Methodologies for the design of Positive Energy Districts: A scoping literature review and a proposal for a new approach (PlanPED)

Cities can substantially contribute to European Green Deal targets by accelerating their transition towards smarter, more efficient, and renewable-based energy models. In that context, European cities need to increase their self-sufficiency and the resilience of their energy system especially through the promotion of district and neighbourhood scale energy projects such as positive energy districts (PEDs). Despite the increasing interest for PEDs experienced in the last years, their deployment is currently hindered by the absence of an energy planning culture and the lack of adequately skilled personnel in cities. Indeed, there is a strong need for practical tools and guidelines that support practitioners in the design and implementation of PEDs. In that context, the present paper introduces PlanPED, a framework for the conception of methodologies for PED planning, design, and implementation, to support municipalities in their energy transition. PlanPED aims at providing a multiple perspective approach based on the most important elements from existing methodologies. In that sense, the paper begins with an overview of the state of the art, leading to the identification of trends, gaps, and good practices of current research. Then, based on this analysis, the novel framework PlanPED is introduced. It consists of three interconnected workflows that, if followed, enables to know which steps and resources need to be put in practice to initiate the transition towards PED, while recognizing the variability of contexts and necessities. By doing so, PlanPED seeks to facilitate the elaboration of tailored and practical roadmaps for the deployment of PEDs in cities

El fomento de las Comunidades Energéticas Locales en Madrid. Estudio de caso de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

La energía tiene una importancia central en nuestras vidas y constituye un elemento clave para la actividad económica de todos los países y el bienestar de los ciudadanos. En un contexto de cambio climático, resulta imprescindible la transformación del modelo energético vigente en uno que respete los limites del planeta y ponga la vida en el centro. Las Comunidades Energéticas Locales (CELs) son una nueva figura del sector energético que promueve la construcción de este nuevo modelo energético desde lo local, diseñado por y para los ciudadanos y basados en fuentes de energía renovable. Las agendas europeas las han identificado como una herramienta potente y, estos últimos años, han estado tratando de fomentar su desarrollo en los Estados miembros. Este trabajo tiene el propósito de analizar la oportunidad y el potencial que representan las CELs para la transición energética a nivel local, nacional e internacional. Asimismo, se pretende aplicar la noción de CEL a la ciudad de Madrid en España, y explorar vías de impulsarlas desde la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), en el marco de sus planes de sostenibilidad y descarbonización