Bridging the policy implementation gap: a draft design method for assessment frameworks: Applied to the case of urban geothermal energy development

To deal with the pressure on urban energy infrastructures, renewable urban planning is on the rise and ambitious sustainability targets have been set to transform cities. Although these targets have resulted in many sustainable policies, the implementation of sustainability policies is lagging, hindering the energy transition. One such case, is...

Mitigating high PV penetration-induced low-voltage grid overvoltage while stimulating the energy transition through a generalised approach

This research describes a generic step-by-step approach that can be used to depict energy transition-enhancing overvoltage mitigation strategies that fit the local context of a neighbourhood. Although high PV induced low-voltage grid overvoltage mitigation has been studied extensively, this research adds onto existing literature in three ways....

Photovoltaic potential of the fleet of urban vehicles

The European Union committed to a 40% reduction in domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 in order to maintain globalwarming between 1.5°C and 2°C during the 21st Conference of the Parties. This pledge involves, among other things, emission reductions in the transportation sector, which accounts for a quarter of Europe’s...

Developing a locally balanced energy system for an existing neighbourhood, using the ‘Smart Urban Isle’ approach

This paper describes a step-by-step approach for generating various energy concepts for neighbourhoods, based on local renewable resources. The approach is developed within the European research project ‘Smart Urban Isle’ (SUI). While much literature is focussed on comparison or optimization of predefined configurations, the SUI approach adds...

Energy Potential Mapping: Open Data in Support of Urban Transition Planning

Cities play a key role in driving the transition to sustainable energy. Urban areas represent between 60% and 80% of global energy consumption and are a significant source of CO2 emissions, making energy management at the urban scale an important area of research. Urban energy systems have a strong influence on the environment, economy, social...

Development of a large scale rooftop PV potential assessment tool

Recently, climate action has become a priority in the agendas of every government, and the Netherlands was no exception. Almost 6 months ago, the so-called Klimaatakkord was released. This climate agreement sets ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, such as ensuring that 70% of the electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030 ...

Harnessing Heterogeneity: Understanding Urban Demand to Support the Energy Transition

This thesis demonstrates that heterogeneous spatio-temporal demand profiles are required for a realistic representation of urban energy systems. This is needed to prepare them for the energy transition. Therefore, existing and future urban energy system models should be expanded with more detailed spatio-temporal local demand data that account...

Spatial Planning for the Energy Transition: The role of spatial planning in facilitating the energy transition in Dubai

This research and planning project explores the influence of spatial planning in facilitating the process of energy transition within the context of Dubai. Energy use within the built environment is closely related to the organization of urban form and functions. Spatial planning can influence diverse sectors in urban areas including the energy...

From Problems to Potentials: The Urban Energy Transition of Gruž, Dubrovnik

IIn the challenge for a sustainable society, carbon-neutrality is a critical objective for all cities in the coming decades. In the EU City-zen project, academic partners collaborate to develop an urban energy transition methodology, which supports cities in making the energy transition to sustainable lifestyles and carbon neutrality. As part of...

Quantifying urban energy potentials: Presenting three european research projects

Although more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, this trend is expected to continue and there is an increasing awareness of the need to move to a fully sustainable urban energy system, this transition process is still significantly lagging behind in many places. The yield of many renewable energy sources is directly related...