Renewable energy in urban areas. Critical aspects and technological selection
Loading...
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
© 2019 Universidad Nacional de Colombia. All rights reserved. Environmental deterioration including the effects of global warming will require changes in the way in which the city is conceived. Thus, the need arises for public policy and planning to include the development of energy provided from cities own resources. Given the stresses that cities place on the environment, the proposed changes must be selected so as to promote sustainability. Current technology allows a city to modify how energy is provided in response to external sources. This article presents a set of technologies that could take advantage of urban resources for energy supply. Experts from several countries were surveyed to identify technologies that will have an impact on the urban energy matrix, and to identify morphological, social, and other key aspects of selection. Solar energy, both photovoltaic and thermal, were found to elicit the greatest interest among the technologies evaluated. Besides costs, politics and regulations were identified as possible determining factors when developing energy resources within cities.
Resumen
Tanto por deterioro ambiental como por efectos del calentamiento global, es necesario modificar el desarrollo urbano. Así, surge la necesidad de promover políticas públicas y una planificación organizada que incluya conceptos del aprovisionamiento energético con recursos urbanos internos para mitigar la presión que las ciudades infringen al ambiente. La tecnología actual posibilita que la ciudad cambie de modelo energético tradicionalmente basado en importar recursos externos, no obstante, es necesario revisar tecnologías que aprovechan los recursos urbanos para el autoaprovisionamiento. A través de encuestas a expertos internacionales y su discernimiento, se determinan las opciones tecnológicas que podrían modificar la matriz energética urbana, así como aspectos necesarios para su promoción. Se concluye que la energía solar, tanto fotovoltaica como solar térmica, despiertan, por ahora, el mayor interés entre las alternativas evaluadas, y que costos y regulaciones pueden ser aspectos determinantes para expandir su uso.
Keywords
Renewable energy, Energy self sufficiency, Sustainability, Urban planning