Scaling up community energy: a journey to low carbon smart cities

Mazhar, M.U. ORCID: 0000-0003-2749-6408, 2017. Scaling up community energy: a journey to low carbon smart cities. In: School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment Research Seminar Series, Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, UK, 11 January 2017.

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Abstract

Community Energy (CE) is a growing concept which can assist cities in their journey to low carbon Smart Cities. In 2014, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published its first CE strategy. CE was defined as the initiatives which involve local communities to: (I) reduce energy use; (2) manage local energy better; (3) generate energy locally; and (4) purchase energy collectively to reduce increasing carbon emissions and to save financial costs.

Local authorities (LAs) are well placed in the continued success of CE and have a strategic role through their planning and policy procedures. CE can help deliver local economic regeneration, a stronger sense of community and help address other core policy priorities such as improving public health and wellbeing, fuel poverty and energy efficiency of housing stock. Some LAs have already started to embark on innovative actions to scale up CE projects, in most cases CE is not yet a holistic and mainstream activity in cities’ regeneration, sustainable energy and low carbon endeavours.

Local energy projects remain ad-hoc and rely on the heroic efforts of climate change vanguards. Therefore, there is a need to scale up CE due to its major role in developing Smarts Cities. Key research findings of a study aiming to develop organisational capability for LAs to facilitate scaling up of CE using Nottingham as a case study, will be presented. Some of the major challenges cities are facing in implementing CE and low carbon agenda will be discussed. Lessons learned will be drawn for LAs nationally and internationally to mainstream CE activities and directions for future research agenda will be proposed.

Item Type: Conference contribution
Creators: Mazhar, M.U.
Date: 11 January 2017
Identifiers:
NumberType
1244980Other
Divisions: Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by: Jill Tomkinson
Date Added: 02 Dec 2019 14:27
Last Modified: 02 Dec 2019 14:27
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/38690

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