Energy Vision Strategies for the EU Green New Deal: A Case Study of European Cities

Abstract

There are three strategic levels for successful energy planning in cities: 1) Integration strategy for integrating energy planning into urban planning institutions; 2) Practice strategy for developing suitable energy planning practices in urban planning institutions, and 3) Vision strategy for the creation and integration of energy visions and scenarios required for long-term decarbonisation. The vision strategy is critical but not well researched and is the focus of this article. Using Strategic Energy Planning (SEP) as an analytical framework, the vision strategy of eight forerunner European cities are analysed. Some critical elements of SEP include the use of long-term targets, holistic energy system thinking, and retention of scenarios. The results indicate that the level of understanding and practice of the vision strategy is still deficient in the cities. Cities often use the practice of urban planning, which does not fit very well with energy planning, particularly with the vision strategy. The energy planning in the cities mostly focuses on shorter-term goals and actions, and they often abandon energy scenarios once extracted. However, through trial and error, some cities are finding ways forward. The article concludes with several recommendations, particularly that cities need to see scenarios as retainable long-term servants providing information desired by the planner, rather than serving as a guide to the planner.

A Critical Review of Sustainable Energy Policies for the Promotion of Renewable Energy Sources

“…Maya-Drysdale et al [11] evaluated the vision strategy in EU New Green Deal for the energy planning of eight European cities by applying an analytical framework of critical elements of Strategic Energy Planning for 100% renewable systems. Despite carbon emission reduction ambitions, the cities are not approaching the vision strategy very effectively.…”

“…Despite carbon emission reduction ambitions, the cities are not approaching the vision strategy very effectively. The energy planning is still tied to the urban planning paradigm and traditions, which limits the strategic planning and does not fit very well with the vision strategy [11].…”

Designing Tools for Energy System Scenario Making in Municipal Energy Planning

“…However, energy planning is no longer solely a centralised, national task. Local authorities and actors such as municipalities and city planners are increasingly incorporating energy planning aspects into their practices [11,12]. This is underlined by the growing body of research and literature on the decentralisation of energy planning, stressing the role of municipalities and challenges faced by municipalities in the transition to renewable energy systems [13,14].…”

“…Maya-Drysdale et al [11] evaluate the energy vision strategies for eight European cities to investigate the extent to which strategic energy planning is done. The authors find that cities need to explore long-term goal setting more to develop clear energy visions and scenarios, as previous planning has mainly been a result of simplified silo thinking.…”

Testing Platforms as Drivers for Positive-Energy Living Laboratories

“…This concept includes aspects such as energy storage, flexibility, or polygeneration [16][17][18]. Urban approaches need to be carried out by means of optimized planning that considers energy and environmental aspects [19,20]. Sustainable urban mobility is an imperative need as a source of congestion [21].…”