Sustainable Energy Action Plans Research Articles

Urban CO2 mitigation strategies under the Covenant of Mayors: An assessment of 124 European cities

In 2008, the European Commission (EC) launched the Covenant of Mayors (CoM), a voluntary agreement under which local governments commit to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 20% within 2020, in order to reinforce local authorities in designing strategies to mitigate climate change in coherence with the European Union’s climate policy. The CoM may be defined as a coordinated collection of experiments based on common rules established by the EC. Cities signing the CoM commit to follow guidelines and standardized methodologies in setting CO2 emission reduction targets and in designing and implementing policies and measures to reach them, through the definition of key tools such as the Baseline Emission Inventory (BEI) and the Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The present study analyses the emission reduction strategies of a sample of 124 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, signatories of the CoM, which delivered a SEAP by February 2014. More than 5500 actions planned by the sample cities were analysed and categorized. The most relevant actions in terms of recurrence and mitigation impact were assessed. Finally a set of variables was tested through a regression so as to determine their influence on emission reductions strategies.The main results of this study show that the sample cities accounted for a total of 370 million tons of CO2 emissions in selected baseline years and 94 million tons of intended emission reductions per year. The total emission reductions planned by cities reached 25% of the baseline emissions. Buildings and Transport stood out as the sectors where cities intend to deliver the largest emission reductions. Furthermore the analysis showed that cities’ administrations attribute higher potential to actions in subsectors under their direct control (municipal buildings, public transport, municipal fleet and public lighting) compared to actions in subsectors managed by private actors (households and firms). In the Building sector, the category of action delivering the highest share of CO2 emission reductions was represented by integrated actions, which combine several types of intervention so as to maximise the energy efficiency of buildings. In the transport sector, it was the modal shift, which implies a transition from private transport to public and cleaner transport modes. In both the Building and Transport sectors, cities plan to reduce the major amount of CO2 emissions through the implementation of management and organization, infrastructure construction and awareness-raising policy levers.Our results may be useful to urban policy makers to shape their mitigation strategies in coherence with cities’ commitments and plans and to replicate policies and actions on the basis of CoM signatories’ experiences.

Integrated circular economy and education model to address aspects of an energy-water-food nexus in a dairy facility and local contexts

Universities have responsibilities for accelerating pedagogical innovation to enable a more sustainable future. This research work develops a three-phased approach for integrating principles of a circular economy system within a course in energy policy. The phases involve scanning available resources, identifying possible matches based on the quality of energy, namely exergy, and determining solution areas. The case study is a university-founded dairy facility in the province of Ankara, Turkey with a biogas production potential of 982 m3 per day. Four scenarios are analyzed based on options for combined heat and power, organic Rankine cycle, waste heat recovery, absorption chillers, ground source heat pumps, photovoltaic thermal arrays, and/or low-speed wind turbines. In total, 184.1 kWe of high exergy power and 285.3 kWt of low exergy thermal power may be produced. Further evaluation of the scenarios indicates that the level of exergy match may reach 0.87 while primary energy and primary exergy savings over separate energy production from renewables may be 38% and 61%, respectively. The solution areas can address aspects of an energy, water, and food nexus based on energy from waste, energy for irrigation and agriculture, and other linkages. The results are used to engage students in advancing the Sustainable Energy Action Plans of local municipalities. The approach has applicability to other cases in a time when pedagogical innovation is urgently needed to stimulate environmental sustainability.

Developing indicators to improve energy action plans in municipalities: An accounting framework based on the fund-flow model

The main instrument used to implement the EU 2020 objectives at local level is the Covenant of Mayors, which fosters the development of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs); these plans aim to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 20% by 2020. These action plans are linked to different municipal promotion tools, and a set of indicators has also been proposed to define and monitor the actions. In general, the adequacy of the main indicators used by the SEAPs is analysed, taking into consideration the representation of the urban system across all scales (city, neighbourhood and building) as well as whether the chosen indicators enable the analyst to consider the influence of human activities (i.e. hours of use) on energy consumption, within the system. In contrast, this paper proposes to apply the fund-flow model as an accounting framework that can be used to develop indicators for energy-efficient urban planning. The energy model behind these indicators was obtained using an innovative procedure for energy simulation which considers the isolated characteristics of the buildings (type of construction, occupation, interior comfort, type of energy system) as well as the interaction with the surrounding buildings (shadows, streets, geometry).The indicators proposed have been developed within the SEMANCO UE project, and we have taken into account their potential as criteria for identifying the most effective actions for energy planning on multilevel scales. An example in Manresa (Spain) is used to test the usability. Our results demonstrate that these indicators are suitable for use in decision-making processes in the field of urban planning and for performing coherent comparisons of actions between urban areas, cities, countries or regions.

A geographic information method for managing urban energy use

This paper presents a geographical information method to support urban-level energy policies. It proposes using a geographical information system to store, display, edit, share and analyse geographical information for territorial decision-making. The method was used to help develop a sustainable energy action plan for the municipality of Randazzo in Sicily, Italy, by providing an accurate representation of actual energy consumption. Based on this case study, the use of a geographical information system appears to be a suitable support tool for both developing and managing sustainable energy action plans, regardless of the geographical area or context. This method will help municipalities estimate and monitor the energy consumption of residential, commercial and industrial buildings and, by taking into account the approaches of different stakeholders, help develop more accurate models for reducing urban carbon dioxide emissions.

Solar Energy Technologies in Sustainable Energy Action Plans of Italian Big Cities

Abstract Cities, accounting for more than 3/4 of global final energy consumption, are equipping themselves with governance tools to improve energy efficiency. In Europe, urban energy policy has adopted, only recently and voluntarily, the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAP), following the European Strategy 20-20-20. Italy, country most sensitive among European ones, accounts for 53% of SEAPs signatories. In order to evaluate how urban energy system in Italy can match sustainability European goals, it is necessary to analyse the technological options promoted by the energy policies for the urban environment. The paper presents the state-of-art of Urban Energy Planning in Italy, focusing on the implementation of Solar Energy technologies, and their role in new urban energy strategy instruments, i.e. SEAP, to promote renewables deployment. Carbon emission avoidance interventions planned by Italian big cities were analysed, highlighting the chosen Solar Energy technology. The aim of this paper is to discuss and evaluate the differences of solar energy harvesting in Italian urban scenarios, taking into account geographical and morphological constraints, and to compare the forecasts for 2020 and 2030scenarios, in accordance with European and National laws in force.

Energy Planning for Metropolitan Context: Potential and Perspectives of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) of Three Italian Big Cities

Abstract Energy retrofitting of existing building stock and new expansion of urban settlements entail a new relationship between consumption and production sites. Especially, new production facilities linked to the renewables boom are not taken into account by the urban governance. Energy planning instruments could be the viable tool to manage the new energy transition focusing on territorial resources. The Sustainable Energy Action Plan is the most common and widespread due to its voluntary nature. The study analysed the SEAPs of three big Italian Cities to assess an integrated framework for planning renewablesat the metropolitan scale.

Energy efficiency policy governance in a multi-level administration structure — evidence from Germany

The German government has proclaimed energy efficiency to be the ‘first imperative’ for the transformation of the energy system (‘Energiewende’). It has enacted numerous policy measures at federal, federal state and local level which combined should deliver the aspired energy savings. Our contribution reviews the German governance system (multi-level policy coordination and policy feedback through monitoring and verification of energy savings), including the full set of German Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). We find that many of the SEAPs put emphasis on CO2 reduction but neglect a systematic monitoring and verification (M&V) of energy efficiency. A harmonised M&V scheme covering the relevant energy aggregates and energy savings can facilitate policy feedback. Designing the M&V system to the principle of cost-effectiveness can help to save costs and keep information provision and administrative burden in balance. Regarding policy coordination, the German case shows that strong formal coordination structures are a necessary condition for effective policy design, but not a sufficient one. They need to be backed up by informal coordination such as feedback loops or sharing of best practices to add a dynamic dimension.

Monitoring and evaluation of Sustainable Energy Action Plan: Practice and perspective

The Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP), promoted by the Covenant of Mayor, is a key tool for policies aimed at reducing fossil fuel consumption and GHG emissions, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and its updates. To achieve an actual implementation of the SEAP and to obtain its expected targets, monitoring is a crucial component. SEAP monitoring has to look at both the progress of each single action and its global environmental effect, which requires more than one level of development. In the present paper, an integrated strategy for surveying, controlling and managing the SEAP through a “Monitoring and Evaluation” (M&E) process is introduced. The implementation in the city of Genoa, Italy, was used to test the efficacy of this approach and to assess its strengths and weaknesses. In particular, cost benefit analysis, bankability, peer review and participatory level were identified as key elements for obtaining an operative SEAP monitoring and for then fostering an effective environmental energy policy. Some recommendations were proposed to better outline the “Monitoring and Evaluation” methodology and to help other cities to define a strategy for SEAP monitoring and fulfilment.

The Interplay Between Sustainable Entrepreneurs and Public Authorities: Evidence From Sustainable Energy Transitions

Sustainable entrepreneurs are considered to play a crucial role in fostering sustainable development. However, transitions in sociotechnical systems, such as a transition to low-carbon energy solutions, are unlikely to succeed without the coordination with regional political actions, particularly in sectors characterized by path dependency and lock-ins. Based on an empirical analysis of the interplay between firms and public authorities when opening new energy niche markets through Sustainable Energy Action Plans, this article explores the role of sustainable entrepreneurs. We investigate the different levels of engagement with public authorities in co-evolutionary processes toward sustainable development. From this empirical research, four types of co-evolutionist sustainable entrepreneur are derived—hero, visionary, bandwagoner, and explorer. These correspond to the different degrees of interaction with public authorities and system level of action, and extend the definition of the sustainable entrepreneur. The related academic and managerial implications contribute to the current debate on sustainable entrepreneurship.

Energy Management System Implementation in Latvian Municipalities: From Theory to Practice

This research analyses opportunities and procedures how an energy management system can be implemented in municipalities. The goal of this research is to develop guidelines for energy management system (EnMS) implementation in municipalities according to standard EN ISO 50001:2011 “Energy management systems – Requirements with guidance for use (ISO 50001:2011” [1]. The work is based both on theoretical sources of information and on practical research. The most relevant data of municipalities were considered. Objectives of this work are literature analysis, assessment of the current situation in municipality energy consumption, develop the procedure for implementing EnMS in municipalities, develop guidelines for EnMS implementation and develop policy instrument to stimulate implementation of EnMS in city and regional municipalities in Latvia. This topic is topical at the moment as the goal of Latvia is to increase the renewable energy share of gross final energy consumption to 40% in year 2020, to reach 0.668 million tons of oil equivalent (Mtoe) of energy savings in year 2020 compared to forecasts of year 2007 and limit the country‘s total greenhouse gas emissions in year 2020 so that they do not exceed 12.19 Mtoe [2].Research showed that implementation of EnMS is an appropriate solution to ensure energy savings. Its implementation pays off already after the first year even in a small municipality with a population of around 6 000. In order to successfully implement EnMS in a municipality, it is necessary to receive support from political parties, involve staff from different departments, the administrative process must be minimized, as well as regular meetings and an information campaign are necessary.A credible indicator was obtained with close correlation by which it is possible to identify potential energy savings from EnMS implementation to municipalities that do not have developed sustainable energy action plans and that do not know their energy consumption. An EnMS implementation procedure was developed based on the data and structure of the municipality of the city of Daugavpils. The management, employee and other involved person responsibilities, as well as an EnMS implementation working group were established, and potential savings from EnMS implementation, work/data/cost flow and energy management funding scheme were estimated. This procedure can also be applied to other municipalities.Based upon the analyzed information and data, guidelines for EnMS in municipalities to facilitate implementation of the system were developed and offered the most appropriate policy instrument in the current situation to encourage municipalities to implement EnMS. This political instrument that is included in the draft law “Energy Efficiency Law” obliges 9 largest cities to implement and certify EnMS according to ISO 50001 standard by 1 July 2016, but the regional municipalities whose territories development level index on 31 December 2015 is greater than 0.5 and population is more than 10 000 on their municipality implement EnMS according to ISO 50001 standard by 1 July 2017. This obligation will give 5.92% or 586 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the cumulative mandatory national energy savings target in the period from 2014 – 2020 and it will also encourage other municipalities to implement EnMS.

Multicriteria decision support in local energy planning: An evaluation of alternative scenarios for the Sustainable Energy Action Plan

One of the major challenges for the implementation of local energy planning is the successful development of a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) by the local authorities (especially within the framework of their participation to the Covenant of Mayors’ initiative). This aspect constitutes a decision making problem, since the local authorities have to identify the best fields of actions and opportunities for reaching their long-term CO2 reduction target. However, the already available methods and tools do not offer an integrated framework for the SEAPs’ development and especially the selection of sustainable Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and Rational Use of Energy (RUE) technologies. In this context, the aim of this paper is to present a participatory supportive framework for the implementation of local energy planning. At the first level, the proposed approach incorporates the development of alternative Scenarios of Actions (using knowledge-based process, participatory approach and aspiration level). At the second level, a direct and transparent multicriteria decision support is introduced, in order to evaluate the feasible Scenarios. It includes the application of a multicriteria ordinal regression approach and an extreme ranking analysis method for the estimation of the best and worst possible ranking position of each Scenario. The results from the pilot appraisal of the methodological approach to a “real” problem are presented and discussed. The adopted approach contributes to the selection of the most appropriate combination of RES/RUE actions, supporting in this way the local authorities to the development of their SEAP.

The impact of renewable energy systems on local sustainability

The purpose of the paper is to discuss and assess the impact of renewable energy, RE, generation on sustainable communities, with a specific focus on employment impact. In recent years, local authorities have been involved in the energy planning process due to the site-specific nature of renewable production and thanks to their nearer connection to citizens. Four small and medium-size sustainable communities belonging to Marche region, in central Italy, have been analysed. The work forecasts the employment generated by the RE capacity defined by two different energy scenarios: 1) the 'business as usual' scenario with a 20% CO2 emission reduction target by 2020, where all the energy policies suggested by Sustainable Energy Action Plans have been considered; 2) the 'potential' scenario with a 50% CO2 emission reduction target by 2050. Results show that the spreading of renewable energy, as expected, can increase local jobs, although the high investments required and problems connected to the impact on the grid have to be considered in the analysis of the global economic effect.

Integrating sustainable energy action plans for island municipalities: Case study of Korcula

The goal of the European Union is to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% till 2020. This objective is transferred to municipalities through the Covenant of Mayors initiative which was established by the European Commission in 2008. In line with this, this paper presents an integration of Sustainable Energy Action Plans on the Croatian island of Korcula. This was developed through a methodology that uses factors, derived from the statistic, that have an influence on the energy consumption. Energy consumption and the Baseline CO2 emissions inventory for municipalities on Korcula in the public sector, households, tertiary sector and road transport are calculated. Total CO2 emissions for listed sectors in baseline 2012 are 42,923 tCO2, and with recommended actions and measures this can be reduced by approx. 22% till 2020. There are planned joint actions, so all municipalities on the island can cooperate together to maximise their limited financial and human capacities. There has been suggested the establishment of action group for actions implementation which will include representatives from municipalities and other stakeholders. Investments for measures in household sector in joint and individual approach was compared and it was concluded that achieving economy of scale with an integrated approach would accelerate their implementation. The integrated approach enables small neighbouring municipalities to develop one strategy and act together towards achieving goals taken by submitting to the Covenant of Mayors.

A modelling framework for the forecasting of energy consumption and CO<SUB align="right">2 emissions at local/regional level

Building appropriate scenarios for the elaboration of Sustainable Energy Action Plans, within the framework of the Covenant of Mayors, is a complex task. One major question to be addressed is whether the selected combination of examined measures and actions is considered enough for the local authorities to achieve their long-term target of CO2 emissions reduction. The proposed decision support model aims to address this issue, by enabling the elaboration of long-term scenarios of energy consumption and CO2 emissions at local/regional level. The Delphi method is appropriately applied for embracing experts' judgements. Moreover, an overall algorithm for the future scenarios ('BAU Scenario', 'Economic Prosperity Scenario' and 'Economic Recession Scenario') is introduced, along with a corresponding computerised software. The system's pilot application to a Greek community is presented and discussed. The proposed approach could support the decision-making process for the elaboration of Sustainable Energy Action Plan within the Covenant of Mayors.

Implementation of a sustainable energy action plan for municipality of Ptolemaida

The first step in the implementation of a SEAP is the collaboration of a BEI, as it will provide knowledge of the nature of the entities emitting CO2 on the municipality's territory, and will thus help select the appropriate actions. In this paper, the basic methodology is presented, step by step, in order to develop a BEI for the municipality of Ptolemaida in Western Macedonia Region, Greece. According to the results, the final energy consumption of Ptolemaida City amounts to 407,994.00 MWh. Through the use of appropriate selected emission factors the carbon footprint of Ptolemaida was deducted. According to the BEI of Ptolemaida during the year 2010 were emitted 172,518 tn CO2 or 5, 37 tn CO2/capita.

Geographical Information System as Support Tool for Sustainable Energy Action Plan

The Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) shows that in 2008, the European Commission approved a package of measures entitled “Energy for a Changing World” which is also known as “20–20–20” targets. Therefore, for quality control management and efficiency in the SEAP, it is essential obtaining suitable information on the building's energy performance and consumptions. This paper illustrates a methodology to support energy policies at the urban level using Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in order to characterize and monitoring the energy performance of a region. In this way, the GIS platform provide a mapping representation of the actual state of energy resources in order to develop sustainable energy policies. It was concluded that the GIS can be a useful support during the phases of organization of a SEAP and, for monitoring the actuation of the actions which were foreseen. As a case study, a small town in the Sicily region (Italy) was considered. The proposed methodology aims to help local communities to make decisions for estimating and monitoring the energy consumption in buildings (residential, commercial, industrial), and to simulate effects of energy policies.

Analysis of the Covenant of Mayors Initiative in Sicily

In the European scene a breakthrough in the field of environmental sustainability is represented by the innovative model of multi-level governance, introduced by European Community in 2008, well known as the “Covenant of Mayors”. It is an initiative that involves countries, cities and regions that voluntarily commit to reducing their emissions of greenhouse gases, through the so-called “20-20-20”, that is to reduce by 2020 the 20% of CO2, generating 20% of energy from renewable sources with a reduction of the 20% of energy consumption. The aim of the initiative is to provide a practical tool in order to guide municipalities in the process of drafting a SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plan) according to the European Guidelines drawn up by the Covenant of Mayors Office (Co.MO). Since 2012 the new regional government of Sicily has followed carefully the initiative “Covenant of Mayors” by establishing a technical, scientific and organizational structure called “Control room for the Covenant of Mayors”. The Control room has been as promoter of cultural activities with information and educational purpose, organizing and following meetings with many delegates of all municipalities in Sicily. This path led to a full participation of many Sicilian municipalities, recovering the previous gap during the early years of the initiative. In this analysis, a general overview about the participation of all regions of Italy is exposed, focusing the attention on on the virtuous path undertaken by the Region of Sicily. A more accurate statistical analysis by using several indexes has been conducted to better understand the strengths and weakness of this initiative.

Public Private Partnerships for Italian Resilient Communities.

This article focuses on the role of local institutions in mitigation and adaptation to climate change, considering learning experiences in promoting public-private partnerships in to resilient actions. It does so under the belief that climate impacts will affect disadvantaged social groups and small-communities more disproportionately, and that local institutions centrally influence how different social groups gain access to and are able to use assets and resources. Looking at the increasing awareness that global temperatures will raise, a mentality Climate-smart must be adopted by all levels of decision-making. This approach involves the search for synergies between climate change mitigation and adaptation, wherever is possible. As for mitigation, for adaptation we consider similar pre-conditions. Base on this pre-conditions we identify Public Private Partnerships as a challenge possibility to finance decentralized renewable energies and green infrastructure for resilient communities. The article aims to demonstrate two main unclear topics in existing understanding about institutions and climate change responses: the correlation among Public Private Partnerships and participatory process and how it lead to win-win climate responses funding, a learning experience from Sustainable Energy Action Plan - Within the MED Programme project ZeroCO2 [1] - and Local Adaptation Plan development – within the LIFE+ project BLUE AP [2] . [1] Kyoto Club was partner of the MED Project ZERO CO2 www.medzeroco2.eu [2] Kyoto Club is partner of the LIFE+ Project BLUE AP Bologna Local Urban Environment Adaptation Plan for Resilient City – www.blueap.eu

Preferences Matter: A Constructive Approach to Incorporating Local Stakeholders’ Preferences in the Sustainability Evaluation of Energy Technologies

This research paper aims at developing and applying a constructive weighting methodology for the elicitation of local stakeholders’ preferences regarding a set of sustainability evaluation criteria during the assessment of low-carbon energy technologies. The overall methodology has been applied and tested for the sustainability evaluation of selected low-carbon energy technologies in Europe from a local stakeholders’ perspective. The researchers applied a constructive weighting methodology based on different Multiple Criteria Analysis (MCA) techniques to test the consistency of stakeholders’ preferences. The methodology was piloted based on a small-scale European local stakeholders’ survey within the framework of Covenant CapaCITY, an Intelligent Energy Europe project that supports the development of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs). It became evident that the local stakeholders who participated placed high priorities on aspects such as CO2eq emissions reduction, ecosystem damages reduction, and resilience to climate change during the evaluation of low-carbon energy technologies. Considering the overall energy technologies assessment, wind off-shore, solar PV, hydropower, and wind on-shore achieved the highest scores and better reflected the priorities of local stakeholders considering a large set of multiple sustainability criteria. The high number of criteria led to some inconsistencies of stakeholders’ preferences, confirming the need for consistency checks and/or combining different methods of preference elicitation.

Composite index for benchmarking local energy systems of Mediterranean port cities

Benchmarking the performance of local energy systems requires an integrated approach. This paper develops a composite index that consists of a unique set of 7 dimensions and 35 main indicators. The SDEWES (Sustainable Development of Energy, Water, and Environment Systems) Index is applied to a sample of 22 Mediterranean port cities. The index integrates energy and CO2 emissions data from SEAP (Sustainable Energy Action Plans). The values of the indicators are aggregated based on the Min-Max method for a final ranking. Nice, Venice, and Dubrovnik are the top three cities. An average city in the sample receives a composite score of 2.71. The results are subjugated to comparison based on three energy scenarios. The scenarios take into account reductions in final energy consumption per capita for a given area of the city based on smart energy measures. The scenarios represent improvements in the energy system that may include combined heat and power based district heating networks. A SDEWES Index Tool is developed to further allow cities to plan for potential changes in the final ranking based on energy scenarios. The SDEWES Index is useful to trigger learning, action, and collaboration among Mediterranean port cities to increase future performance.