Smart Cities in the EU, Setis and CO2 abatement
The following post is a new topic that I will include into my master blog; is a sustainable idea that is having a strong impact in the European Society of this century as well as into the European Union. In the next lines I will try to explain the Smart Cities importance for the new society and their role in the European Union.
The city will be, without doubt, the dominant habitat type along the XXI century. More 50% of the world’s population already lives in cities, what has become the major consumer of resources and accelerating climate change. Thus, the model of development of cities should be complemented with some changes in the coming decades. This is extremely important if we what to reduce the environmental impact and climate they generate, their ecological footprint.
The key issues in the field of urban sustainability are aiming to answer fundamental questions such as how they can reduce the ecological footprint of cities, how to curb the growing social segregation within them or how to make cities places of social cohesion and equal opportunities for all its inhabitants.
But in addition to its negative externalities, cities are spaces focus on knowledge, innovation and capacity for action, since house the centers of political, economic, civil and thinking, and decision-making. It is for these reasons that cities are required and the potential generate the necessary paradigm shift. The objective is to start functioning efficiently.
According with the idea the European Commission, they create SETIS the “Strategic Energy Technologies System”. The objective of this tool is very ambitious and is as it follows:
Demonstrate the feasibility of rapidly progressing towards our energy and climate objectives at a local level while proving to citizens that their quality of life and local economies can be improved through investments in energy efficiency and reduction of carbon emissions.
From the city, the mitigation and adaptation to climate change should encourage energy saving, sustainable transport models and less consumerist lifestyles, must focus on eliminating fossil fuels in homes and workplaces, should promote an energy mix with a high share of renewable energy and should promote an urban planning and architecture that incorporates criteria that reduce energy demand for housing and to promote the recycling of materials and prudent use of resources.
The initiative of creating SETIS is based on the interest of the European Union that is within the current EU policies and national programs such as CIVITAS, CONCERTO and Intelligent Energy Europe.
The main driver of SETIS, are linked to:
- To trigger a sufficient take-up (reaching 5% of the EU population) of energy efficient and low carbon technologies to unlock the market.
- To reduce by 20% the greenhouse gas (reference year 1990) emissions by 2020, that will demonstrate not only environmental and energy security benefits but also to provide socio-economic advantages in terms of quality of life, local employment and businesses, and citizen empowerment.
- To effectively spread across Europe best practices of sustainable energy concepts at local level, for instance through the Covenant of Majors.
The smart cities development is supported by the European Commission, because they have many impacts of environmental and social, in addition it also has an impact on the fight against the cuts in carbon emissions by cleaner energy, be more efficient. Looking in terms of electrical use for, homes, offices, buildings, among others.
Cities are the major centers of consumption and waste generation. Reducing the ecological footprint of cities goes to get a urban metabolism more efficient, to close cycles of products and extend its useful life to fully optimize their use. This implies generalization of a more responsible to reduce waste. The reuse and recycling of soil, water and materials must become a basic principle city in creating and maintaining it.
Take into actions this ideas is important to controlling and managing efficiently the new dynamics. We need to develop smart cities, incorporating the full potential provided by new technologies to improve performance and quality of life they bring to the citizens who live there.
Thanks for reading…
7 comentarios /
05 Apr 2013
por
Carlos Omar Garcia Pascual
IMSD /
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