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The Role of Renewable Energy Sources in Green Planning of Cities and Communities

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Green Planning for Cities and Communities

Part of the book series: Research for Development ((REDE))

Abstract

Recent estimates suggest that cities account for about 70% of the global energy demand and thereby can be identified as key players to decarbonise the energy generation sector. Among the possibilities to face this challenge, the integration of renewable energy sources into the energy supply mix has a prominent role. Currently, many cities have drastically reduced their energy demand in all final uses and are even boosting a process of 100% energy transition to renewable energy sources. This goal is clearly ambitious not only from an economic point of view, but also even from the technical standpoint, meaning that this integration of renewables is not straightforward. Hence, an effort from academic researchers in order to develop proper methods and tools to support energy planning at urban scale as well as efforts from public services administrations to acquire a proactive role is desired. In this chapter, in order to provide insights into heterogeneous expertise involved in the sector, a framework on the renewables integration at city scale is outlined, highlighting the current main issues and challenges that are encountered, describing some selected experiences and investigating the possible technological solutions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One approach used to understand and transform urban areas into more efficient systems is the metabolic one, which started with the metaphor of a city as a living organism. The first concept of a city’s metabolic requirements as “all the materials and commodities needed to sustain the city’s inhabitants at home, at work and at play” (Wolman 1965).

  2. 2.

    i.e. the ratio (final energies satisfied by RES)/(total final energies).

  3. 3.

    Gross final consumption of energy means the energy commodities delivered for energy purposes to industry, transport, households, services including public services, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the consumption of electricity and heat by the energy branch for electricity, heat and transport fuel production, and losses of electricity and heat in distribution and transmission (EU 2018a).

  4. 4.

    Eurostat. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database (accessed 23/10/2019).

  5. 5.

    In Figs. 10.2 and 10.3, fossil fuels consumption and RES share on the total final consumptions in 2020 have been estimated proportionally to the previous years.

  6. 6.

    Eurostat. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/data/database (accessed 23/10/2019).

  7. 7.

    HP requires electricity, that can be also produced by RES, for its operation and permits the exploitation of renewable heat such as geothermal, groundwater, air or solar.

  8. 8.

    Here neglected because their application is controversial in urban areas due to air pollution issues.

  9. 9.

    http://www.go100percent.org/cms/index.php?id=19 (accessed 23/10/2019).

  10. 10.

    http://www.go100percent.org/cms/index.php?id=19 (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  11. 11.

    http://www.smartcity-ready.eu/about-ready/ (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  12. 12.

    https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/186981/factsheet/es (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  13. 13.

    https://geothermalcommunities.eu/ (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  14. 14.

    https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/94483/factsheet/en (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  15. 15.

    https://www.smarter-together.eu (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  16. 16.

    https://publications.wri.org/buildingefficiency/ (accessed on 23/10/2019).

  17. 17.

    The amount includes cities with a population over 500 thousand inhabitants (UN 2018).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering (ABC), Politecnico di Milano, Via G. Ponzio, 31, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Paola Caputo

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  1. Paola Caputo
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Correspondence to Paola Caputo .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Architettura, Ingegneria delle Costruzioni e Ambiente Costruito (DABC), Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy

    Giuliano Dall'O'

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Caputo, P. (2020). The Role of Renewable Energy Sources in Green Planning of Cities and Communities. In: Dall'O', G. (eds) Green Planning for Cities and Communities. Research for Development. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41072-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41072-8_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41071-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41072-8

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