Kalundborg

Kalundborg is a city with a population of 16,434 (1 January 2011) in Kalundborg municipality in Denmark and the site of its municipal council. Kalundborg is on the main island Zealand, with Copenhagen, but opposite 110 km (68 miles) on the far western edge.

Kalundborg is very well known as the location of a large broadcasting facility, the Transmitter Kalundborg. The city also has the largest coal-fired power station in Denmark.

Kalundborg is mainly a trading and industrial town, but it is also well known for the beautiful five-spired church which is closely associated with King Valdemar I and the famous Archbishop Absalon. The church itself is said to be built by Absalon's brother Esbern Snare.

Kalundborg is also the traditional seat of the aristocratic Lerche family. The stately home of Lerchenborg, the best example of rococo architecture in Denmark, can be seen on the town's outskirts.

Kalundborg is the birthplace of Norwegian Nobel laureate author Sigrid Undset, who lived there the first two years of her life, until her parents emigrated to Norway in 1884.

Ferries connect Kalundborg westward to Århus on the Jutland peninsula, and to the island of Samsø.

Geography
Kalundborg is located at latitude 55°41′N, longitude 11°6′E, about 110 km (68 miles) west of Copenhagen on the island of Zealand (Sjaelland).



History
The area of Kalundborg was first settled in 1170 as a natural harbor along the bay. The city began to get more urbanized during the nineteenth century and became a major industrial center in the mid-twentieth century. Kalundborg Municipality has approximately 20,000 inhabitants, and its network is the most published example of Industrial Symbiosis. The history of Kalundborg Industrial Symbiosis activities began in 1961 when a project was developed and implemented to use surface water from Lake Tisso for a new oil refinery in order to save the limited supplies of ground water. The City of Kalundborg took the responsibility for building the pipeline while the refinery financed it. Starting from this initial collaboration, a number of other collaborative projects were subsequently introduced and the number of partners gradually increased.

By the end of the 1980s, the partners realised that they had effectively "self-organised" into what is probably the best-known example of Industrial Symbiosis. The material exchanges in the Kalundborg region include: conservation of natural and financial resources; reduction in production, material, energy, insurance and treatment costs and liabilities; improved operating efficiency; quality control; improved health of the local population and public image; and realisation of potential income through the sale of by-products and waste materials.