Only six years ago humanity crossed a remarkable threshold: more than half of us live in cities for the first time in history. According to United Nations statistic, fifty years ago it was 30% and a century ago it was 10%.
Urbanization as the central framework for human experience and work has been driven by advances in energy technology and has in turn changed our experience of energy. It is far easier at scale to provide reliable and affordable energy supply to a centralized population, and the hub-and-spoke model of energy production and distribution matched in a networked way with the emergence of modern cities. The literal web of population that shines from nighttime photos of the Earth from above is one of gathering along power lines and into areas where energy systems reach their termination.
But the very energy technology that has driven people into cities has revealed new vulnerabilities and initiated a search for new solutions. From climate change resiliency and increased awareness of the importance of distribution in handling blackouts and service interruptions after Superstorm Sandy to new thinking about transportation and integrated infrastructure amid traffic headaches and sharply intensifying energy-water nexus concerns, energy issues and urban issues have become intertwined in important ways.
The subject of the Energy Wise City – one in which technology, policy and commerce work together in sustainable, secure and accessible ways – is the focus of a conference planned by New York University’s Center for Global Affairs and scheduled for Feb. 24 at NYU’s Kimmel Center in downtown New York City.
“Urbanization is the opportunity and challenge of the 21st century. Cities are able to act as leaders and laboratories of change and this conference highlights how the urban energy landscape is transforming and how NY and other global cities are leading the way,” said Carolyn Kissane, Academic Director and Clinical Associate Professor, NYU-SCPS Center for Global Affairs
In a city where outgoing mayor Michael Bloomberg has recently been appointed special United Nations envoy on cities and climate change and where the impacts of storms and sea level changes are a daily reality, a focus on climate change and tactics for mitigating and alleviating it are part of the policy, planning and business landscape. Jigar Shah, former Carbon War Room CEO and former Sun Edison CEO, will close the event with a keynote address, following a day of sessions that includes panels on Urban Clean Tech and Renewables, Urban Sustainability and Big Data, and the Future Role of Utilities.
A focus on action is expected to characterize the panels, which will include leaders fundamental in the formation of New York State’s high profile Green Bank, as well as business leaders like Jackson Lehr of National Grid and government representatives like Patrick Hyndman for the Government of Quebec.
I will be moderating the panel on the Future of Transportation, and am looking forward to discussing the role of new fuels and electric vehicles, and how mass transport and technology can play a role in the future of the Energy Wise City.
For more on the one-day conference and to register, visit the event’s website here. Share about the event, send comments and ask questions on Twitter using the event’s hashtag #EnergyWiseCity.
Peter Gardett is Founding Editor of Breaking Energy, Entrepreneur in Residence at NYSERDA and Adjunct Fellow at the Center for a New American Security.
