Smart Cities: Transforming through Renewable Energy
India is witnessing unparalleled transformation from rural to predominantly urban living over the last two decades. It is expected that the smart cities will include a large number of infrastructure services and smart solutions. In particular, the elements that must form part of a smart city are assured electricity supply with at least 10 per cent of the smart city’s energy requirement coming from solar and smart metering.
Renewable energy technologies will contribute a lot in achieving objectives of the Smart Cities Mission to make them zero polluting and self-sustaining cities. Renewable energy like Solar Energy has a lot much to contribute in that. Rooftop Solar Energy will make smart cities households self-sustaining in their energy requirements. Solar Energy is also zero polluting energy. Effective and efficient utilization of available rooftops with net metering facilities allowing excess generation to be fed into grid will definitely do the basic fulfillment of mission of self-sufficiency in green energy need.
Small solar parks can be made an integral part of Smart Cities so as to fulfill any additional such requirements. Apart from rooftop solar, the solar energy can be harnessed in other forms like solar street lighting, solar water heaters, solar pumps, solar traffic signals, solar concentrators based cooking. There is need for further improvement in efficiencies of Solar Production and Smart Storage Solutions so as to better achieve these objectives. Further other renewable energy technology that has to contribute more in this mission is waste-to-energy. The solid wastes that are produced can be converted into energy and other bio products that will make these smart cities also self-sustaining in energy and bio fertilizers requirements and also release zero wastes from these households.
Sewage treatment plants with biogas and power generation should be in the planning of smart cities. Promotion and planning of Green Buildings in Smart Cities with integrated renewable energy and energy conservation systems can save about 30 to 40 percent of conventional energy used in buildings. For this, energy efficient green buildings on solar passive designs need to be promoted in Smart Cities.
