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About a month ago I was standing at the top of a man-made ski slope in Copenhagen, Denmark that was on the roof of one of the largest waste to energy plants in the world. Trash that would normally end up in a landfill was instead being burned in a massive incinerator that creates steam heat for all of Copenhagen and also generates 63 MW of electricity. This incinerator called Amager Bakke sits at the entrance of the Copenhagen harbor, which is so clean that Copenhagen has built multiple swimming pools right in the harbor for public use throughout the summer. 
Google Photos Image of Amager Bakke Rooftop Ski Slope
I was in Copenhagen to attend the Wexner Foundation’s Summit on Climate Change with 35 community and industry leaders from the U.S. and Israel. Besides having the opportunity to see how Copenhagen has been relentless in solving some of our biggest climate challenges over the last 20 years, we learned how to make sustainability a positive opportunity to bring people, neighborhoods and countries together instead of focusing on the “crisis” of climate change.
Image Captured by Steve Moritz of a Public Street Lined with Cars Charging
As a long-time energy nerd, I wanted to understand how Denmark was managing the growing demand for electricity as their country (and most of Europe) was aggressively switching to EV. Renewable sources like wind and solar certainly are part of the solution but the bigger focus was on more sustainable homes and buildings to reduce the demand for electricity.
The other exciting focus of the Summit was the multiple formal and informal opportunities to learn and network with the other attendees. This included governmental and community leaders who are educating and inspiring their communities to make real and lasting changes as well as investors and entrepreneurs who are building and financing major climate oriented innovations. I learned about a startup who was developing new technology that can protect a house or building from a wildfire and also participated in a heated debate about the future of nuclear power with a nuclear scientist.
As part of the final session we were asked what changes we would each make for ourselves, our communities or even a broader impact if possible. We agreed that there is no one “right” way to do it - only a commitment to be part of the solution. The Foundation asked us to break down our plan. Are we going to focus on education? Are we going to first focus on action? Are we going to focus on advocacy, speaking up, and is our framework going to be making changes to our own behaviors or institutional or community behaviors? And because one person can’t do it all, we have to make choices.
For me, the choice is clear: Our team at Encentiv Energy continues to inspire me with the innovative and ground-breaking solutions we offer to the energy efficiency industry and their customers.The products we make connect energy efficiency contractors and their customers to money that will make sustainability projects happen.
Encentiv Energy and UtilityGenius are the best available resources for consumers, contractors, businesses, and beyond to learn about the energy efficiency rebates available from your local utility. At an early event for the Climate Summit, I gave a short presentation on the recently developed Buildings feature from UtilityGenius. I pulled up my laptop and demonstrated how you can put in any address to see all the rebates and incentives available. People were excited because it was so simple to use and helped provide a place for every building to start their journey towards decarbonization.
Back to that incinerator with a ski slope on its roof that is making a significant profit because it brings in trash from other European countries proving that sustainability doesn’t have to be a political issue with winners and losers or even a rich versus poor challenge. In the right context, sustainability just starts to make sense when it comes to our health, our communities and in the end, can literally save the world.
