incorporating the above.
b) Enhanced sorting of waste
•Sorting facilities in residences
•Proper accumulation after breakdowns or demolitions.
•Heavy motor vehicles are powered by biogas.
•Recycling and separation of bio waste ensuring sustainability.
It was found that 60% of the vehicles in the city are powered by
alternative sources of fuel. 25000 tonnes of bio waste is separated
in order to take use of anaerobic digestion.
c) Checking Carbon emissions associated with cooling
•The peak temperatures of the city rise up to 35 degree Celsius and
it is to reach higher temperatures by 2050.
•Cooling using the abstraction of ocean water by using compression
chillers.
The word sustainability refers to the ability to sustain the biological components of the eco system while
remaining diverse and productive at the same time. Its is necessary fro evolution of life and its competency for
the future (Anderberg and Clark 2013, p. 58). The method of engineering through which a balance is maintained
between productivity and sustainability is known as sustainable engineering (Haapala et al. 2013, p.41013).
Through the process of sustainable engineering, engineers develop infrastructure and systems which utilise the
benefits of renewable resources while paying due attention to the sustainability of the environment. Initiatives
of sustainable engineering are taken by keeping in mind the future of the earth and that of the future
generations. The Danish city of Copenhagen are a true pioneer of the Sustainable engineering. It is a city which
is comprised of citizens who have minds that are perfectly aligned to sustainability. The city is covered with
greenery. Various forms of water bodies can be found in every other locality of the city. The engineers who have
worked on the city’s infrastructure have been successful in adopting solutions that are sustainable while not
compromising on the quality of life.
In Copenhagen, sustainability is not a choice, it the way that citizens of the lead their daily lives.
Buildings and luxury hotels in the city are aligned to the sustainability initiatives. Engineers have been able to
incorporate their sustainability efforts in the infrastructure. It is often seen that hotels around the world
neglect sustainability when providing luxury. This however, does not take place in the case of Copenhagen. It is
ensured that the operations of the hotels, buildings and houses of the city take full advantage of renewable
sources of energy such as solar energy, wind generated energy and hydro generated energy. Furthermore wellbeing
of the citizens of the country has been also kept in mind by the engineers. The people of Copenhagen use bicycle
extensively. Along with the fact that most of the consumables in the city are organic. These contribute to
wellbeing of the citizens and also help keep hazardous emission from vehicles in check, thus creating an eco-
friendly and healthy environment.
The city was awarded the title of the Green Capital of Europe back in 2014 (Schmitz and Lema, p.119). Additionally
the city aims to achieve the title of the first carbon neutral city of the world by the year of 2025 (Kenis, A.
and Lievens 2017, p. 1769). The mayor of the city of Copenhagen believes in the fact that the idea for a
sustainable world should start with the idea of a sustainable city. Thus is can be said that the city of Denmark
has set a benchmark for the rest of the world, who can take tips from the sustainability efforts of the city and
use the same as inspiration. The city has taken initiatives that revolve around components such as sustainable
mobility by the use of bicycles, the sustainable water initiative, initiative that focus of the sustainability of
resources and various forms of energy (Geels 2013, p88). Furthermore, they have devised strategies that help
provide economic and societal benefits while keeping in mind sustainability of the future.
Title of the Poster
Your name, and tutors name
Discussion of the critical Analysis
Major finding
INTRODUCTION/background PHOTO OR EXAMPLE OF THE CITY
CONCLUSIONS
FUTURE DIRECTIONS...
Research Method and analysis tool Explained
In order to cope with the problem of severe winters, in the country, the
engineers of the City of Copenhagen have developed a heating system that is
transferred to the whole city by vents. The opposite of this is carried out
during the summers when the temperature go up to 35 degree Celsius. The Sea
water is used as a cooling agent and the air generated from the same is
channeled to residences, buildings and hotels to meet the demand for cooling.
This in turn helps in coping with the carbon emissions that are caused by the
air cooler and air conditioners.
Recycling is the process of reusing a product in an efficient manner. This
leads to longevity and conservation of the natural resources that are involved
in the creation of such an item. In Copenhagen, recycling of waste is paid due
importance. Citizen of the city are encouraged to recycle and re use. Recycling
and reusing ensures that the product that is being recycled will have a longer
life and will also contribute to conservation of the resources that are needed
for creation of similar resources. Bio gas is a form of gas that is completely
organic and can be derived from composts mixtures. Additionally this does not
have any form of harmful gas associated. Thus the use of the former ensures
that the non-renewable resources are conserved and hazardous anti-environmental
emissions are reduced. People of the city love to spend time in water and thus
the city has provided them with the services of the GoBoat. It is a service
through which individuals of the city can hire boats and ride in the same. Thus
it can be said, that by the initiative of the GoBoat and other water related
experimentations, their affinity for the marine has been appreciated and
recognized. Furthermore the city boasts Hotels that a run by sustainable and
renewable sources of energy. An island near Copenhagen called Samso has been
inspired by the initiatives taken by their neighbor and have been successful in
maintaining one hundred percent sustainable energy sources.

References
Anderberg, S. and Clark, E., 2013. Green and sustainable Øresund region: Eco-branding Copenhagen and Malmö.
Chataway, E.S., Kaplan, S., Nielsen, T.A.S. and Prato, C.G., 2014. Safety perceptions and reported behavior related to cycling in
mixed traffic: A comparison between Brisbane and Copenhagen. Transportation research part F: traffic psychology and behaviour, 23,
pp.32-43.
Christensen, L.T., Morsing, M. and Thyssen, O., 2015. Discursive closure and discursive openings in sustainability. Management
Communication Quarterly, 29(1), pp.135-144.
Geels, F.W., 2013. The impact of the financial–economic crisis on sustainability transitions: Financial investment, governance and
public discourse. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 6, pp.67-95.
Haapala, K.R., Zhao, F., Camelio, J., Sutherland, J.W., Skerlos, S.J., Dornfeld, D.A., Jawahir, I.S., Clarens, A.F. and Rickli,
J.L., 2013. A review of engineering research in sustainable manufacturing. Journal of Manufacturing Science and
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Kenis, A. and Lievens, M., 2017. Imagining the carbon neutral city: The (post) politics of time and space. Environment and
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Modern Wind Energy, 2, pp.93-113.
Rive, V., 2013. Safe harbours, closed borders? New Zealand legal and policy responses to climate displacement in the South
Pacific.
Schmitz, H. and Lema, R., 2015. The Global Green Economy. The Triple Challenge for Europe: Economic Development, Climate Change,
and Governance, p.119.
Stoecker, D.K., Hansen, P.J., Caron, D.A. and Mitra, A., 2017. Mixotrophy in the marine plankton. Annual review of marine
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Viitanen, J. and Kingston, R., 2014. Smart cities and green growth: outsourcing democratic and environmental resilience to the
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Zeuthen, T., Alsterfjord, M., Beitz, E. and MacAulay, N., 2013. Osmotic water transport in aquaporins: evidence for a stochastic
mechanism. The Journal of physiology, 591(20), pp.5017-5029.