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Winning Over Climate Change Through Urban Energy Transition – pwc Reports | |
| Sumita Pawar |
According to the report, the United Nations stated that cities, like the entire global economy, now run largely on fossil fuels. They consume about 78% of the world’s energy and account for more than 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
Urban transport alone accounts for the equivalent of 4 billion metric tonnes of CO2 emissions, more than 40% of the transport sector’s total emissions, states the International Energy Agency.
To a large degree, cities are our future.
How cities, both old and new, set up their energy infrastructure and how much they can use alternative fuels to power their operations will have a big impact on our ability to move away from fossil fuels in the next few decades.
Cities will be the stage on which the transition to net zero is played out.
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The report elaborates on 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.
The report further mentions a strategic framework that allows leaders to consider the typology of their city and thus how they can chart constructive paths forward.
Commenting on Trendspotting, their first strategy, it added, 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
According to the report, rapid advancements are taking place in the issuance and modernization 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 2010 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive.
The US Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 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).
Technology
Solar panels and wind power are getting better all the time, which is driving down their costs and making them competitive with fossil fuels.
EVs and solar power will spread faster as fuel cell and battery technologies get better.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, said the report.
Commenting on the Generation and Distribution report, cities are focusing on diversifying their sources of energy to ensure enhanced resilience.
The European Green Deal was made by the European Commission as a way to cut net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. One of its main goals is to make Europe less dependent on energy from other countries.
Furthermore, as the Leaning into Ecosystems report stated, 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 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. And it’s not just a matter of contracting with suppliers for the provision of low-carbon electricity.
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 join the growing movement towards a circular economy, in which the waste from one business can be used as food for another.Leaning into these transformations has the potential to yield significant CO2 reductions.
Moving forward, 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, according to the report.
According to the report, 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.
Accelerating the transition
There is a great deal to be done to work effectively in the ecosystems that are forming. Each stakeholder has an important role to play. It starts with self-awareness; as the report mentioned, cities must recognise their assets and advantages, as well as their liabilities and challenges. The pathways are clear, and there is significant opportunity for progress in every city—regardless of where it is situated.
As we progress, it is vital to move with a combination of optimism, realism, and urgency.
Cities are the laboratories for experimentation, implementation, solutions, and scaling. Although climate change is truly a global problem, there is not a single global solution, or even a few national solutions. National and international actions matter. But the real efforts and proof points—the markers of success—will appear in the world’s vibrant cities, said the report.
As the report concluded, city leaders must understand how their cities are situated and what their capabilities are and begin to act accordingly. The good news is that many of the solutions for improvement are at hand. It is now a question of scaling, deployment, financing, and integration. This endeavour will require the good-faith efforts and ingenuity of all players in the ecosystem.