Companies and organisations join forces for a natural-gas-free Utrecht

The aim: more homes and buildings to use clean energy and become energy-efficient

Over 40 organisations have embraced the municipality of Utrecht’s ambitions to make the city carbon-free. On Friday 5 June, an agreement with concrete suggestions on how to make homes and buildings energy-efficient and powered on clean energy was launched, announced the authorities.

United for the energy transition of Utrecht

Over the past few months, organisations, companies, together with the municipal authorities have jointly drawn up the 'Utrecht Natural Gas-Free Agreement'. Through this document, they commit to making resources available for joint projects advancing the energy transition of the provincial capital. The initiative was launched on Friday, at a digital meeting in the presence of Alderman Lot van Hooijdonk.

The agreement is accompanied by 19 concrete steps to the energy transition of the Dutch city. They depict the steps everyone can take to facilitate the transformation of Utrecht into a natural gas-free city.

Some of the actions have already started: information awareness-raising campaigns among residents, knowledge sharing and innovation activities, testing technologies and increased number of training placements.

“We want a sustainable home or business to be feasible and affordable for everyone,” said alderman Lot van Hooijdonk (responsible for energy), quoted by the municipality. “By working together on our goals and sharing knowledge, we progress. For example, this City Agreement allows us to test and make widely available alternatives to energy-efficient heating, and also provide sufficient training places, so that there are technically trained personnel for the installation.”

Up to this moment, over 40 organisations have embraced the agreement. Among them are corporations, real estate agents, companies working in the fields of energy infrastructure, construction and finance, educational and research institutions, the province of Utrecht, advisers.

The agreement is open to more companies to join and has the ambition to grow a network of city changers, who want to make Utrecht natural-gas free and carbon-free. Anyone who has a good idea of how to make a city CO2-neutral can join it. Learn how on  energie@utrecht.nl.