Renewable energy is the future of urban planning and development. It can help cities reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, create jobs, and enhance resilience. But how can you integrate renewable energy into your urban projects and policies? Here are some tips and examples to inspire you.
The first step is to assess the renewable energy potential of your city. This means identifying the available resources, such as solar, wind, hydro, biomass, geothermal, and waste-to-energy, and the existing infrastructure, such as power grids, buildings, transport, and waste management. You can use tools like the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) City Dashboard or the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Global Atlas to map and compare your potential with other cities.
In my country Iran I see lots of potential to use renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, point is that lots of officials that can invest on this resource are not considering their potential. Of course renewable energy resources are the future of urban constructions duo to reducing green House gases and other pollution.
An aspect that can be included is urban production. Can we integrate production of some goods or other forms of value creation into the urban environment? And if so, can urban production provide synergies also with respect to the integration of sustainable energies? In our article "Urban production: State of the art and future trends for urban factories." we have reviewed some examples that might be of interest to discuss further.
The best way to engage renewable energy into urban planning is by engaging regulatory bodies and building approval authorities. It is essential for creating sustainable, eco-friendly cities. One good example is the use of solar water heating system. For such to be used it needs to be factored in the initial building design and approval stage.
Assessing a city's renewable energy potential involves conducting energy audits, evaluating local renewable resources, understanding policies, engaging stakeholders, and assessing existing infrastructure. Feasibility studies on solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal options are crucial. Collaboration with local utilities and private sectors, smart grid implementation, and public awareness campaigns play key roles. Continuous monitoring and adaptation based on outcomes are vital to successful integration within urban planning, fostering sustainability and reducing environmental impact.
Any renewable energy project should be super profitable due to the impending climate crisis and the goal to limit 1.5 deg C by 2030. Gone are the days when merely saying RE projects are cheaper than coal must not receive green market incentives, it must be 5-10X more profitable for developers to build RE projects at scale & AT THE SPEED this climate crisis demands. So if your RE projects can earn RECs/carbon credits and whatever other incentive (market based) take it and build fast, for once we cross the CLIMATE tipping point, there is no point offering such incentives post 2035. It must all happen this decade.
The next step is to set your goals and targets for renewable energy integration. You can use frameworks like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, or the Covenant of Mayors to align your goals with global and regional commitments. You can also use indicators like the Renewable Energy Share (RES), the Renewable Energy Capacity (REC), or the Renewable Energy Consumption (REC) to measure and monitor your progress.
Set clear renewable energy goals by assessing current energy use, defining specific targets (e.g., % of renewables by a certain year), considering local energy sources, aligning with policies, creating a financial plan, engaging communities, upgrading infrastructure, monitoring progress, investing in education, and fostering collaborations. Regularly assess and adapt strategies for successful integration.
Aligning renewable energy integration goals and targets with international frameworks increases accountability and transparency, access to funding, resilience and adaptability, etc. It also ensures that your planning efforts are in line with global standards and practices.
Sure the road map must have the goals over a period of time to get the goals of the progressive net zero target. Important consideration is the energy price as part of all considerations. The utilities play a major rol due to some times the economic interests in the payback of their investments doesn’t let distributed energy growth.
The third step is to plan your actions and strategies for renewable energy integration. You can use tools like the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Technology Perspectives or the World Bank ESMAP Renewable Energy Integration Toolkit to design and evaluate your scenarios and options. You can also use platforms like the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group or the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability to learn from best practices and case studies of other cities.
Almost all urban environments are just perfect to adopt sustainable energy that, in my view, is different from renewable energy. And the solution already is established: PV panels in all roofs of almost any city. Obviously New York is not a good candidate. But out of NYC solar PV should be mandatory to all new house and must also be highly pushed as retrofit in existing ones. Along with solar, in a second wave, home batteries will also be part of the solution. Batteries can offer great services to the grid and nature, like providing energy during peak hours, helping the utility that will be able reduce energy supply, reduce loads on the system, and increase operational stability. Is a win-win solution. Don't worry: panels will be recycled
The third step involves strategic planning for renewable energy integration. Utilize resources like the International Energy Agency (IEA) Energy Technology Perspectives and the World Bank ESMAP Renewable Energy Integration Toolkit to design and assess scenarios. Additionally, leverage platforms such as the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability to gain insights from successful city case studies and best practices in renewable energy adoption. These tools and networks can help inform and optimize your renewable energy strategies for urban development.
The fourth step is to engage your stakeholders and partners for renewable energy integration. You can use methods like surveys, workshops, focus groups, or participatory budgeting to consult and involve your citizens, businesses, civil society, and academia. You can also use networks like the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) or the Global 100% RE Cities and Regions Network to connect and collaborate with other cities and regions.
In the fourth step, engaging stakeholders and partners becomes pivotal for successful renewable energy integration. Employ methods such as surveys, workshops, focus groups, or participatory budgeting to actively involve citizens, businesses, civil society, and academia in the decision-making process. Forge connections through networks like the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) and the Global 100% RE Cities and Regions Network to foster collaboration with other cities and regions. By engaging diverse perspectives and forming meaningful partnerships, you can ensure a collective effort toward a sustainable energy future.
The fifth step is to implement your projects and initiatives for renewable energy integration. You can use instruments like policies, regulations, incentives, subsidies, or contracts to support and facilitate your renewable energy development and deployment. You can also use models like public-private partnerships, community ownership, or cooperatives to finance and operate your renewable energy projects.
Besides applying some necessary tools like subsidies, it is of outmost importance to gain the local acceptance for the planned RES installations. A good way to achieve this, is through the promotion of energy communities. Energy communities can achieve economies of scale, local acceptance while relieving the energy costs of its members and leveraging private capital.
In the fifth step, the actual implementation of projects and initiatives for renewable energy integration takes center stage. Employ various instruments such as policies, regulations, incentives, subsidies, and contracts to provide essential support and facilitate the development and deployment of renewable energy technologies. Consider models like public-private partnerships, community ownership, or cooperatives as viable means to secure financing and efficiently operate your renewable energy projects. By translating plans into action through a combination of strategic measures and financial structures, cities can drive tangible progress toward a sustainable and greener future.
The sixth step is to evaluate your outcomes and impacts of renewable energy integration. You can use tools like the IEA Energy Technology Perspectives or the World Bank ESMAP Renewable Energy Integration Toolkit to analyze and compare your results and performance with your goals and targets. You can also use platforms like the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group or the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability to share and communicate your achievements and challenges with other cities.
One key strategy could be microgeneration with smaller-scale wind turbines on buildings, which can contribute to local power needs, incorporating aesthetically pleasing wind turbine designs that complement the urban landscape. By integrating wind energy into urban development, we not only reduce our carbon footprint but also create cleaner and more resilient cities for future generations. Let's work together to harness the power of the wind and build a sustainable urban future. ????? #WindEnergy #SustainableCities #RenewableFuture
Utilising the vast amount of batteries (both capacity in/out GW and volume GWh) that will become available in EVs is key. Cars spend most of their time standing idle. So utilizing both smart charging and vehicle to grid (V2G) is essential in balancing of renewables within the grid, allow for more efficient grid utilization, provide ancillary services and more. Unlike utility scale batteries EV batteries will not require investment decisions... they will simply come so utilizing them through aggregation is a low hanging future fruit.
Nature based solutions play a major role on reducing the energy demand by improving microclimate, hence both the demand for imported energy as well as locally produced. Therefore, limitations to the use of local renewable energy production can be reduced, or overcome, by alternate microclimate management approaches.
Cities can further renewable energy integration by adopting energy storage systems, district energy networks, green building standards, and green bond financing. They should prioritize transparency in sharing renewable energy data and consider microgrids, electrification of transport, and circular economy principles. By combining urban planning with nature and engaging in global collaborations through networks like C40 Cities, cities can build resilient and sustainable communities. These strategies, demonstrated in cities like Los Angeles, Copenhagen, Paris, Singapore, Kodiak Island, Oslo, Amsterdam, and through international partnerships, offer valuable insights for effective renewable energy integration in urban environments.
The fastest growing arena to help the World. This helps Carbon cludder. Growth of plants, agriculture, fisheries, etc & dramatically helps low carbon.