Nowadays, the execution and implementation of territorial sustainable energy action plans are mostly led by local Communities engaged on a voluntary basis. Following population’s demands and urban ecology motivation, an increasing number of communities are indeed adopting energy policies and sustainable energy action plans in order to promote renewable sources and rational responsible use of energy.
1.3.1 The “2000 Watt society”
Concerning the sustainable development, the concept of a “2000 Watt society” [Jochem et al., 2004], proposed in 1998 by the board of Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology [Maréchal et al., 2005], assumes by the middle of the 21st century a yearly per capita primary energy demand
of 2000 c ap·yrW yr , corresponding to 65 c ap·yrG J , which represents the mean per capita primary
energy use in the world, one third of the energy intensity in Europe and 1.78 times the energy intensity in Switzerland (2009).
At the national level, the most efficient actions in the domain of energy and building technology has been identified [Pfeiffer et al., 2005] as the adoption of Minergie-P standard for all building by 2050, in conjunction with the use of heat pumps, wood-fired boiler and solar domestic hot water system to achieve a 3-fold reduction in total gross energy use.
In summary the major recommended actions are:
• the development of holistic system design methodologies,
• the convergence towards low energy buildings through refurbishment actions,
• the improvement of the energy efficiency of large equipment, industrial plants, ther- mal power generation plant , as well as in material use through recycling, re-use and substitution,
• the implementation of investment policy for innovations in information technologies, power electronics and other technological equipments,
• the realization of the significant energy-saving potential in road transport, especially passenger vehicles,
• the resolution of methodological, behavioral, economical and technological bottlenecks.
The “2000W society” is currently evolving from a research concept into a long-term political agenda.
1.3.2 Greenhouse gas Emissions targets
One possible strategy of increasing the use of renewable sources of energy is to set manda- tory targets for the reduction of emissions in the short term. For exemple, the “Facteur
4” [Boissieu, 2006] refers, in France, to the target set by law3, and confirmed by the “Grenelle
de l’environnement II4” to reduce by four, by 2050, the levels of greenhouse gas emission of
3Loi n◦2005-781 du 13 juillet 2005 de programme fixant les orientations de la politique énergétique
4Environnement : engagement national pour l’environnement (Grenelle II), Loi n 2010-788 du 12 juillet 2010
1990.
In 2009, the European Commission adopted a commitment5to reduce by 2020 the greenhouse
gas emissions at least 30% below 1990. In 2009, a legally binding CO2emission reduction
target, of at least 26% by 2020 and 80% by 2050, compared to 1990 levels, was set by the United Kingdom [Crown, 2009].
However, one drawback of this straightforward approach is that if it is not accompanied by commitments to specific action plans, it may be discredited as overly idealistic.
1.3.3 The European Energy Award
Another similar city network, the European Energy Award6, counts, by the end of 2009, 590
EU communities engaged in a certified energy quality management system.
This certification may be seen as a preliminary step for the definition of action plans prepared under the “Covenant of Mayors”.
1.3.4 The Covenant of Mayors “3×20” target
The objective of the “3×20” agreement aims to surpass the emission reduction policy, by targeting by 2020:
• a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of at least 20% below 1990 levels, • a coverage level of 20% of the energy consumption by renewable resources
• and the improvement of energy efficiency leading to 20% reduction in primary energy use
The Covenant of Mayors is an European movement involving local and regional authorities, voluntarily committing to the “3×20” target.
Today 2778 signatories (14-07-2011) joined the Covenant of Mayors action plan [SEAP, 2010]. The rate of involvement of 460 new members every six months since 2008 (see Figure 1.5), reflect the will of local decision-makers to progress toward sustainable development.
1.3.5 Holistic vision of Urban Energy Systems
Despite these efforts to promote best practices and increase the understanding of energy efficiencies through ambitious objective, it is thought that, at present time, the develop-
5Decision No 406/2009/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on the effort of
Member States to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to meet the Community’s greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments up to 2020, Official Journal L 140 , 05/06/2009 P. 0136 - 0148
6European Energy Award®(“Cité de l’énérgie”),The European Certification and Quality Management systems
for towns and cities, http://www.european-energy-award.org/
Co venant of Ma yor com m unities 0 250 500 750 1000 1250 1500 1750 2000 2250 2500 2750 2008−012008−062008−122009−062009−122010−062010−122011−06
Figure 1.5: Covenant of Mayors adhesions for the period 2008-2011, source: from Covenant of
Mayor web site7.
ment of decision-making tools and planning methodologies for the efficient integration of energy systems in urban area, have fallen behind today’s challenges and political commit- ments [Oreszczyn and Lowe, 2010]. This is explained not only by the complexity of the energy planning task, being multi-scale in its geo-spatial components, multi-period in its time break- down and moreover stochastic, but also by its inherent multidisciplinary nature.
Among the challenges that today may catch decisions makers unprepared, we may note :
• the difficulty to have a full picture of the actual state of the real requirements of the urban energy system,
• the responsibility, to the community, for the adoption of long-term decision, shaping the future of the next thirty to sixty years,
• an inherited situation where it is likely that 90% of the building stock is existing (see Figure 1.9, p. 13),
• the growing public interest and expectation for new energy alternatives,
• the problematic fact that a global vision of the energy chain extends beyond borders, both regional and national,
• the need of a strong line of argument to find issues of common interest with the stake- holders,
• the identification of synergies between sustainable energy development and industrial development.