Living, Breathing Cities: Renewable Energy in Urban Areas

Dr. Cary N. Bloyd can't count the number of times he has heard policy makers dismiss the idea of renewable energy:

"Renewable energy isn't cost effective."
"You can't do it in cities."
"What exactly is renewable energy?"

As a scientist at the United States Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Chair of the APEC Expert Group on New and Renewable Energy Technologies, Bloyd has overseen dozens of projects and numerous studies on renewable energy across the Asia-Pacific: "I decided that, out of all of this research, we should be able to distil a very simple set of steps to using renewable energy in cities. We should be able to demystify the concept and make renewable energy a very logical part of responsible living."

In spite of increasing awareness of energy and environmental concerns, the already large demand for energy in cities continues to grow. The study Renewable Energy for Urban Application in the APEC Region ¹ is therefore timely.

Roughly two-thirds of the world's energy is consumed in cities even though only about half of the world's population lives in urban areas. These cities account for 70 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions with residents consuming more coal, more gas and more electricity than the global average. By 2030, city energy use will account for 73 percent of the world?s total energy use and 73 percent of carbon dioxide emissions.

As home to many of the world's most dynamic and fastest growing cities, Bloyd reasoned, APEC had access to a broad sample. Drawing from years of studies from developed and developing economies on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, researchers were tasked to identify best practices among cities seeking to expand renewable energy systems.

Specifically, they asked: How can available technologies be used to reduce energy consumption while maintaining economic growth?

It is a widespread misconception, says Bloyd, that new technologies are expensive. While the initial cost may be comparatively high, the long term savings they generate vastly outweigh the short term cost. He points to a single pane window, as an example: "If these had been double-pane windows, they would have cost about 25 percent more. But think of all the heat that escapes through them and the amount that the owners will have to pay to keep this building warm ? day after day, year after year. Double-paned windows would have reduced that cost by half so it would actually have been much cheaper to do things properly in the first place."

According to the study of best practices across APEC cities, the value of energy efficiency - and specifically solar energy - has not gone un-noticed.

In 2002, more than 1,300 solar photovoltaic panels were installed on the rooftop of the historic Queen Victoria Market in the centre of Melbourne. These convert sunlight into direct current (DC) electricity, which is then distributed to one of 83 solar inverters located under the eaves of the market. Inverters are used to convert the DC to alternating current (AC) so the power is equivalent to that of the regular grid power. During the day, the electricity is distributed within the market and at night, when the solar panels are not generating electricity, the market consumes electricity from the national grid.²

As the largest tourist attraction in Victoria, the market is an ideal showcase for the use of renewable energy in an urban environment and the public is able to view a real-time display, indicating the latest power readings and carbon emissions savings. It has been also been a practical success for the City of Melbourne, having reduced carbon dioxide emissions by about 1,700 tonnes since the installation and manufacturing enough energy to power 46 homes a year. And these panels are expected to generate power for at least the next 30 years.

Make no mistake: cost effective is not the same as cheap. Apart from solar panelling itself, a significant amount of relatively flat space is necessary simply to accommodate it. Going green demands a certain capital outlay or a degree of finance innovation.

In 2008, the American-owned retail chain Wal-Mart enlisted a Silicon Valley-based manufacturer to install high-efficiency solar systems on seven of its stores as a pilot project aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Not entirely altruistic in its green crusade, Wal-Mart proposed various finance/ownership options to its prospective solar energy and equipment providers as a way to defray set-up costs. As one example, suppliers are responsible for the ownership, installation and operation of the solar system, which is located on the rooftops of buildings owned by the retailer. To compensate the suppliers for their lofty investment, Wal-Mart commits to purchase 100 percent of the energy generated by that system.

In effect, the arrangement is mutually-beneficial, enabling companies like Wal-Mart to embark on large scale energy efficiency programmes with little or no risk, while providing suppliers with the assurance of sales.

In search of new sources of economic growth and conscious of the risk of future energy shortages, governments are also exploring ways to benefit from renewable energy sources.

When it was granted the right to host The World Games in 2009, the city of Kaohsiung, Chinese Taipei swiftly set out to ensure that venues would meet International Federation Standards. The most important project was the Main Stadium in Kaohsiung city, which seats 40,000. Engaging Japanese architect Toyo Ito to design the ultra-modern stadium as a green building, its function would be as impressive as its form.

Indeed, the shape and positioning of the building provides spectators with shelter from both the south-western summer wind and the north-western winter wind, while its particular orientation shelters spectators from sunlight. Its roof - aesthetically modelled on the form of a flowing river - also happens to be fitted with 8,844 solar panels and generates enough energy to accommodate up to 75 percent of the stadium's requirements on competition days and feeding electricity back into the city's grid on off-days.

Capable of generating up to 1 megawatt of clean electric power and the ability to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by more than 500 tons, the stadium is the world?s largest solar-powered stadium.

Increasing the use of renewable energies and developing new technologies, products and services increases energy security and is therefore important to economies at large. For cities, it means the development of local industries and the expansion of trade opportunities. For the people in those cities, it means job creation and improved air quality.

In addition, says Bloyd, the unquantifiable value of these types of projects is the way that they change the people involved in them: "People begin to think differently about they way they do things." This, in the long-term, is how cities and economies are being transformed.

Extract from: Renewable Energy for Urban Application in the APEC Region

Best practices for the expansion of renewable energy systems in cities throughout the region:

1. Understand what renewable energy means for your city: Become familiar with the range of commercial renewable energy technologies in the marketplace today and their applications.

2. Make a commitment to renewable energy: Establish a time-bound renewable energy target for the city; assess the local energy supply and demand structure and likely growth patterns; create an inventory of existing urban renewable energy incentives and disincentives at the regional, national and sub-national levels; and understand the city's mandate with regard to energy in general and renewables in particular.

3. Initiate a plan of action: Organise a planning task force and prepare a tailored plan of action, based on local needs and conditions. As a "living plan", it can be expected to evolve, and the planning process should specifically allow updates and modifications.

4. Build an effective policy framework: Create a broad legislative framework on clean energy; put in place mega policies for renewable energy development (i.e. renewable portfolio standards, feed-in tariffs and competitive tendering); and develop financial incentives to stimulate market stability and investment.

5. Establish rules and regulations to ensure that quality products and services are delivered to the marketplace.

6. Address technical issues aimed at improving technology performance and costs (i.e. through in-country technical capacity, international collaboration and joint ventures).

7. Provide access to financing: Draw from a range of local, national and international sources and finance mechanisms, including insurance/risk underwriting.

8. Launch a renewable energy awareness campaign: Increase the impact of renewable energy efforts through a coordinated education, awareness and training campaign.

9. Strengthen local capacity through technical assistance and training that targets a range of public and private sector stakeholders.

10. Lead by action: Invest in renewable energy on public buildings and in day-to-day operations.