Economic efficiency and energy security of smart cities

The aim of this paper is to provide an analysis of the determinants of economic efficiency and to assess the prerequisites for the energy security of smart cities. The main methods of the paper include an economic analysis of the infrastructure improvements that result in reducing the energy demand of the smart cities represented by the intelligent light-emitting diode (LED) street lighting system. Smart LED streetlights are getting increasingly popular in the world’s major metropolises as one of the leading components of the “smart” city. We compare the efficiency of LED street lighting used in smart cities with a commonly used lighting system based on sodium lamps. Our results demonstrate that LED street lighting system can significantly reduce the energy demand of any modern city. Moreover, we show that smart grids might help distribution systems within smart cities to better integrate intermittent renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The main research novelty of our study compared to previous studies from the literature is the estimation of net profit (NP), Net Discounted Savings (NDS), as well as the total savings (TS) using the example of an average European metropolis. Our findings show that there is a need for better management including strong networks of leaders to drive smart city policies and investments and to cover wider city areas with economically sustainable projects and plans. In addition, our findings yield that smart city projects should aim at finding solution for smart connected local energy storage systems to support more renewable energy sources on the power grids. Our results might be of a special interest for city planners, local government stakeholders, as well as urban policy makers dealing with planning and managing smart cities

Tasks and Suggestions for the Adaptation to the Climate Change in Kecskemét

Adapting to the expected negative impacts of climate change in our region is a strategic task in order to preserve the ecological conditions of the region and ensure the conditions for sustainable development. Responsible management of local water resources is essential (rainwater and purified sewage, saving water use) together with water supply, rational land-use change, deliberate management of green spaces, and eco-friendly urban planning/design. These serve both to preserve the natural features of the area, to ensure the sustainable use of landscape resources and to ensure the long-term viability and operability of the city

Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits

This book comprises six papers published in the Special Issue “Environmental and Economic Evaluations of Building Energy Retrofits”. The six papers each adopt different perspectives in investigating building energy retrofit practices in Hong Kong, Poland, the Netherlands, Finland, and Italy. The target of the studies includes campus buildings, renovation options for modernist housing estates, green building certification schemes, practitioners’ views and practices, and energy system performance

The European GreenLight Programme - Efficient Lighting Project Implementation - Catalogue 2005-2009

The goal of substantially improving end-use energy efficiency and promoting the use of renewable energy sources is a key component of the EU energy and environmental policies, shared by all EU Member States. The European Commission Directorate General Energy contributes to this goal through a series of actions under the "Intelligent Energy - Europe" Programme. In addition, given the large share of energy consumption in buildings and the large cost effective energy saving potential, special attention has been dedicated to the building sector and the lighting in particular. The GreenLight Programme (launched in January 2000) is one of these actions, aimed specifically at private and public non-residential lighting. The GreenLight Programme is a European Commission voluntary programme through which non-residential building owners and occupiers, being private or public organisations, are aided in improving the energy efficiency of their lighting systems. Any enterprise, company or organisation (hereinafter defined as organisation) planning to contribute to the GreenBuilding Programme objectives can participate. This report is a collection of most of the lighting efficiency upgrades undertaken by Partners in the period 2006 to 2009.JRC.DDG.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra

Economic development as design: Insight and guidance through the PSI framework

Economic development is aimed at improving the lives of people in the developing world, and needs to be carried out with design at its heart, but this has often not been the case. This paper first reviews dominant approaches to economic development including the use of subsidies or the creation of markets and demand and the testing of initiatives using randomized control trials. It then introduces ‘development engineering’ as a representative engineering design approach to engineering and technology in development before presenting the view that successful development needs to involve continual learning through innovation in context. The PSI (problem social institutional) framework is presented as a basis for guiding such development as a design activity, and its application is illustrated using examples from India of the unsuccessful introduction of new cooking stoves and then both successful and unsuccessful approaches to rural electrification. A 2-level approach to PSI is taken, in which the lower level represents daily operation of communities and the 2nd level represents the development project including addressing misalignments between the different PSI spaces and levels

Town of Benton Maine Ordinances

Ordinances Cover: Floodplain, Land Use, Shoreland Zonin

Making the "New Lourinhã, a European Lourinhã": Democracy, Civic Engagement, and the Urban Development of Lourinhã, Portugal Since 1966

Since 1966, Lourinhã’s urban landscape has transformed as Portugal democratized. From a rural town with little infrastructure and few institutions in 1966, Lourinhã emerged by 2001 as an ostensibly modern European town. This work highlights key areas of economic and urban development and argues that Lourinhã’s political culture became more institutionalized leaving less room for, and withering expectation of, citizen participation in local development as Portugal transitioned from dictatorship to democracy. This dissertation examines Portugal’s transition from the Estado Novo dictatorship (1933-1974) to European social democracy by focusing on Lourinhã’s – a town of 22,000 people, north of Lisbon – urbanization since 1966. Lourinhã’s urbanization involved, and indeed required, a shift in its institutional and political culture. In the 1960s and 1970s people were expected to participate in development at a cultural, political and financial level, acting as substitutes for non-existent state mechanisms of development. However, by the late 1980s, the momentum had shifted as regional, national, and European institutions participated in developmental programs, marking a dramatic change in how citizens engaged with the state and the Portuguese nation. From this shift has emerged a debate about the nature of Portugal’s transition to democracy. With the Carnation Revolution of 1974 – the military coup that toppled the Estado Novo – at the center of analysis, academics and pundits ask whether that event represented “evolution or revolution” for Portugal. Was Portugal on the path towards democracy before 1974? And, given contemporary problems, was the rapid shift to European social democracy the blessing it appeared to be by the 1990s? Did democratization disenfranchise the Portuguese in important ways? Are commentators like Jorge Silva Melo, a Lisbon playwright who began his career in the Estado Novo years, correct in asserting that, “under the dictatorship there was hope … that was in ‘72/’73. Nowadays [2011], its exactly the opposite: there is no hope”? This dissertation uses Lourinhã's development as an example of a Portuguese experience to argue that the Carnation Revolution, although a watershed in Portugal's politico-cultural evolution, should not be understood as the moment when democracy came to Portugal

Energy Service Companies Market in Europe - Status Report 2010

The present report is the 2007-2010 European ESCO status report, continuing the work of the "Latest Development of Energy Services Companies across Europe European" (Status Report 2007) published by the European Commission DG Joint Research Center in 2007 and which covered the European ESCO market development during 2005-2007. The first ESCO report of this series is Energy Service Companies in Europe (Status Report 2005) published by the European Commission DG Joint Research Center in 2005. The aim of the present report is to update and to investigate the specific situation in every country in more detail. To this end, the authors sketch the current status of national markets, and identify changes that have occurred during 2007-2010. In addition, the factors influencing the development are investigated. Specific barriers are identified and potential interventions to increase energy efficiency investments and to exploit energy saving potentials through ESCOs across Europe are discussed.JRC.DDG.F.8-Renewable Energy (Ispra