scholarly journals The bioclimatic approach in developing smart urban isles for sustainable cities

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Despina Kyprianou Serghides ◽  
Stella Dimitriou ◽  
Ioanna Kyprianou ◽  
Costas Papanicolas
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Smart Grids ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Basic Unit ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Management Platform ◽  
Bioclimatic Design ◽  
Project Smart ◽  
Urban Energy

The rapid trends of urbanization have catastrophic consequences on the ecology of our cities. The large amounts of energy consumption and the reckless exploitation of natural resources is leading to increased emissions of ozone depleting gases and carbon dioxide emissions, which are polluting our planet and enhancing the effects of global warming. This paper will present the bioclimatic approach in achieving a smart urban isle as a basic unit for the development of sustainable cities of the EU ERANET project “Smart bioclimatic low-carbon urban areas as innovative energy isles in the sustainable city” (SUI). It will outline the project and demonstrate the approach of achieving bioclimatic urban isles through the Cyprus case study. The main aim of the SUI project is to develop sustainable cities through balancing locally the energy systems. Thus, the project aspires to move forward with the urban energy and CO2 reduction. The study will focus on the bioclimatic approach, which is one of the three cornerstone procedures (Bioclimatic design, Smart Grids and Management Platform) on which the project is based. It will exemplify how the various aspects of the bioclimatic design and the utilization of the beneficial aspects of the surrounding environment are exploited and applied on defined urban isles, as a basic unit of the city.

scholarly journals Imagining the smart city through smart grids? Urban energy futures between technological experimentation and the imagined low-carbon city

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110059
Author(s):  
Leslie Quitzow ◽  
Friederike Rohde
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Urban Development ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Grids ◽  
Urban Policy ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Futures ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The City

Current imaginaries of urban smart grid technologies are painting attractive pictures of the kinds of energy futures that are desirable and attainable in cities. Making claims about the future city, the socio-technical imaginaries related to smart grid developments unfold the power to guide urban energy policymaking and implementation practices. This paper analyses how urban smart grid futures are being imagined and co-produced in the city of Berlin, Germany. It explores these imaginaries to show how the politics of Berlin’s urban energy transition are being driven by techno-optimistic visions of the city’s digital modernisation and its ambitions to become a ‘smart city’. The analysis is based on a discourse analysis of relevant urban policy and other documents, as well as interviews with key stakeholders from Berlin’s energy, ICT and urban development sectors, including key experts from three urban laboratories for smart grid development and implementation in the city. It identifies three dominant imaginaries that depict urban smart grid technologies as (a) environmental solution, (b) economic imperative and (c) exciting experimental challenge. The paper concludes that dominant imaginaries of smart grid technologies in the city are grounded in a techno-optimistic approach to urban development that are foreclosing more subtle alternatives or perhaps more radical change towards low-carbon energy systems.

scholarly journals Model Cities for Resilience: Climate-led Initiatives

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58
Author(s):  
Didem Gunes Yilmaz ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Climate Change Mitigation ◽  
Sustainable Cities ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Urban Water Management ◽  
Model Cities ◽  
Taking Action ◽  
Change Mitigation

Paris Agreement of December 2015 was the last official initiative led by the United Nations (UN) as the driver of climate change mitigation. Climate change was hence linked with an increase in the occurrence of natural hazards. A variety of initiatives were consequently adopted under different themes such as sustainable cities, climate-friendly development and low-carbon cities. However, most of the initiatives targeted by global cities with urban areas being the focus in terms of taking action against global warming issues. This is due to the structural and environmental features of cities characterized by being populated, as such, they not only generate a large number of carbon emissions but also happens to be the biggest consumer of natural resources. In turn, they create a microclimate, which contributes to climate change. Masdar City, for example, was designed as the first fully sustainable urban area, which replaced fuel-based energy with the electric-based energy. China, as another example, introduced the Sponge Cities action, a method of urban water management to mitigate against flooding. Consequently, architects and urban planners are urged to conform to the proposals that would mitigate global warming. This paper, as a result, examines some of the models that have been internationally adopted and thereafter provide the recommendations that can be implemented in large urban areas in Turkey, primarily in Istanbul.

scholarly journals Development of Low Carbon Cities: Assessment of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Energy Facilities in Irkutsk City

2021 ◽  
pp. 9-16
Author(s):  
E. Maysyuk
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Current Trend ◽  
City Management ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The City

Decrease in greenhouse gas emissions is a current trend in solving the climate change problems. The concept of low-carbon cities is extensively discussed nowadays. It aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through integrated mechanisms and measures, which comply with socio-economic development and city management. Since a considerable part of the population lives in cities, the utmost goal of the study is to analyze the situation with emissions of the main greenhouse gas, i.e., carbon dioxide, in the urban environment. The major sources of carbon dioxide emissions are stationary energy facilities of different capacities burning fuel. The paper considers the city of Irkutsk as an example of the populated area included in the study on low carbon cities under the auspices of the Social and Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific of the UN - UNESCAP. The first stage of the studies involved assessing the current carbon dioxide emissions from energy facilities of the city through the calculation of carbon dioxide emissions from boiler houses and the city cogeneration plant for 1990. The findings revealed the potential of reducing carbon dioxide emissions from energy facilities in Irkutsk. The paper suggests the basic directions and measures to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the urban energy facilities.

scholarly journals Measuring Carbon Emissions From Low carbon Cities in Rapidly Urbanising Countries – Nepal

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roz Price
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Emissions Inventory ◽  
Climate Action

Climate change and urbanisation are inextricably linked. With the acceleration of urbanisation in many developing countries, urban areas play a major role in energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. This is true of Nepal, which has experienced rapid urbanisation in recent decades. However, no studies were identified that evaluate the efforts of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from low carbon cities in rapidly urbanising developing countries. Although, there is literature out there on this that focuses on developed countries and the Global North, this is outside the scope of this report. Given the rapid nature of this review and its limitations it was not possible to fully answer the question of whether investments in low-carbon cities reduce carbon emissions in rapidly urbanising contexts. The first section of this report looks at the theory of low carbon cities and touches on some of the methodologies for measuring carbon emissions from cities (and the complexities and difficulties with these). The second section looks at Nepal in more detail, highlighting previous literature which has attempted to quantify emissions from cities in Nepal (namely Kathmandu Valley) and the co-benefits of low carbon investment in Nepal. However, overall, literature was largely limited on these topics, and was often older being from 5 years or more ago. Of note is an emissions inventory for Nepal for 2016 by Sadavarte et al. (2019) – although other literature notes that data on emission characteristics are still limited (IMC Worldwide, 2020). ICLEI (2009) also produced city emissions profiles for 3 Nepalese cities, but these are quite outdated. There are several studies related to low carbon development pathways for major cities in developed countries or China, however such studies from the perspective of emerging cities from the developing world are limited. Research into other developing countries with similar characteristics to Nepal was briefly explored in this rapid review but there was not time to fully explore this literature base. Most of the literature explored is from academia, although some is from non-governmental organisations particularly those looking at engaging cities in climate action (such as C40). The literature explored does not look at gender issues or issues of people with disabilities.

scholarly journals Opportunities for Integrating Underground Railways into Low Carbon Urban Energy Networks: A Review

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (16) ◽  
pp. 3332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henrique Lagoeiro ◽  
Akos Revesz ◽  
Gareth Davies ◽  
Graeme Maidment ◽  
Daniel Curry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Waste Heat ◽  
District Heating ◽  
Smooth Transition ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Secondary Energy ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The Many

Cities demand vast amounts of energy for their everyday operation, resulting in significant degradation of energy in the form of heat in the urban environment. This leads to high cooling requirements in cities, while also presenting the opportunity to reuse such waste heat in order to provide low-carbon heating for buildings and processes. Among the many potential energy sources that could be exploited in urban areas, underground railway tunnels are particularly attractive, as the operation of the trains produce considerable amounts of heat throughout the year. This paper reviews how secondary energy sources in urban areas can be integrated into heating and cooling networks, with emphasis on underground rail tunnels. This involves investigating potential urban waste heat sources and the existing state-of-the-art technologies that could be applied to efficiently recover this secondary energy, as well as analyzing how district heating and cooling networks have been a key mechanism to allow for a smooth transition from current fossil fuel based to future low-carbon energy sources.

scholarly journals Positive Energy District Replication - Case Study of the City of Trencin, Slovakia

2021 ◽  
Vol 1203 (2) ◽  
pp. 022087
Author(s):  
Vladimir Ondrejicka ◽  
Michal Hajduk ◽  
Lubomir Jamecny ◽  
Milan Husar ◽  
Matej Jasso
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Planning System ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
The Core ◽  
Urban Energy ◽  
The City

Abstract Energy efficiency has been of the key topics for urban planning for the past few years in relation to sustainable development, resilience as well as climate change. There are many technological approaches aiming at efficient use of energy, innovative technologies and renewable sources of energy, but what is often missing is its relation to spatial planning and planning system and documentation. Horizon 2020 project Making City is striving to promote Positive Energy District (PED) planning and methodology aiming at development of new integrated strategies to address the urban energy system transformation towards low carbon cities, with the PED approach as the core of the urban energy transition pathway. It is implemented on the level of cities and city districts, having two types of areas – two lighthouse cities and six follower cities. The city of Trencin (Slovakia) is one of the follower cities where multiple urban areas have been selected to replicate the PED concept developed by the project consortium. Trencin is the eight largest city is Slovakia with a rich manufacturing history in textile and arms industry. It is currently focusing on diversified its economic activities in the sectors of tourism, innovation, culture and industry. The PED replication will involve a broader city centre area including multiple municipal buildings (schools and sports infrastructures) and residential buildings (individual housing and apartments). The following paper describes the key notions from the PED concept providing a holistic approach on harmonizing energy and urban planning for energy. It evolved from single, unintegrated, simple “building” based interventions into PED concepts looking forward to reaching energy and climate targets which will lead to an integrated energy planning. The paper further explores this PED approach in the city of Trencin, including the challenges it had to overcome during the implementation, as well as perspectives for its future development. The aim of the project further on is to create a standardized concept ready to be the core of specific urban energy transitions planning processes.

The Discussion on Land Layout Mode of Low Carbon Block Based on Inhibiting Mobility

2013 ◽  
Vol 742 ◽  
pp. 116-121
Author(s):  
Jin Fu Chen ◽  
Chao Luo ◽  
Liang Wen Sun
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Basic Unit ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Carbon Block ◽  
Traffic System ◽  
Low Carbon Development ◽  
Block Based ◽  
City Structure ◽  
Low Carbon City

Along with the transformation of Chinas economic development and industrial structure, the concept of low carbon development becomes more and more important in Chinas constructions in cities. Block, as the basic unit of city structure, is the important source of travel demands. Through the researches on the scale and functions of the block, the construction of inhibiting mobility low carbon block aims to find a basic layout mode to reduce motorized traffic frequency inside and outside the block. With the impeccable construction of slow traffic system, complete infrastructure facilities and a relative job-housing balance, the residents essential needs can be met within the block by non-motorized traffic. In this way, not only can the motorized transportation needs be reduced, but also the energy can be saved to lessen carbon dioxide emissions, which benefits the construction of low carbon city greatly.

The Scenario Analysis of Carbon Emissions Based on Improved IPAT Model in China

2012 ◽  
Vol 616-618 ◽  
pp. 1484-1489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xu Shan ◽  
Hua Wang Shao
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Industrial Structure ◽  
Energy Structure ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Policy Scenario ◽  
Social And Economic Development ◽  
Energy Environment ◽  
Development Goals

The coordination development of economy-energy-environment was discussed with traditional environmental loads model, combined with "decoupling" theory. Considering the possibilities of social and economic development, this paper set out three scenarios, and analyzed quantitatively the indexes, which affected carbon dioxide emissions, including population, per capita GDP, industrial structure and energy structure. Based on this, it forecasted carbon dioxide emissions in China in future. By comparing the prediction results, it held that policy scenario was the more realistic scenario, what’s more it can achieve emission reduction targets with the premise of meeting the social and economic development goals. At last, it put forward suggestions to implement successfully policy scenario, from energy structure, industrial structure, low-carbon technology and so on.

scholarly journals Challenges and Barriers for Net‐Zero/Positive Energy Buildings and Districts—Empirical Evidence from the Smart City Project SPARCS

Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 78
Author(s):  
Daria Uspenskaia ◽  
Karl Specht ◽  
Hendrik Kondziella ◽  
Thomas Bruckner
Keyword(s):  
Smart City ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Positive Energy ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Multidimensional Representation

Without decarbonizing cities energy and climate objectives cannot be achieved as cities account for approximately two thirds of energy consumption and emissions. This goal of decarbonizing cities has to be facilitated by promoting net-zero/positive energy buildings and districts and replicating them, driving cities towards sustainability goals. Many projects in smart cities demonstrate novel and groundbreaking low-carbon solutions in demonstration and lighthouse projects. However, as the historical, geographic, political, social and economic context of urban areas vary greatly, it is not always easy to repeat the solution in another city or even district. It is therefore important to look for the opportunities to scale up or repeat successful pilots. The purpose of this paper is to explore common trends in technologies and replication strategies for positive energy buildings or districts in smart city projects, based on the practical experience from a case study in Leipzig—one of the lighthouse cities in the project SPARCS. One of the key findings the paper has proven is the necessity of a profound replication modelling to deepen the understanding of upscaling processes. Three models analyzed in this article are able to provide a multidimensional representation of the solution to be replicated.

scholarly journals Sustainable Energy-Related Infrastructure Development in the Mekong Subregion: Key Drivers and Policy Implications

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5720
Author(s):  
Han Phoumin ◽  
Sopheak Meas ◽  
Hatda Pich An
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
Energy Demand ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Infrastructure Investment ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Energy Access ◽  
Low Carbon Economy ◽  
The One

Many players have supported infrastructure development in the Mekong Subregion, bridging the missing links in Southeast Asia. While the influx of energy-related infrastructure development investments to the region has improved the livelihoods of millions of people on the one hand, it has brought about a myriad of challenges to the wider region in guiding investments for quality infrastructure and for promoting a low-carbon economy, and energy access and affordability, on the other hand. Besides reviewing key regional initiatives for infrastructure investment and development, this paper examines energy demand and supply, and forecasts energy consumption in the subregion during 2017–2050 using energy modeling scenario analysis. The study found that to satisfy growing energy demand in the subregion, huge power generation infrastructure investment, estimated at around USD 190 billion–220 billion, is necessary between 2017 and 2050 and that such an investment will need to be guided by appropriate policy. We argue that without redesigning energy policy towards high-quality energy infrastructure, it is very likely that the increasing use of coal upon which the region greatly depends will lead to the widespread construction of coal-fired power plants, which could result in increased greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions.

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