In Europe's greenest city, even its power plant smells more like a sauna

[jpak]

http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2795640.ece

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 (pronounced vek-shur) 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. And 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. And 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.

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