Zaragoza has been selected as part of the NetZeroCities initiative to be one of the first European urban core to achieve the climate-neutrality by 2030. Thanks to the NEUTRALPATH project, the first Clean and Positive Energy District (PCED) will be implemented in the Actur Rey-Fernando district of the Aragonese capital by the end of 2024. This fact emphasize the Zaragoza’s commitment and leadership in environmental sustainability after standing out as the first major city in Spain to recycle more than 50% of its waste – compared to the national average of 35%.
The PCEDs will be implemented in two residential buildings and four public buildings. These are two residential blocks of social public rental housing in Alejandro Casona-Margarita Xirgú (owned by the municipal company Zaragoza Vivienda); and four public buildings consisting of a public school made up of three buildings (owned by the Government of Aragon and maintained by the City Council) and a municipal nursery school.
The proposition has a financial endowment of 5.1 million euros from European Commission frants. Of this, 1.4 million corresponds to Zaragoza City Council and its municipal company Zaragoza Vivienda; while the rest is channelled through the various public and private partners that make up the project, such as CARTIF, Circe, and the companies SARE, ITESAL, Ariño, Onyx and Veolia.
This fact was made public during the first general assembly of the NEUTRALPATH project held on 4 October at Mobility City in Zaragoza organised by the city council. In addition, during the meeting, the first thematic workshop, organised by EUROCITIES, focused on “Engaging citizens and stakeholders to achieve positive, clean energy and climate neutral districts”.
The NEUTRALPATH project aims to demonstrate that the deployment of Positive Clean Energy Districts (PCEDs) can lead cities towards climate neutrality by 2030. Zaragoza (Spain) and Dresden (Germany) have been selected to carry out these actions and become beacon cities for future replication in other cities.
Imagen vía Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza.