Cities, which cover about 2% of the Earth's surface, are the account for 75% of global primary energy production. Furthermore, this figure will continue to rise, as projections for the year 2050 indicate that 70% of the global population will live in large cities.
On the other hand, the global energy demand is growing, as has been the case in recent decades, and it is estimated that In 30 years, it will double or triple.
In this regard, and given that future projections point to resource scarcity and climate change, it is essential that the necessary measures needed to reduce consumption and increase energy efficiency and use environmentally friendly energy sources.
To achieve these goals, you can perform a energy audit, in search of a improving energy efficiency in cities, which will be of great importance in the coming years because it is the fastest and most cost-effective way to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact.
The Keys to an Efficient City
In the quest to make a city as energy-efficient as possible, there are several measures that can be taken. Below are some of the most important ones:
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Energy Consumption Monitoring
The introduction of new technologies in the engineering sector has led to the development of a wide range of applications designed to facilitate or improve existing processes. In this regard, the Big Data can be of great use in the energy industry just as it is in many other sectors.
And this is because the power plants They have a large number of sensors to ensure proper operation, so the Data generation is continuous and big data and data analytics can become extremely important.
Some of the benefits of using it include: analyze seasonal trends, determine whether companies are meeting demand, compare the performance of different raw materials, the predictive maintenance or monitoring the productivity of a production line.
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Energy Efficiency in Buildings
It is estimated that the Buildings account for more than 30% of global energy consumption. Therefore, if we want our cities to consume less energy in the future, retrofitting buildings to significantly reduce their energy consumption will be a priority.
In this context, the concept of Nearly Zero-Energy Building defined by the European Directive as one that It has a very high level of energy efficiency and therefore requires almost no energy—or very little—in its day-to-day operations.
It is also worth noting the construction standard high energy efficiency Passive House, which originated in Germany, and through which one can reach reduce heating and cooling needs by 75%.
In short, the energy retrofit and the construction of energy-efficient buildings should be a priority in the coming years, since with a A small financial investment can yield significant benefits in terms of efficiency.
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Demand Management
The main problem with modern urban power grids is the constant changes in consumption levels by end users over time. This variation in demand is represented by the load curves.
Because grid outages or instability may occur, the generation and demand curves must match; this is known as electrical regulation.
One Effective electricity regulation combined with adequate infrastructure Minimizing energy losses in the grid as much as possible will significantly improve energy efficiency and reduce electricity consumption.
In conclusion, thanks to the application of new technologies and the implementation of Smart Cities, in the coming years Energy efficiency in cities will be of great importance.
