Decarbonizing Cities – How to Harmonize Buildings, Mobility and Infrastructure

The Parc del Fòrum, a public open space with a massive solar panel in Barcelona, Spain. Enrique Díaz / 7cero / Getty Images By Francesco Starace and Jean-Pascal Tricoire Why is it so important to decarbonize cities? And how can we do it? The first question is easy to answer: The cities in which more than half of us live account for nearly two-thirds of the CO2 emissions that lie at the root of our planet’s looming climate crisis . Skyscrapers in megalopolises, shopping malls, SUVs in the streets, air conditioners in a growing number of places throughout the globe – all consume a vast amount of high CO2-content energy. The answer to the second question is to take an integrated approach: leveraging clean electrification and digital technology to harmonize urban energy systems, while also thinking beyond individual projects to consider their impact within the surrounding communities and the built environment. In fact, urban energy, transport and building infrastructures are gradually becoming greener: There are more electric vehicles on city streets , better water treatment and recycling schemes, and more solar panels on rooftops around the globe. According to International Energy Agency estimates , renewables like solar and wind […]

Click here to view original web page at Decarbonizing Cities – How to Harmonize Buildings, Mobility and Infrastructure