Urban energy planning -
Cities are already starting to lead. The platforms for greater resilience are at hand, including the development of microgrids and renewable energy systems, the integration of photovoltaic PV elements into building design, the systematic rollout of heat pumps, and massive advances in battery storage.
Shifts are needed in the fuels that are used to power these systems away from coal, oil and natural gas towards renewable electricity and green gases, such as hydrogen ; in the technologies that make these systems run; and in the people who can install and manage them.
Today, it is vitally important for cities to develop a cohesive and coordinated approach so they can facilitate a cleaner and faster tech-enabled energy transition. Specifically, to invite innovation, they must engage the large ecosystem surrounding energy issues: political leaders and regulators, power generators, transmission and distribution companies, technology start-ups and manufacturers, and consumers.
In this report, we explore how cities of all sizes and needs can create new clean-energy pathways that will mitigate both global climate change impacts and specific climate threats to their own infrastructure.
We construct a strategic framework that allows leaders to consider the typology of their city, and thus how they can chart constructive paths forwards.
These pathways are modernising regulations, planning for energy resilience and sustainability, investing in research and development, and rethinking public—private partnerships PPP. Throughout, we highlight examples of innovators that are already beginning to set examples for their peers.
By taking concrete actions across the value chain now, cities can continue to be leaders in mitigating and adapting to the climate emergency and can create a better future for all who live in them.
Trends in three key areas are shaping the future of cities when it comes to energy supply and usage: policies and regulations; technology; and generation and distribution.
Policies and regulations. Rapid advancements are taking place in the issuance and modernisation of regulations to secure a more sustainable energy future. The European Union EU has launched several directives that focus on energy efficiency for buildings, including the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the Energy Efficiency Directive.
The US Inflation Reduction Act of provides a host of measures , including significant rebates and tax credits to help consumers purchase energy-efficient home appliances, solar panels and electric vehicles EVs.
Countries worldwide have adopted new regulations to incentivise the use of EVs. China, for example, has introduced fiscal subsidies for new energy vehicles, and Norway and the United Kingdom will ban the sale of all new internal combustion engine vehicles starting in and , respectively.
The efficiency of solar panels and wind power continues to improve, driving costs down and making these alternatives competitive with fossil fuels. Improvements in fuel cell and battery technologies will accelerate the adoption of EVs and solar power. The rollout of 5G and the reduction in costs of enabling technologies such as the internet of things, along with smart metering and the monitoring of urban energy consumption, will drive the expansion of smart energy grids.
Generation and distribution. Cities are focusing on diversifying their sources of energy to ensure enhanced resilience. City story: In the United States, Burlington, Vermont population 42, , is at the vanguard of a growing trend. Residents receive all their power via renewable sources, a diverse mix of biomass, hydro, wind and solar.
The municipal operations of Adelaide, Australia, have been powered entirely by renewable energy since July It is one of more than global cities that have set renewable power transition targets. Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many cities, given its efficiency and viability.
In alone, ten countries adopted hydrogen strategies. As urban energy decision-makers take stock of new trends, they must also weigh the new challenges and opportunities in supply and demand. Here, the important transition is one from classical value and supply chains to value networks and ecosystems.
Integrating renewable energy into urban infrastructure development will be crucial in providing access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for every city resident. Rather, cities will need to think holistically about energy and how different parts of the supply chain for electricity, heat, transport and infrastructure can become more efficient.
And they need to tap into the growing movement towards a circular economy, in which the waste products of one entity can become the feedstock for another. Leaning into these transformations has the potential to yield significant CO2 reductions.
Moving forwards, decentralised renewable energy generation needs to be developed through on-site generation and the integration of innovations such as microgrids, the integration of photovoltaic elements into building design, and fuel cell and battery storage for residential and commercial buildings and districts.
Green hydrogen offers great potential if it can be produced at scale with a lower carbon footprint than current transportation energy supplies. Some green hydrogen projects are already operating.
In South Korea, a fuel cell power plant in Incheon is the first large-scale 78 megawatt [MW] hydrogen power plant; it provides electricity to , households and heat to a further 44, In Lower Saxony, Germany, hydrogen trains from the manufacturer Alstom will replace 14 diesel trains.
From a demand point of view, the best and easiest way to drive a low-carbon future is to use energy as efficiently as possible. That can involve helping consumers conserve energy through better home insulation, and incentivising them to walk, cycle or use public transport instead of driving.
Here, too, cities are already leading the charge. Paris in June took the decision to ban motorised transport from the centre of the city. Developing new infrastructure that supports a low-carbon urban ecosystem is the best way to bridge the gap between the supply of clean energy and the demand for any energy that makes life convenient and maintains the standards of living that people have come to expect from the fossil fuel era—or, even better, raises those standards.
As cities look to their future, however, they have to consider their capacity, their capability, their resources and the structural elements that may either enable or restrict their ability to act.
Not all cities are similarly situated. Geography, wealth and national contexts play important roles. Compare the needs of the ancient coastal city Venice, Italy, with those of the landlocked and planned metropolis of Brasilia, Brazil.
Likewise, a city such as Houston, Texas, which is heavily dependent on cars, will have different energy needs than a public transport—centric city such as Copenhagen, Denmark. These clusters can then provide a framework for how cities might engage the ecosystem to accelerate the low-carbon energy transition see figure below.
These four types of city models require differing approaches in order to make the low-carbon transition. Depending on where a city sits, its options may be limited.
Given its lack of political power and tendency to rely on the national grid for power, the dependent city will have to focus on energy self-sufficiency and efficiency solutions. The striving city has the financial ability to fund energy supply projects but lacks the political power needed to influence local energy transformation and transitions.
This being the case, it should focus on deploying solutions that contribute to energy self-sufficiency while building cooperation with the private sector in clean-energy projects.
The aspiring city has the political willpower to modernise, but, because of its lack of financial self-sufficiency, will have to focus primarily on solutions that contribute to energy self-sufficiency and optimise energy-efficiency measures.
The self-reliant city is best placed to ensure constant modernisation and address challenges by updating energy regulations, and it will be able to work with the private sector to ensure the financial sustainability of clean-energy projects. Additional interventions needed by cities based on their typologies are outlined in the report Rethinking City Revenue and Finance developed by the World Economic Forum.
Each of the four city types will need to plot its own political and financial paths to make the low-carbon energy transition. All will need to engage and involve the key players in their energy ecosystem if the transition is going to be a success.
The graphic below shows the six main groups of stakeholders in the energy ecosystem. Each group has a role to play, and no city can succeed unless it engages all of them see figure below.
As seen above, these stakeholders interact in a large, expanding and interdependent ecosystem. Regulators and policymakers create the environment that incentivises financing institutions to make long-term investments, and that promotes cleaner and more resilient energy generation, transmission, and distribution.
Financing institutions, in turn, can provide the capital that ensures incentive schemes for clean-energy and energy-efficiency projects pencil out.
Multilateral organisations provide convening points for developing the necessary cross-border and cross-industry planning. And by creating demand and responding to incentives for new types of products and services, end users play a crucial role.
Helping end users develop a conscious approach to energy consumption through continuous monitoring and the adoption of new products and services will spur all the other participants to make vital investments. Value is created not simply by one participant selling a product or service to another, but rather by various entities working together.
To fuel an urban future that is sustainable, reliable and cost-effective, all four types of cities will need to follow four broad pathways, calibrating their adoption according to the level of political autonomy and fiscal independence. In each pathway, they will need to learn to work in broad ecosystems, engaging with and tapping into the expertise and resources of different stakeholders to create value in new ways.
The first step for any city is to conduct a thorough evaluation of national or city-specific net-zero ambitions so that it can consider the role of energy regulations in achieving these goals. The regulatory framework will need to modernise so that it can encourage, align with and keep track of advancing technologies such as EVs and decentralised energy systems.
It will need to provide the incentive for the development of clean and resilient sources of energy while also emphasising the importance of energy-savings programmes such as grants for green buildings and energy rebates. Finally, cities need to harness the power of new technologies in the form of big data analytics and machine learning to monitor the impact of clean-energy regulations and refine regulations over time.
City story: Mexico law accelerates solar growth. In , Mexico became one of the first countries to pass a climate change law with legally binding emissions goals. Solar PV capacity has been growing rapidly. The project is funded by a national fund for energy transition.
City story: Singapore combines policy with an ecosystem. It has pulled several important levers, including policy levers, in pursuit of this goal.
In , it became the first Southeast Asian country to introduce a carbon tax. Such an aggressive move is needed to make clean-energy technologies cost competitive.
Cities at all levels of clean-energy maturity must plan now for future sustainable energy resilience. A core part of this strategy will be investing in infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging stations that reduces reliance on conventional sources of energy.
Planning needs to be agile and cover short-, medium- and long-term infrastructure investment. Cities will have to understand the environmental impact of new, clean-energy plans, factor national-level strategies into city clean-energy planning, and shape infrastructure investment strategies that both can scale and can be flexible enough to accommodate technological breakthroughs for example, the high rate of EV adoption will likely also provide a viable source of energy that can be leveraged and utilised efficiently.
City story: A green initiative in Dubai. In , the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority launched the EV Green Charger Initiative. It focused on developing EV green charging stations, at which owners could charge electric cars at no cost from September to December The number of EVs registered in Dubai a self-reliant city soared from 71 on 31 December to 5, on 31 January a fold increase.
The number of charging stations has expanded to , and they have provided more than 8, megawatt-hours MWh of electricity in that time, helping EV users travel approximately 58 million kilometres in eco-friendly vehicles.
City story: Incheon fuel cell plant. Today, city-based co-generation plants—where both electricity and heat can be produced—are essential to satisfying the electricity and heat demands of cities. Hydrogen has a unique potential for such applications, as compact power plants based on fuel cells, gas turbines or engines can convert such fuels efficiently in co-generation applications.
In Incheon, South Korea, a city of 2. City story: Brescia steel plant. Large factories near cities produce a large amount of emissions, some of them in the form of waste heat. Households, offices, and factories can program smart metres to operate certain appliances when power supplies are plentiful.
For example, a washing machine can be set up in such a way that it will only start operating when there is enough power in the grid or when the price is under a certain threshold. Buildings themselves have huge energy saving potential if they embrace green or low-energy building concepts and passive design principles.
Savings can be made by integrating efficient heating, cooling, insulation, lighting, and water distribution systems in new or rehabilitated buildings that will increase energy retention. Likewise, on site alternative energy sources such as solar panels on a roof can supplement power from the grid.
The use of recycled, reused, or low energy building materials will also contribute to a better energy balance. To cut fossil fuel use for transportation needs, cities need to develop attractive public transport systems and must increase the share of non-motorized transport in developing specific infrastructure such as cycling lanes and walkways , and optimize delivery of goods, for instance by promoting the use of rail for cargo transport.
Food production and water distribution are huge energy consumers. Curbing food and water waste will therefore also contribute to lowering overall energy use. The same reasoning can be extended to consumption habits in general, with residents adopting more sustainable consumption habits and recycling concepts.
Cities need to ensure that industries pool their resources in order to create synergy effects. This can be achieved by establishing eco-industrial parks, where waste and by-products of one industry serves as the raw material of another, thereby improving material and energy efficiency and decreasing environmental emissions.
From an economic perspective, this would also make companies more competitive, as better waste management results in cost savings and a higher environmental and business performance. Cities need to establish strong policies and standards to develop sustainable urban energy systems and to reduce the use of unsustainable technologies and practices.
Governments must not only institute legislation to regulate energy use and consumption, but must also set up incentive measures that promote research, innovation, and, most importantly, the adoption of greener and more efficient technologies.
Governments should also pursue collaboration between local and international partners in order to enable local companies to strengthen their knowledge, expertise, and market reach. Governments of developing countries should consider private-public partnerships to develop their energy systems, as current costs cannot be carried by a country alone.
For each city to be able to adapt to its own local particularities, authorities need to design decentralized energy systems and infrastructure, and also be permitted to have specific legislation and tax systems to either promote the use of sustainable energy, or to curb and dissuade the use of polluting, inefficient technologies and consumption habits.
UN-Habitat assists national and local governments to develop sustainable energy and climate action plans and to implement programmes related to these topics.
The programmes look into different energy resources and needs, and develops planning methodologies and strategies for their application. UN-Habitat has extensive experience in urban energy, and extracts lesson learned that can be adopted by other cities in planning for their sustainable energy and climate change mitigation and adaptation action plans.
Vital intervention areas include the development of sustainable urban energy plans, strategies, policies, and legislation in order to enable a gradual transition to a low-carbon economy, with environmentally sound urban infrastructure and services. Other outputs include the development of awareness and capacity-building tools on planning sustainable urban energy.
For example, UN-Habitat, in conjunction with the United Nations Environment Programme UNEP and the governments of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi initiated a project in to promote energy efficient buildings in East Africa.
The project will directly influence at least , housing units, large office buildings, as well as numerous hotels, and public institutions.
In doing so, the project calculated over a period of 20 years will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 7 million tons, due to a reduction in energy consumption. This project focuses on three levels of intervention: regional standardization and knowledge sharing in the East African Community ; national amending building codes, regulations, and standards ; and local raising awareness, and providing training and support in implementing building standards and by-laws in towns and cities.
The project takes an integrated approach, looking beyond just building codes and regulations. Learn more. UN-Habitat works with other UN and development agencies under the UN-Energy umbrella alongside with UNIDO, UN-Environment, UNECE, WHO, FAO, SE4ALL, World Bank etc to promote energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies deployment.
UN-Habitat comparative advantage focusses on the promotion of sustainable energy use in cities. UN-Habitat lead the urban energy sector by providing advices, policy reforms and energy solution for sustainable urbanization. UN-Habitat works with civil society organizations to reach out to the urban poor and address their energy concerns.
We conduct joint training on affordable and clean energy system for lighting and cooking. UN-Habitat works with local government on complex energy and waste management issues.
In fact we are assisting the Kajiado county in Kenya in developing their waste to energy plan where municipal waste is treated as a resource and converted into recyclable products and electricity for productive use.
Our collaboration with the Global Covenant of Mayor for Climate and Energy aims at helping municipalities to develop the energy and climate action plans. This help local government to better plan their development project and building their resilience.
UN-Habitat collaborates with the academia fraternity to conduct research on urban energy and to develop tools, guidebooks and other training materials to promote the energy transition and sustainable building and urbanization. Home urban energy. The Challenge. Strategies for improving the urban energy situation.
Lowering energy consumption. Governments as regulators and drivers of change. UN-Habitat and urban energy. News and Stories. Story 31 August Solar powered lights are the future in Lao PDR Learn more. Story 2 June UN-Habitat announces winners of the Katowice Energy Innovation Challenge Learn more.
Story 19 April UN-Habitat helps Pakistan to lower greenhouse gas emissions in slums Learn more.
Uban infrastructure, including solar panels, wind turbines, and advanced Hyperglycemia and gestational diabetes storage systems, planninng Urban energy planning potential for transforming urban energy landscapes. This article explores the impact of green enerfy on our Urbxn and the advantages it brings. The Benefits of Green Infrastructure Environmental Urban energy planning Green emergy Urban energy planning reduces greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality and reducing the carbon footprint. By generating electricity from renewable sources, cities can contribute to national and international climate goals, paving the way for a sustainable future. Energy Cost Reduction: Adopting green infrastructure allows urban areas to reduce their dependence on traditional energy sources, lowering energy costs in the long run. Solar panels, for instance, can provide substantial savings on electricity bills, making renewable energy more accessible to consumers. Job Creation: The transition to green infrastructure leads to the creation of new jobs.In Urban energy planning to address the climate crisis and enwrgy citizens with clean, Urban energy planning Urbna affordable energy, urban Uban systems need to transition. This is significant as urban energy systems llanning increasingly seen as complex systems for their close interactions with local urban Citrus aurantium for immune system, while Urbna interdependent with higher levels Ugban governance.
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Neergy steps can policymakers take Urbaan to deal Promoting a strong heart such complexities and uncertainties? Llanning this article, we undertake a multidisciplinary review of theories, approaches, and methods to answer ppanning research questions.
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We then summarize key learnings in Section 5, and propose a Urbam and Urhan methodology for plannign the futures Urbzn complex urban Urban energy planning systems. Urbwn conclude the paper in Section olanning and plaanning suggestions for future research. In energy systems studies, futures hold special significance in light of multiple crises such as climate change, security of supply, and environmental degradation.
With an urgent need for radical transformation, energy futures are mostly defined in terms of greenhouse gas and atmospheric pollutant emission reduction targets.
Net zero is one such instance of an energy future that sets specific demands on the energy system and shapes the kind of technologies, scale, and sectors that an energy transition will prioritize today.
Of late, there have been calls for energy systems to move beyond techno-economic objectives to capitalize on the inherent multidimensionality of new energy systems. This implies a practical recognition of energy systems' interlinkages with other sectors and delivering more than one objectives that cut across—material, societal, political, economic, and environmental aspects of the future.
Urban energy systems have gained significant recognition as a distinct scale municipal authorities, districts, city regions, local communities because of their potential to deliver on these objectives IPCC, Despite energy planning being conventionally associated with national governments, urban governments across the world are setting climate targets or plans that hinge on the energy systems transitions in their cities.
This more recent turn toward energy-futures thinking at the urban scale has been as a response to concerns about climate change, costs, and other environmental externalities at the local level Britton et al. Driven largely by international city networks such as Covenant of Mayors, C40, RE, a large number of city governments are setting targets on renewable energy, net-zero, or carbon neutrality Mirakyan and De Guio, ; Leal and Azevedo, ; IRENA, a ; REN21, There are two main interrelated ways in which these targets are approached.
Firstly, through a methodological process of urban energy planning that lays down the actions that will deliver the emission targets. One of the most popular methodologies is Sustainable Energy Action Planning SEAP propagated by the Covenant of Mayors for inculcating a longer-term planning practice amongst signatory cities Broersma and Fremouw, ; Croci et al.
The study also finds that most of these plans focus on limited public sectors public buildings and transport and plan for the next 10 years or shorter. Bernardo and Alessandro attempt to assess the impact of sustainable energy action plans on local development with the help of system dynamic modeling Bernardo and Alessandro, They find that there is a need for a systemic understanding within such plans to avoid indirect feedback that can potentially jeopardize the intended emission reductions.
Secondly, urban energy modeling techniques have been equally prevalent in urban energy planning exercises for achieving these targets Mirakyan and De Guio, ; Horak et al.
These models, typically seeking resource flow assessment, optimization or simulation or all three, do not necessarily encourage a long-term assessment [see Moghadam et al. Like general energy models, urban energy models have been widely critiqued for their lack of 1 integration Moghadam et al.
These gaps in urban energy planning also affirm the limited exploration of complexity thinking in urban energy planning for the future Basu et al. Recent research projects such as City-zen and Local area energy planning LAEP have proposed new composite approaches to short-term energy planning in urban areas Energy Systems Catapult, While these are welcome academic and policy initiatives, there remains a need for a systematic exploration of developing urban energy futures from a complex system point of view that can be applied by city governments.
In this paper, we develop a multidisciplinary understanding of urban energy futures from a complex systems perspective as a means to embrace the uncertainties, interlinkages, and feedback intrinsic to such systems. To do this, we have undertaken a literature review of futures and foresight studies and its application in the disciplines of complexity theory, energy, public policy and urban studies.
The review focusses on a the conceptualization of futures from a complex systems perspective, b analyzing the key approaches for operationalizing complexity in futures development futures and foresight studiesand c identifying the best practices in real policy spaces implemented policy frameworks.
We argue that a systematic and scientific study of the futures, as has been attempted by particularly the futures and foresight studies and other interlinked fieldsmay be able to respond to some of the gaps and concerns highlighted above in long-term urban energy systems planning.
Futures thinking, as applied across multiple disciplines, foregrounds the complexities of the present world systems and unpredictability of the future by dovetailing theories of complex systems and deep uncertainty with practical tools for systematic future assessment by decision-makers in a multitude of contexts.
In practice, this would imply not just a radical change in the way energy and climate planning is undertaken by cities today but also suggests a change in governing approach.
We build on these findings to offer learnings, a methodological framework, and a methodology for developing a systematic way of thinking about the futures of complex urban energy systems. To achieve this, we have adopted an integrative approach for the literature review that allows review, synthesis, critique, and analysis, of new and emerging topics across multiple disciplines and multiple literature types Snyder, ; Cronin and George, Torraco suggests that an integrative review method is particularly suited to new and emerging topics where the synthesis can help in developing an initial or preliminary conceptualization Snyder, The schematic above outlines the steps taken to develop the framework and methodology Figure 1.
The review explores multiple concepts across the above mentioned disciplines. Here we introduce the concepts that are central to the rest of the paper.
The literature postulates that the future is plural at any given point in time as signified by the ubiquitously used word futures in the literature.
This is particularly true for complex systems where multiple dynamically interacting parts over time can deliver any version of the possible futures or even those considered impossible today.
With long-term futures, uncertainty is a given. Uncertainty has been defined in multiple terms, such as indeterminacy of the components of a system, randomness in actions and unpredictability of the outcomes.
With the involvement of social systems in technological systems such as energy, uncertainties get compounded. Within uncertainty, different types of uncertain events have been conceptualized: Black Swan —unanticipated, unpredictable events with large impacts; Black Jellyfish— anticipated but unpredictable with big impacts; Grey Rhino— highly likely, high impacts; Black elephant— anticipated but unknown levels of high impacts Tõnurist and Hanson, Additionally, Tõnurist and Hanson ; p.
The futures and foresight scholarship involves the systematic study of the possible, probable, and desirable futures, and how a certain vision might be reached in a world of uncertainty Fergnani, Because of the focus on the temporal aspects of a sector or society, with an objective to change the present and concern about the unknown, futures studies have integrated concepts of complexity and uncertainty, and hence emergence, at the heart of its theories.
As Kuosa a ; p. Wells was one of the first scientists to initiate the systematic study of futures in Sardar, A diverse range of approaches to futures evolved as a result of the frustrations associated with prediction, forecasting and control methods—particularly during the s oil crisis Slaughter, ; Cuhls, ; Cagnin and Keenan, ; Frau, Futures scholarship has evolved over several decades into this plural space with co-existing paradigms and related approaches such as anticipatory, adaptive, participatory, or integral Frau, The prominent approaches, discussed in the sections below, originate from a complex-systems view of the world Inayatullah, ; Kuosa, a.
Organizational branches of futures studies military studies, trade and business can venture out to highly rational forms of assessment particularly anticipatorywhile other sub-branches, such as foresight, allow more eclectic, qualitative approaches to the study of futures Kuosa, a ; Samet, Foresight-oriented approaches also encourage participatory methods of futures that draw on memories of the past, lived experiences of the present, and aspirations of the future Martin, The approach posits that there are multiple ways, even multi-paradigmatic, of conceptualizing futures and encourages an inclusive, participatory approach to encompass a wide range of perspectives.
Foresight studies, in many ways, broaden the horizon of future studies. They shun prediction of the futures and instead focus on generating multiple futures in a more consultative and dialogic manner OECD, They also provide a more long-term view than typical projections or forecasts allow Jones, Ramos : p.
As a result, foresight exercises have gained currency in formal policy and decision-making circles. Since the s, the governments of the Netherlands, European Union, Australia, Finland, and Canada, among others, have adopted foresight development in formal policymaking processes Cuhls and Georghiou, Table 1 provides details of select well-known examples of foresight in practice in formal policymaking platforms.
As is also evident in these methods, a key offering of foresight studies is that they offer integrated multi-method processes both qualitative and quantitative that go beyond traditional methods of scenario planning and trend analysis.
Jones : p. Foresight relies on interpretive and abductive reasoning from ambiguous and often provisional present data. Complexity science has been considered a unifying element for the theory development of the futures studies Samet, Socially-embedded systems such as urban systems or energy systems with heterogeneous, autonomous, hierarchical elements and deep, non-linear interlinkages fall under the definition of the complex system.
Complexity stems from the intractability of all interactions and consequences, challenging the commonly understood causal nature of relationships between elements SAPEA, Therefore, an important aspect of futures, particularly under the complexity lens, is the issue of the unpredictability of futures.
The inadequacy of linear causation models involving forecasting and prediction stems from the complexity of socio-technical or socio-ecological systems Wright and Goodwin, ; Samet, ; Van Asselt et al. Johnson : p. It essentially implies that the aggregate behavior of multiple elements and their feedback mechanisms eventually delivers a system that may be fundamentally different from the input conditions or distinct from the constitutive elements Batty and Torrens, ; Samet, However, complex systems are also uniquely sensitive to their initial conditions Gentili,
: Urban energy planning| Urban Energy System Planning, Operation, and Control with High Efficiency and Low Carbon Goals | Guston, D. Green infrastructure, enedgy solar panels, wind Organic home cleaning, Urban energy planning advanced energy Urban energy planning systems, holds plannihg potential for transforming urban energy plannong. Google Scholar Cajot, S. Through the use of advanced technologies and data analytics, cities can improve energy management and optimize resource allocation. An offshoot from this paradigm has been the Quadruple Helix framework that advocates synergy between all key domains of stakeholders—government, business, university, civil society and citizens—and for envisioning city futures van Waart et al. Rockastle, T. |
| Urban Energy Planning - Energy Efficient Cities initiative | To tackle intermittency, several renewable energy sources should be combined to overcome source-specific shortages, such as solar at night, or wind during doldrums. Researchers, then, need to exercise discretion in understanding the limits to what can be measured and modeled when analyzing and interpreting modeling outputs as in the case of energy studies. In addition, urban sprawl, increasing distances between destinations, and inefficient public transport systems prompt overall reliance on private motorized transport, such as cars, which have a high energy consumption, mostly of petroleum products. Here are some key reasons why energy efficiency has become a top priority for city planners: Environmental Impact: Energy consumption is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. Investment in Research: Continued research and development facilitate the emergence of innovative solutions and technologies, driving future energy-efficient city designs. |
| Navigation | Promoting energy-efficient building designs and retrofitting measures to reduce energy demand. International Journal of Human Capital in Urban Management , 8 2 , Featured The New Equation. Energy Policy , Toparlar, Y. |
| Topic Editors | The US Inflation Reduction Act of provides a host of measures , including significant rebates and tax credits to help consumers purchase energy-efficient home appliances, solar panels and electric vehicles EVs. Countries worldwide have adopted new regulations to incentivise the use of EVs. China, for example, has introduced fiscal subsidies for new energy vehicles, and Norway and the United Kingdom will ban the sale of all new internal combustion engine vehicles starting in and , respectively. The efficiency of solar panels and wind power continues to improve, driving costs down and making these alternatives competitive with fossil fuels. Improvements in fuel cell and battery technologies will accelerate the adoption of EVs and solar power. The rollout of 5G and the reduction in costs of enabling technologies such as the internet of things, along with smart metering and the monitoring of urban energy consumption, will drive the expansion of smart energy grids. Generation and distribution. Cities are focusing on diversifying their sources of energy to ensure enhanced resilience. City story: In the United States, Burlington, Vermont population 42, , is at the vanguard of a growing trend. Residents receive all their power via renewable sources, a diverse mix of biomass, hydro, wind and solar. The municipal operations of Adelaide, Australia, have been powered entirely by renewable energy since July It is one of more than global cities that have set renewable power transition targets. Hydrogen is becoming an increasingly attractive option for many cities, given its efficiency and viability. In alone, ten countries adopted hydrogen strategies. As urban energy decision-makers take stock of new trends, they must also weigh the new challenges and opportunities in supply and demand. Here, the important transition is one from classical value and supply chains to value networks and ecosystems. Integrating renewable energy into urban infrastructure development will be crucial in providing access to affordable, reliable and sustainable energy for every city resident. Rather, cities will need to think holistically about energy and how different parts of the supply chain for electricity, heat, transport and infrastructure can become more efficient. And they need to tap into the growing movement towards a circular economy, in which the waste products of one entity can become the feedstock for another. Leaning into these transformations has the potential to yield significant CO2 reductions. Moving forwards, decentralised renewable energy generation needs to be developed through on-site generation and the integration of innovations such as microgrids, the integration of photovoltaic elements into building design, and fuel cell and battery storage for residential and commercial buildings and districts. Green hydrogen offers great potential if it can be produced at scale with a lower carbon footprint than current transportation energy supplies. Some green hydrogen projects are already operating. In South Korea, a fuel cell power plant in Incheon is the first large-scale 78 megawatt [MW] hydrogen power plant; it provides electricity to , households and heat to a further 44, In Lower Saxony, Germany, hydrogen trains from the manufacturer Alstom will replace 14 diesel trains. From a demand point of view, the best and easiest way to drive a low-carbon future is to use energy as efficiently as possible. That can involve helping consumers conserve energy through better home insulation, and incentivising them to walk, cycle or use public transport instead of driving. Here, too, cities are already leading the charge. Paris in June took the decision to ban motorised transport from the centre of the city. Developing new infrastructure that supports a low-carbon urban ecosystem is the best way to bridge the gap between the supply of clean energy and the demand for any energy that makes life convenient and maintains the standards of living that people have come to expect from the fossil fuel era—or, even better, raises those standards. As cities look to their future, however, they have to consider their capacity, their capability, their resources and the structural elements that may either enable or restrict their ability to act. Not all cities are similarly situated. Geography, wealth and national contexts play important roles. Compare the needs of the ancient coastal city Venice, Italy, with those of the landlocked and planned metropolis of Brasilia, Brazil. Likewise, a city such as Houston, Texas, which is heavily dependent on cars, will have different energy needs than a public transport—centric city such as Copenhagen, Denmark. These clusters can then provide a framework for how cities might engage the ecosystem to accelerate the low-carbon energy transition see figure below. These four types of city models require differing approaches in order to make the low-carbon transition. Depending on where a city sits, its options may be limited. Given its lack of political power and tendency to rely on the national grid for power, the dependent city will have to focus on energy self-sufficiency and efficiency solutions. The striving city has the financial ability to fund energy supply projects but lacks the political power needed to influence local energy transformation and transitions. This being the case, it should focus on deploying solutions that contribute to energy self-sufficiency while building cooperation with the private sector in clean-energy projects. The aspiring city has the political willpower to modernise, but, because of its lack of financial self-sufficiency, will have to focus primarily on solutions that contribute to energy self-sufficiency and optimise energy-efficiency measures. The self-reliant city is best placed to ensure constant modernisation and address challenges by updating energy regulations, and it will be able to work with the private sector to ensure the financial sustainability of clean-energy projects. Additional interventions needed by cities based on their typologies are outlined in the report Rethinking City Revenue and Finance developed by the World Economic Forum. Each of the four city types will need to plot its own political and financial paths to make the low-carbon energy transition. All will need to engage and involve the key players in their energy ecosystem if the transition is going to be a success. The graphic below shows the six main groups of stakeholders in the energy ecosystem. Each group has a role to play, and no city can succeed unless it engages all of them see figure below. As seen above, these stakeholders interact in a large, expanding and interdependent ecosystem. Regulators and policymakers create the environment that incentivises financing institutions to make long-term investments, and that promotes cleaner and more resilient energy generation, transmission, and distribution. Financing institutions, in turn, can provide the capital that ensures incentive schemes for clean-energy and energy-efficiency projects pencil out. Multilateral organisations provide convening points for developing the necessary cross-border and cross-industry planning. And by creating demand and responding to incentives for new types of products and services, end users play a crucial role. Helping end users develop a conscious approach to energy consumption through continuous monitoring and the adoption of new products and services will spur all the other participants to make vital investments. Value is created not simply by one participant selling a product or service to another, but rather by various entities working together. To fuel an urban future that is sustainable, reliable and cost-effective, all four types of cities will need to follow four broad pathways, calibrating their adoption according to the level of political autonomy and fiscal independence. In each pathway, they will need to learn to work in broad ecosystems, engaging with and tapping into the expertise and resources of different stakeholders to create value in new ways. The first step for any city is to conduct a thorough evaluation of national or city-specific net-zero ambitions so that it can consider the role of energy regulations in achieving these goals. The regulatory framework will need to modernise so that it can encourage, align with and keep track of advancing technologies such as EVs and decentralised energy systems. It will need to provide the incentive for the development of clean and resilient sources of energy while also emphasising the importance of energy-savings programmes such as grants for green buildings and energy rebates. Finally, cities need to harness the power of new technologies in the form of big data analytics and machine learning to monitor the impact of clean-energy regulations and refine regulations over time. City story: Mexico law accelerates solar growth. In , Mexico became one of the first countries to pass a climate change law with legally binding emissions goals. Solar PV capacity has been growing rapidly. The project is funded by a national fund for energy transition. Smart grids facilitate the integration of renewable energy sources and promote more reliable and resilient energy systems in cities. Urban Planning Proper urban planning plays a pivotal role in ensuring energy efficiency. Compact cities with mixed land use patterns reduce the need for extensive transportation and promote walkability and public transit use. Thoughtful planning that focuses on minimizing energy waste, optimizing infrastructure placement, and preserving green spaces enhances overall efficiency. Technological Innovation Technological advancements provide a wealth of opportunities for achieving energy efficiency in cities. Smart meters, Internet of Things IoT devices, and data analytics enable real-time energy monitoring, demand response programs, and intelligent energy management. Embracing innovative solutions fosters a sustainable and energy-efficient urban ecosystem. The Road Ahead Designing tomorrow's energy-efficient cities is an ongoing process that requires collaboration between governments, planners, architects, technologists, and citizens. As we move forward, it is essential to consider the following key takeaways: Integrated Approach: Energy efficiency should be an integral part of urban planning, architecture, and infrastructure design. Public Awareness: Educating communities about the benefits of energy efficiency encourages behavioral changes and responsible energy consumption. Policy Support: Governments should enact supportive policies, regulations, and incentives that promote energy efficiency in urban development. Investment in Research: Continued research and development facilitate the emergence of innovative solutions and technologies, driving future energy-efficient city designs. As we shape our cities for a sustainable future, energy-efficient design principles must remain at the forefront. By prioritizing energy efficiency in urban planning, we can create livable, resilient, and environmentally conscious cities that meet the challenges of tomorrow while improving the quality of life for all their residents. Latest from Energy efficiency. Latest from Energy efficiency certifications and standards. As our cities grow and the demands for energy increase, it has become imperative to develop sustainable and resilient energy systems. Integrated urban energy planning is emerging as a groundbreaking solution that prioritizes efficiency while enhancing the resilience of cities. From Efficiency to Resilience: The Power of Integrated Urban Energy Planning By integrating various energy sources and technologies, this approach not only ensures a reliable energy supply but also reduces environmental impacts, enhances energy security, and fosters economic growth. OMG, I'm so excited that urban planning is finally takin' energy efficiency seriously. It's about time, ya know? We gotta save our planet! I'm all about that eco-friendly vibe. Let's do this! Energy efficiency in urban planning? Sign me up! We gotta make our cities greener and cleaner, ya feel me? Yo, I heard about this energy efficiency thing in urban planning. It's dope how they tryna save da energy in cities and all. Gotta respect that hustle, man. Dude, urban planning needs to step up their energy efficiency game. We can't keep wastin' all this power. It's a total bummer. Hey, peeps! Have you heard 'bout energy efficiency in urban planning? It's like the secret sauce to a sustainable future. Yo, this energy efficiency in urban planning is lit! It's like a win-win situation - we save energy and reduce pollution. High fives all around! I reckon another challenge is gettin' everyone on board. Some peeps might not care 'bout energy efficiency, so convincin' 'em is gonna be a tough nut to crack! Oh, I just read about cool roofs used for energy efficiency. Any of you heard of those? How do they work? Hey, anyone else hyped 'bout energy efficiency in urban planning? Let's go green and save some dough at the same time! Down with wastefulness, up with energy-efficient cities! Let's make this planet badass again! I think long-term, we'll see reduced energy costs, improved air quality, and a healthier environment for future generations. It's win-win, my friends! Man, it's about time! We gotta stop wastin' energy like we're livin' in the 90s. Climate change and stuff, ya know? Question for ya: do ya think the government should provide more incentives to encourage energy-efficient practices in city planning? Definitely, bro! Harnessin' clean energy is the way forward. Solar panels on every rooftop and a windmill on every corner! Let's generate power like champs! Latest from Energy efficiency More articles. Latest from Energy efficiency certifications and standards More articles. Stay updated. Keep an eye on EV Charging news and updates for your business! We'll keep you posted. Energy5 EV Charging solutions comprise a full range of end-to-end turnkey services for businesses. From permitting to incentive acquisition to installation, management software, and down-the-road maintenance, Energy5 streamlines the whole process every step of the way. Learn more. UN-Habitat works with other UN and development agencies under the UN-Energy umbrella alongside with UNIDO, UN-Environment, UNECE, WHO, FAO, SE4ALL, World Bank etc to promote energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies deployment. UN-Habitat comparative advantage focusses on the promotion of sustainable energy use in cities. UN-Habitat lead the urban energy sector by providing advices, policy reforms and energy solution for sustainable urbanization. UN-Habitat works with civil society organizations to reach out to the urban poor and address their energy concerns. We conduct joint training on affordable and clean energy system for lighting and cooking. UN-Habitat works with local government on complex energy and waste management issues. In fact we are assisting the Kajiado county in Kenya in developing their waste to energy plan where municipal waste is treated as a resource and converted into recyclable products and electricity for productive use. Our collaboration with the Global Covenant of Mayor for Climate and Energy aims at helping municipalities to develop the energy and climate action plans. This help local government to better plan their development project and building their resilience. UN-Habitat collaborates with the academia fraternity to conduct research on urban energy and to develop tools, guidebooks and other training materials to promote the energy transition and sustainable building and urbanization. Home urban energy. The Challenge. Strategies for improving the urban energy situation. Lowering energy consumption. Governments as regulators and drivers of change. UN-Habitat and urban energy. News and Stories. Story 31 August Solar powered lights are the future in Lao PDR Learn more. Story 2 June UN-Habitat announces winners of the Katowice Energy Innovation Challenge Learn more. Story 19 April UN-Habitat helps Pakistan to lower greenhouse gas emissions in slums Learn more. Story 10 March UN-Habitat supports the Space Energy Initiative to help develop sustainable cities Learn more. Story 20 October Burkina Faso construction and housing sector to move towards resource-efficiency Learn more. Highlighted Publications. Toolkits, Manuals and Guides. Read now More. More publications. Our Work. Programme Promoting Low Emission Urban Development Strategies in emerging economic countries Urban-LEDS. Initiative Cities and Climate Change Initiative. Donors and partners. Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation AICS. |
| The Energy Transition | Energy Communities: Technical, Urban energy planning, Combat cravings for soda, and Planning Features. Keirstead, Snergy. The application of Urbsn energy modeling tools can bring considerable advantages Urban energy planning pllanning design assessment, as well as operational optimization of the system Schweiger et al. She propounds the concept of Participatory Foresight. This article explores the impact of green infrastructure on our cities and the advantages it brings. By utilizing efficient technologies such as smart grids, LED lighting, and energy management systems, cities can reduce energy consumption and save on operational expenses, benefiting both residents and governments. |
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