Welcome to the Club of Amsterdam Journal.
Half of humanity – 3.5 billion people – currently live in cities and by 2055 an estimated 75% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Cities occupy just 2% of the Earth’s land, but account for over 70% of both energy consumption and carbon emissions.
However, cities present the world’s population with the best chance of reducing our ecological footprint. Urban areas are uniquely positioned to lead the greening of the global economy through improvements in transport, energy, buildings, technology, water and waste systems, as well as producing a wide range of economic and social benefits.
To achieve this, existing and new-build cities will have to adopt sustainable development strategies, including efficiency gains, innovative infrastructures and technological advancements in order to meet the demands of this rapidly growing urban population.
– Sustainable Cities is being launched in June 2012 at Rio+20 – the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development
Join us at the future of Urban Energy
– Thursday, 28 June!
…. interested in knowing more and sharing thoughts and ideas …. email us!
Felix Bopp, editor-in-chief
Sustainable Energy – Initiatives & Reports
Initiatives
How to develop a Sustainable Energy Action Plan
The European Union is leading the global fight against climate change, and has made it its top priority. The EU committed itself to reducing its overall emissions to at least 20 % below 1990 levels by 2020. Local authorities play a key role in the achievement of the EU’s energy and climate objectives. The Covenant of Mayors is a European initiative by which towns, cities and regions voluntarily commit to reducing their CO2 emissions beyond this 20 % target. This formal commitment is to be achieved through the implementation of Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs).
SETIS – European Initiative on Smart Cities
This Initiative will support cities and regions in taking ambitious and pioneering measures to progress by 2020 towards a 40% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through sustainable use and production of energy. This will require systemic approaches and organisational innovation, encompassing energy efficiency, low carbon technologies and the smart management of supply and demand. In particular, measures on buildings, local energy networks and transport would be the main components of the Initiative.
The Intelligent Energy – Europe (IEE) programme is giving a boost to clean and sustainable solutions. It supports their use and dissemination and the Europe-wide exchange of related knowledge and know-how.
Targeted funding is provided for creative projects putting this idea into practice
Every year hundreds of organisations and individuals in over 30 countries take part in EU Sustainable Energy week by hosting Energy Day events and activities that promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources.
Reports
Networks and buildings: Inventing a new quality of life
The most highly industrialized countries have become aware of the challenges involved in energy and environmental efficiency in the construction sector. According to the International Energy Agency, this sector represents two-thirds of the solution for reducing greenhouse gases by a factor of four by 2050.
bp-Imperial College Urban Energy Systems Project
The BP Urban Energy Systems project at Imperial will identify the benefits of a systematic, integrated approach to the design and operation of urban energy systems, with a view to identify large reductions in the energy intensity of cities.
Cities for Living 2010
The Veolia Observatory of Urban Lifestyles sheds some light on the environmental issues facing the world’s large cities.
Research carried out for Veolia Environnement by TNS Sofres.
Getting Smart about Smart Cities
By Alcatel-Lucent
Telecommunications service providers are not playing a primary role in smart city projects. Their involvement remains limited, which means they run the risk of having to compete with utilities, cable companies, and other types of service providers, to provide information and communications technology (ICT) services. But by leveraging their assets in a proactive way and partnering with the key players in a smart city project, service providers can change their role from that of facilitators of other industry objectives, to that of strategic partners of the key industries and governments involved in each project.
Sustainable Urban Energy Planning
A handbook for cities and towns in developing countries
By UN-HABITAT and UNEP.
The main purpose of this handbook is to assist people who are working in or with local government to develop sustainable energy and climate action plans and implementation programmes. There can be no single recipe for all cities – so it is up to each local government to develop its own innovative and appropriate plans based on local resources and needs.
Special Summer Event
| June 28, 2012, 18:30 – 21:15 Option: Guided Tour 17:00 Location: Van Eesterenmuseum, Burgemeester De Vlugtlaan 125, 1063 BJ Amsterdam Supported by the Van Eesterenmuseum The conference language is English. The speakers and topics are: Laurens Tait, Associate Civil Engineer, Arup Adapting to a changing energy landscape Kim Taylor, Marketing Manager, The New Motion Attitudes towards mobility and the potential of EV’s in energy supply Pauline Westendorp, Co-founder, Wij krijgen Kippen Amsterdam Zuid lives, works and moves on clean local energy before 2020! and our moderator Paul Hughes, Ten Meters of Thinking |
A nose for the future
The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) was founded in 1973 in Geneva to represent the collective interests of the fragrance industry. Its main purpose is to promote the safe enjoyment of fragrances worldwide. As a global network IFRA acts as the representative of the fragrance industry, encouraging dialogue whilst promoting the safety and benefits of the fragrance industry’s products.
Together with the industry’s scientific centre, RIFM (the Research Institute for Fragrance Materials), the IFRA team makes sure that the establishment of usage standards for fragrance materials is put into practice according to the available scientific recommendation, and that member companies comply with those standards. Self-regulation enables the IFRA standards to be adopted very rapidly by fragrance houses worldwide and by the industry as a whole.
All of RIFM’s scientific findings are evaluated by an independent, scientific Expert Panel – an international group of dermatologists, pathologists, toxicologists and environmental scientists with absolutely no ties to the fragrance industry.
The IFRA Code of Practice applies to the manufacture and handling of all fragrance materials, for all types of applications and contains the full set of IFRA Standards. Abiding by the IFRA Code of Practice is a prerequisite for all fragrance supplier companies that are members of IFRA (through their national or regional associations). Currently IFRA members supply 90% of the global market for fragrance compounds.
Living Well with Your Sense of Smell
by the Sense of Smell Instiutute, the research and education division of The Fragrance Foundation
A 32-page exploration of the sense of smell that includes an overview of the anatomy and physiology of smell, the multi-faceted role of aroma in our daily lives and its positive effect on well-being, a brief history of the sense of smell and a comprehensive glossary of olfactory terminology.
Club of Amsterdam blog
Club of Amsterdam blog
http://clubofamsterdam.blogspot.com
Burning Issues: Education
Burning Issues: Resources: Water, Energy, Air, Food
Burning Issues: Health
Burning Issues: Climate Change / Sustainability (1)
Burning Issues: Climate Change / Sustainability (2)
Burning Issues: Economy / Stock Market / Poverty
Burning Issues: Waste / Pollution
Burning Issues: Globalization
The ultimate freedom: beyond time
Limits to Knowing
Socratic Innovation
News about the Future
The Future of Retirement: Why family matters
HSBC’s The Future of Retirement programme is a world-leading independent study into global retirement trends. It provides authoritative insights into the key issues associated with ageing populations and increasing life expectancy around the world. Since The Future of Retirement programme began in 2005, more than 110,000 people worldwide have been surveyed.
Global Cleantech Innovation Index report 2012
Cleantech Group and The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) reveal a report on innovative cleantech countries of 2012.Which countries are producing cleantech innovation today? Which countries should we watch in the future? Unique insight into the sources of cleantech innovation around the world. What can countries do to promote cleantech innovation in their economies?
Jane McGonigal: Truths & Myths in Gaming
Video game designer Jane McGonigal argues that games are not a waste of time. In fact, she argues, “we need to look at what games are doing for gamers, the skills that we’re developing, the relationships that we’re forming, the heroic qualities that we get to practice every time we play, like resilience, like perseverance, and grit, and determination, like having epic ambitions and the ability to work with other players, sometimes thousands of other players at the same time.”
Recommended Book
The Very Hungry City: Urban Energy Efficiency and the Economic Fate of Cities
By Austin Troy
As global demand for energy grows and prices rise, a city’s energy consumption becomes increasingly tied to its economic viability, warns the author of The Very Hungry City. Austin Troy, a seasoned expert in urban environmental management, explains for general readers how a city with a high “urban energy metabolism” – that is, a city that needs large amounts of energy in order to function – will be at a competitive disadvantage in the future. He explores why cities have different energy metabolisms and discusses an array of innovative approaches to the problems of expensive energy consumption.
Troy looks at dozens of cities and suburbs in Europe and the United States – from Los Angeles to Copenhagen, Denver to the Swedish urban redevelopment project Hammarby Sjöstad – to understand the diverse factors that affect their energy use: behavior, climate, water supply, building quality, transportation, and others. He then assesses some of the most imaginative solutions that cities have proposed, among them green building, energy-efficient neighborhoods, symbiotic infrastructure, congestion pricing, transit-oriented development, and water conservation. To conclude, the author addresses planning and policy approaches that can bring about change and transform the best ideas into real solutions.
The Global Information Technology Report 2012
By INSEAD and the World Economic Forum
Living in a Hyperconnected World
INSEAD: “This is the third consecutive year Singapore has come in second in the Global Information Technology Report’s benchmark Network Readiness Index. The nation-state has its eye on the number one spot – occupied for as many years by Sweden – so much so that Singapore’s Infocom, Development Authority actually sent a delegation to Sweden last year to observe its best practices in ICT, and found that high broadband penetration in Sweden is a key component to that country’s success. Broadband penetration levels in Singapore are around 80 percent.”
You can download the report click here
Agenda
Season Events 2011/2012
June 28, 2012
the future of Urban Energy
Option: Guided Tour 17:00
Location: Van Eesterenmuseum, Burgemeester De Vlugtlaan 125, 1063 BJ Amsterdam
Supported by the Van Eesterenmuseum
Credentials
Felix Bopp, Editor-in-Chief
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