• About
    • Which Energy Mix is this?
  • Climate News Network Archive
  • Contact
The climate news that makes a difference.
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
SUBSCRIBE
DONATE
No Result
View All Result
The Energy Mix
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance
  FEATURED
BREAKING: Fossil Fuels Fall 25% by 2030, Renewables ‘Keep the Path Open’ in IEA Net-Zero Update September 26, 2023
Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab September 25, 2023
Community-Driven Solutions Can Take Back Ontario’s Electricity Future: Torrie September 25, 2023
‘Apex Oil and Gas Lobby’ Undercuts Canadian Sovereignty, Laxer Tells Foreign Influence Probe September 25, 2023
Momentum Builds Toward COP 28 as Countries Back Fossil Fuel Phaseout September 25, 2023
Next
Prev

Cities Can Reconfigure and Adapt to Cut Emissions 90%, Prepare for Climate Impacts

April 23, 2021
Reading time: 3 minutes

Ogutier/Pixabay

Ogutier/Pixabay

 

Cities are uniquely vulnerable to climate change, but likely will be early adapters against that threat.

Two-thirds of the world’s energy is consumed by cities, which then emit three-quarters of global greenhouse gases, explains Bloomberg Green. With the early, strong reactions to urban density that accompanied the coronavirus already easing, they add, the long-term trend is clear: “Humans will continue to flock to cities,” they argue.

  • The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
  • You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
  • The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
Subscribe

Their analysis lays out a four-step plan for cities to use current technology and low-carbon measures to cut emissions 90% by 2050.

The first step is to reconfigure cities into a 15-minute design where residents live close to schools, parks, stores, and jobs, in order to reduce reliance on cars. This tactical approach to urban planning involves expanding pedestrian and bike traffic and boosting public transit. Bloomberg cites Paris for its restriction of cars and success in turning parking lots into green spaces.

Some 250 European cities have introduced low-emission zones that reduce pollution, including particulates, and improve air quality, the news agency adds. Trees absorb CO2 and mitigate the urban heat island effect, while rooftop vegetation reduces the surface temperature of buildings.

The next step is to extend these areas with public transit and bike lanes, then streamline energy from renewable sources, the article states. Buildings account for half of a city’s emissions, and inefficient heating and cooling systems consume half of a building’s energy use. Those findings point to the need for stringent building codes that require all large buildings to reduce carbon emissions and, in turn, create a large market for energy retrofits.

“Increasing efficiency can also mean going beyond individual buildings,” Bloomberg writes, explaining how district heating and cooling can replace millions of space conditioning units. Examples of best practice include a district in Turkey that has used geothermal energy since 1996, producing a 35% reduction in heating costs compared to traditional natural gas and reducing CO2 emissions by 110,000 tonnes per year.

The final step is to protect urban infrastructure, using measures such as storage tanks to absorb rainfall and prevent floods. Seawalls are being built to keep rising sea levels out of Rotterdam, while flood barriers hold back high water from Venice, but these measures are very expensive, Bloomberg notes.

“Trying to stop the forces of nature is a losing battle,” the authors conclude. Last year, the world suffered US$210 billion in weather-related damages, up from $166 billion in 2019, and “those damage figures are only going to rise.”

Urban centres around the world are turning into laboratories by implementing measures to reduce air pollution and move toward zero-carbon energy, and some are “re-imagining the entire urban fabric to be greener, more efficient, and more resilient to the effects of climate change already being felt,” they add. “Because cities are uniquely vulnerable to climate change, they’re also likely to be remade the fastest by the human need to survive and eventually thrive on a warmer planet.”

And “that’s a good thing, because if we want to survive the next, much bigger crisis on the horizon, cities are our best bet,” Bloomberg concludes.



in Buildings & Infrastructure, Carbon Levels & Measurement, Cities & Communities, Climate & Society, Demand & Distribution, Demand & Efficiency, Electric Mobility & Auto, Ending Emissions, International Agencies & Studies, Legal & Regulatory, Renewable Energy, Transit, Walking & Biking

The latest climate news and analysis, direct to your inbox

Subscribe

Related Posts

Jason Blackeye/Unsplash
International Agencies & Studies

BREAKING: Fossil Fuels Fall 25% by 2030, Renewables ‘Keep the Path Open’ in IEA Net-Zero Update

September 26, 2023
213
Duffins Agriculture Preserve/North Country House Media via Greenbelt Foundation
Ontario

Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab

September 25, 2023
89
UNDP/flickr
Heat & Power

Community-Driven Solutions Can Take Back Ontario’s Electricity Future: Torrie

September 26, 2023
102

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Trending Stories

Jason Blackeye/Unsplash

BREAKING: Fossil Fuels Fall 25% by 2030, Renewables ‘Keep the Path Open’ in IEA Net-Zero Update

September 26, 2023
213
Cullen328/wikimedia commons

Manufactured Housing Could Dent the Affordable Housing Crunch with Energy-Efficient Designs

September 20, 2023
388
Wilson Hui/flickr

‘Apex Oil and Gas Lobby’ Undercuts Canadian Sovereignty, Laxer Tells Foreign Influence Probe

September 26, 2023
102
UNDP/flickr

Community-Driven Solutions Can Take Back Ontario’s Electricity Future: Torrie

September 26, 2023
102
Duffins Agriculture Preserve/North Country House Media via Greenbelt Foundation

Green Space Groups Gear for Bigger Fights After Ontario Reverses Greenbelt Land Grab

September 25, 2023
89
United Nations/Twitter

Momentum Builds Toward COP 28 as Countries Back Fossil Fuel Phaseout

September 26, 2023
80

Recent Posts

UniEnergy Technologies/wikimedia commons

Multi-Day Storage Can Deliver Cheaper Grid Reliability, Battery Maker Says

September 25, 2023
64
David Mellis/flickr

Top Food Brands Prepare for Supply Chains Disrupted by Climate Change

September 25, 2023
51
Power lines, Mississauga, Canada

Two First Nations Groups Vie to Build Northern Ontario Power Line

September 25, 2023
76
UN Climate Change/flickr

Don’t Attend COP 28 Unless You’re There to Help, Figueres Tells Oil and Gas

September 24, 2023
471
Jon Sullivan/flickr

Thorold Gas Peaker Plant Won’t Be Built After Unanimous City Council Vote

September 21, 2023
674
Rewat Wannasuk/Pexels

Virtual Power Plants Could Cut Peak Demand 20%, Save U.S. Grid $10B Per Year

September 20, 2023
128
Next Post
Wind turbines

Daily Conversation Among Houston Energy Traders Turns to Renewables

The Energy Mix - The climate news you need

Copyright 2023 © Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy and Copyright
  • Cookie Policy

Proudly partnering with…

scf_withtagline
The Energy Mix - Energy Central
No Result
View All Result
  • Canada
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Ending Emissions
  • Cities & Communities
  • Electric Mobility
  • Heat & Power
  • Community Climate Finance

Copyright 2022 © Smarter Shift Inc. and Energy Mix Productions Inc. All rights reserved.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}