URBAN ENERGY AND CLIMATE

With the continuous migration of people towards metropolitan areas in search of employment, the demands for core services and energy, coupled with an increasing awareness of the impact of climate change, have placed the management and planning of global urban energy under a lot of pressure. Trends toward urban energy service transformations that offer greater affordability, reliability, efficiency and adaptability provide hope for a global sustainable future. At the same time, there are also limits to these transitions, as well as risks involved. For example, on one end of the spectrum, our urban energy future includes land use sprawl, high fossil fuel use, pollution, and unhealthy urban conditions. On the other side of this transition spectrum is more energy choices, and healthier, more livable cities, along with less energy use and fewer greenhouse gas emissions. What the future might hold for transforming the world's cities depends upon an understanding of the risks of current trajectories and the opportunities for and limitations to developing sustainable urban energy systems.

This edited volume brings together leading experts on the prospects and challenges of urban energy innovation and on related-economic, social and environmental sustainability transitions. The focus of the volume is on multidisciplinary reviews, research informing technologies and policies for sustainability, and analytical insights addressing rapid urbanization and changes across a diverse typology of global cities. The volume will include an overview of the current state of urban energy systems. It will also document and evaluate urban energy prospects for a sustainable, resilient future.

Contents:

• Introduction (Andrea Pierce, Joshua Sperling and Peter J Marcotullio)
• Trends and Drivers:
  • Past Trends and Future Prospects for a Sustainable Urban Energy Transition (Andrea Pierce, Peter J Marcotullio and Joshua Sperling)
  • Individual Behaviors as Drivers of Energy Usage (Rae Zimmerman)
• Urban Energy Transitions in Developed Nation Cities:
  • Co-Evolution of Energy and Climate Change Mitigation Polices in Japan and Tokyo (Jelena Aleksejeva, Gerasimos Voulgaris, Yin Long and Alexandros Gasparatos)
  • California Embraces Carbon Neutrality: Does This Mean Change in Business as Usual? (Stephanie Pincetl)
  • Powering the City at the Speed of Thought: Toward a Collective Urban-Energy Intelligence (Joe Ravetz)
  • Geography of Residential Energy Use in the New York City Metropolitan Region, 1993–2009 (Nicholas Rio, Allan Lu and Peter J Marcotullio)
• Urban Energy Transitions in Developing Nation Cities:
  • An Assessment of Brazilian Urban Actions for Climate Change (Gustavo de Melo Ribeiro, André Felipe Simões and Hirdan Katarina de Medeiros Costa)
  • Industrial Transformation and Residential Sustainable Consumption for the Promotion of Low-Carbon Urbanization in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (Zhihui Li, Xiangzheng Deng, Chao Wang and Lu Peng)
  • On-Road Energy Efficiency and CO₂ Reduction Strategies in a Small Island State: Grenada (Peter Marcotullio Shelby Smith, Patrick Lamson-Hall and Solly Angel)
• Considerations for Social Justice:
  • The Social Justice Implications of Energy Transitions (Michael Dorsch)
  • Learning from Energy and Basic Service Dynamics in Accra and Delhi: Urban Poor Neighborhoods and Integrated Transitions Toward Equity, Sustainability and Resilience (Anni Beukes, Frederick Agyemang and Josh Sperling)
• Conclusions:
  • Conclusions (Peter J Marcotullio, Joshua Sperling and Andrea Pierce)

Readership: Professionals, researchers and informed readers interested in understanding urban energy prospects for a sustainable, resilient future.

Key Features:

• Wide geographic variety of case studies
• Case study chapters include urban energy challenges in the developed and developing world
• The case studies examine a variety of energy system issues including social, technological, and justice challenges