Abstract
Cities, as main energy consumers, play a crucial role in achieving a more sustainable energy future. This means that there is an urgent need to transform the way of planning urban areas, focusing on more efficient and self-reliant energy production and consumption modes overall. In this framework, the aim of this study is to explore the Net-Zero energy balance between two spatial scales: the whole city with its diversified energy consumption patterns, and those urban blocks, neighborhoods, or industrial areas that can produce energy and supply it to other areas. This approach leads to the development of an energy zoning for the city, based on the geographical urban delimitation of solar energy exporters cells and the energy consuming ones. On the production side, cells are delimited according to their solar energy production potential. On the demand side, cells are delimited according to four specific criteria: construction timeline, population density, urban morphologies, and land-use patterns that permit the definition of a classification of urban areas, based on the different energy consumption levels. In this paper, the web platform “E-City”, a tool for planning energy balance at urban level is presented, by describing its practical application in the city of Oeiras, Portugal. The platform integrates itself with the existing municipal Geographic Information System, exploring both spatial and statistical dimensions associated with zoning and the overall energy network system. Results from the use of this tool are relevant for urban planning practices, formulation of policies, and management of public investment that can be guided to more energy efficient solutions and supporting the transition towards nearly zero-energy cities.
Highlights
Urbanization associated with the growth of population and the expansion of built environment is a process that has led to changes in land use with serious consequences for climate change [1].According to the International Energy Agency (2016), urban areas today account for about two-thirds of primary energy demand and 70% of total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions [2]
Given the need for effective solutions to support the decision-making process and governance [11], this paper proposes the E-City web platform: a tool for planning energy balance at urban scale
The specific goal of the project was the development of a theoretical model and its practical application, articulating energy consumption and solar energy supply with land use zoning and urban design parameters
Summary
Urbanization associated with the growth of population and the expansion of built environment is a process that has led to changes in land use with serious consequences for climate change [1].According to the International Energy Agency (2016), urban areas today account for about two-thirds of primary energy demand and 70% of total energy-related carbon dioxide emissions [2]. Energy flows constrain and shape cities leading to a pressing need for new approaches to its planning and design. It is within this background that new concepts such as the Smart City [3] and Digital. City [4] have been developed in part to address specific problems that affect urban energy systems [5]. These visions of Future Cities today are taking on a new relevance for the definition of energy-efficient urban models as well as their integration and application to the existing cities.
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