Connected and Sustainable Energy
Connected Urban Development Perspective
Worldwide demand for electric energy is estimated to rise 82 percent by 2030. Unless revolutionary new fuels are developed, this demand will primarily be met by building many new coal and natural gas electricity generation plants. Not surprisingly, world carbon dioxide emissions are estimated to rise 59 percent by 2030 as a result.
Building a technology-enabled electricity grid can help offset some of this increase in energy usage and CO2 emissions, while improving reliability. For example, such a grid would have the ability to:
Whitepaper
Cities around the world are realizing that energy consumed by buildings and homes is the leading cause of global-warming emissions.
- Reduce peaks in power usage by automatically turning down appliances in homes and offices
- Decrease waste by providing instant feedback on how much energy is being consumed
- Encourage home and business owners to install their own renewable sources of energy
- Encourage manufacturers to produce "smart" appliances to reduce energy use
- Delay construction of new electricity generation and transmission infrastructure
From a city's perspective, this cuts annual costs to operate city-owned facilities, reduces energy costs to attract and retain private industry, decreases residents' energy costs, and lowers overall greenhouse gas emissions and related health costs.
Many of the technologies needed to create a smart electric grid are already available today. Forward-looking utilities across Europe and the United States are already offering Demand Response technologies to help millions of customers reduce their energy usage.