By 2030, nearly 2.5 billion people will be living in cities across Asia. Such an intensive level of urban growth will present a range of challenges, such as increased demand for transportation, housing, and energy. It will also offer a huge opportunity to identify and implement effective mechanisms to improve environmental sustainability in cities, and to provide a high quality of life to citizens.
This track will highlight approaches and solutions that make cities more climate-resilient and livable by incorporating more flexible, low-carbon, clean energy systems, and approaches into urban development.
Topics will include, but are not limited to, integration of smart design and renewable energy into the built urban environment, alternatives to petroleum-based public and private transportation, urban microgrids, and urban planning and energy integration that can offer to cities and urban communities a range of social, environmental, and climate change benefits. Case studies and examples of regional cooperation will be presented throughout the track.
Abstracts should address one of the topics listed below:
Cities, Session 1: Urban Energy Planning for Smarter Utilities
Cities require reliable energy for efficient water supply, waste water treatment, solid waste management, housing, logistics and other essential functions. This session will share forward-thinking views, industry insights and concrete examples of integration of renewable energy and energy efficiency within utilities, which could help cities address the emerging challenges with conventional and transformative technologies in the various urban forms.
The session will address the following questions:
- What will be the role of the current urban utilities in the future energy landscape?
- How can urban utilities that provide water supply, sanitation, waste management, and energy supply and distribution services better embrace new technologies with innovative thinking and business models?
- What are the key challenges and success stories in the region?
Cities, Session 2: Scaling Up E-Mobility as a Sustainable Urban Transportation
The mobility of city residents and products in Asia today is largely dependent on petroleum fuels for powering road vehicles and other public transportation systems. This session aims to explore the potential for sustainable urban mobility and discuss various technological innovations, policy and regulatory support, attractive business models and financial structuring that can create an enabling environment for e-mobility.
The session will address the following questions:
- What are the key technical hurdles (fuel choices, electricity mix, distribution networks, smart charging, etc.) to integrating e-mobility into urban policies?
- What are the mechanisms for supporting the expansion of sustainable urban mobility?
- What are the key challenges and success stories in the region?
Cities, Session 3: Heating and Cooling for Buildings in Cities
The buildings sector is responsible for more than one-third of global final energy consumption. This session will highlight the essential role of heating and cooling in the energy profile of cities and will discuss technologies, systems, and strategies for moving toward low-carbon space conditioning of cities. Some of the topics covered will include energy efficient appliances, LED lighting, smart residential and commercial buildings technologies, health and safety impacts, and energy conservation building codes.
The session will address the following questions:
- What policy and regulatory frameworks should be put in place for project developers and financiers to develop, and invest in, the next generation of urban energy infrastructure?
- How can we assess the financial, technical, and economic viability of different district heating and cooling projects at sensible scales, and evaluate the trade-off of options in various urban forms and population densities?
- What are the best practices in smart design (i.e.: solar passive) for low-carbon and energy-efficient residential and commercial buildings?
- How can we effectively integrate super-efficient space cooling into smart buildings?
- What are the key challenges and success stories in the region?
Cities, Session 4: New Energy Solutions: Multi-Benefit Opportunities for Cities
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that nearly 91% of the world’s population lives in places where air quality exceeds WHO guideline limits, leading to serious health issues and in some cases deaths. The session will highlight the range of social, environmental, health and safety and climate change benefits that new urban energy systems can offer to urban communities.
The session will address the following questions:
- How can we accelerate energy access and energy choices up the “energy ladder” to account for the benefits of improved air and water quality, as well as bio-diversity impacts?
- What are the health and safety benefits related to energy-efficiency improvements and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning replacement?
- How can we create community awareness and engagement for collaboration and collective action on new energy solutions?
- What are the key challenges and success stories in the region?
Cities, Session 5: Urban Microgrids
Cities in the future will not only consume more energy, but will also produce energy and be connected through microgrids. Urban microgrids will offer new services that are synergistic with and accelerate other urban energy solutions, such as smart metering and net metering in buildings, and electric vehicles. This session will discuss upcoming challenges and opportunities of the microgrid as a reliable, resilient and efficient urban energy system, and will include successful pilot cases in developing countries.
The session will address the following questions:
- What are the challenges (technology, regulation, and business models) faced by microgrid developers?
- What are some practical and illustrative case studies that demonstrate the value brought by microgrids in different contexts?
- What are the key challenges and success stories in the region?