Today, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a timely report on Cities and how critically important they are to achieve a net-zero world.

The report “Empowering Cities for a Net Zero Future” covers all aspects of the issues and challenges that Cities are facing on climate action.

The IEA states that “Cities are key to a net-zero emissions future where affordable and sustainable energy is accessible to all. The global population living in cities is expected to surge from 50% in 2021 to 70% in 2050. Cities today account for 70% of global CO₂ emissions and 75% of global energy use. But with size comes opportunity.”

The report covers a wide range of opportunities, challenges and policy solutions that can help city-level governments capture the significant value of efficient and smart digital energy systems, no matter their unique context by illustration, through more than 100 examples and case studies,

The report also provides actionable guidance on ways national governments can help cities overcome barriers to progress and accelerate clean energy transitions using digitalisation.

Let me summarize some of the main findings here:

Recognizing the importance of having Smart Cities
Smart cities represent an important opportunity to reduce energy consumption while meeting service demand, improving grid stability and improving the quality of life for all. It is the solutions being provided that can accelerate this need.

Next-generation energy systems are leveraging big data and applying digital technologies to collect and analyse data in real-time. Through this data management understanding, can manage city services more efficiently.

These solutions that are applying intelligence are transforming the energy landscape by creating new synergies to reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency and enhance resilience.

The need for digitalization in Cities is essential to any climate goals.

As pointed out by the IEA, today’s constantly evolving technology landscape creates new sources of rich data on air quality, energy consumption, geospatial information and traffic patterns, and new tools to manage that data. They can help cities make smarter, better-informed decisions, especially on sustainable urban planning and operations issues.

The concept of smart cities has expanded in recent years to include governance, access and inclusivity, economic and social innovation, and sustainability. Yet, to date, there is still no unified definition.

I like the OECD definition of smart cities as “cities that leverage digitalisation and engage stakeholders to improve people’s well-being and build more inclusive, sustainable and resilient societies”.

It is suggested in this OECD definition that digitalisation and digital innovation are not an end in itself, but rather aim to improve people’s lives to achieve greater inclusion, sustainability and resilience.

By synthesising these new information streams, they can help improve the operation and efficiency of energy systems and address challenges of equity and reliability, assuming that concerns over data access, providing privacy and security can be effectively managed.

Digital solutions and systems can be compelling in cities, where the high-density environment creates economies of scale, minimising the need for new infrastructure and creating new opportunities.

Digitalisation
can also help de-risk and encourage private investment in clean energy projects, creating new business opportunities and revenue streams, enabling innovative financing mechanisms and improving risk perception.

Increasing generation from distributed renewables, reducing the use of fossil fuel resources, and the electrification of transport and heating all require a broad portfolio of flexibility options, posing new challenges and creating new opportunities for the management of energy infrastructure.

Smart Controls
Digital solutions in buildings, such as smart sensors and controls for thermostats and lighting, can help consumers use energy more efficiently and unleash behavioural and lifestyle changes that lead to sustainable energy use.

Buildings equipped with new technologies can provide flexibility to support power system decarbonisation, security and resilience.

Managing Urban Transport more effectively.
Digital technologies transform the mobility landscape by improving energy efficiency, facilitating shifts to active and shared transport modes, improving public transport’s convenience and reliability, and more.

The electrification of transport and proliferation of electric vehicles (EVs) could enable greater integration of variable renewables via flexibility services such as smart charging and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) services.

National, regional and local governments, as well as citizen-led initiatives, have an important role to play in incentivising and accelerating digitally enabled urban energy transitions.

Local governments are in a unique position to deliver on the net-zero agenda. The key is to strengthen the cooperation between local, regional and national governments to help meet shared objectives while advancing progress on equitable energy transitions.

The level of influence cities can have on energy systems

This report illustrates the wide range of opportunities, challenges and policy solutions that can help different levels of government capture the significant value of efficient, smart, digital energy systems, no matter their unique context.

As I mentioned, this report “Empowering Cities for a Net Zero Future” covers all aspects of the issues and challenges that Cities are facing on climate action.

All the different aspects in this report are well worth exploring in the of building out Smart Cities.

Well worth a read, in my opinion.