Schneider Electric and the Enel Group join the World Economic Forum (WEF) to announce the launch of the beta version of the Net Zero Carbon Cities Toolbox at the Sustainable Development Impact Summit (20-23 September 2021).
This digital platform contains a range of decarbonisation solutions to foster urban transformation, across energy, buildings, mobility, water, and waste management. Users are guided through a process to identify and prioritise the solutions that better answer their specific needs. This database of solutions comprises policy, business, and finance models that result in reduced emissions, and create local value such as green jobs and improved air quality.
The beta version brings together over 200 real-life case studies and solutions from over 110 cities across the world. Access to the Toolbox of Solutions is open to all, in particular, it is aimed at city leaders, national government leaders, and businesses. Users can browse the database and search solutions based on attributes or to address their most pressing local challenges.
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“As this tool, and the solutions contained within, show, the technology to decarbonise our cities exists today. When it comes to deployment, we must think beyond just public infrastructure and towards all buildings, notably our existing building stock. Retrofits programs play an important part in the transition to net zero cities”, said Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and CEO of Schneider Electric.
“Clean electrification is paving the way to the decarbonisation of the economy while promoting a sustainable urban transformation, and, with today’s technologies and know-how, we have the tools to succeed and a unique opportunity to make a difference,” said Francesco Starace, CEO and General Manager of Enel Group. “The Toolbox of solutions is a great instrument for the business world and policymakers, as it provides integrated energy solutions to contribute to a more prosperous and resilient society. As a global leader in the power sector, Enel is constantly working with global partners to help drive scaled action towards a more sustainable and inclusive future”.
Included in the Toolbox of Solutions, the users will find integrated solutions from Enel aiming to deliver decarbonised, sustainable, and resilient urban ecosystems in cities across the world. With a focus on smart energy infrastructure, Enel’s Open Meter is the new generation of smart meters reflecting the most recent developments in the market and technology in the field of advanced metering and power grids remote management. In Italy alone, where the technology will reach more than 35 million customers by 2025, this second-generation smart meter device allows the collection of more than 7,000 billion data points per year, including almost real-time use and electrical parameters to enable big data analytics for the grid. It is a digital enabler that improves customers’ awareness and understanding of their electricity consumption habits and favors more efficient and sustainable consumption models. In addition, it allows consumers to take a proactive role in monitoring and controlling appliances such as solar rooftop, home automation, and electric mobility, promoting new advanced energy services diffusion. In line with the Group’s circular economy approach, the Open Meter is designed and manufactured using regenerated plastics, emitting 6 percent less CO2 and producing 122g less waste for each Open Meter vs. a conventionally produced meter.
Several solutions successfully implemented by Schneider Electric are also included in the platform. They highlight, in particular, how energy efficiency can drive both energy and material savings, which can be reinvested in city infrastructure and community projects, including infrastructure retrofits and upgrading municipal buildings with HVAC systems and smart automation controls. For example, in Holland, Michigan in the United States, the city leaders partnered with Schneider to embed energy goals into their master energy savings plan, to address infrastructure retrofits while achieving sustainability goals, thus helping all the city’s residents reduce energy usage by 30 percent to 50 percent.
The Toolbox is the third deliverable of the “Net Zero Carbon Cities” program; a WEF initiative whose objective is to align and scale efforts across businesses, cities, and national-level governments to deliver urban ecosystems which are sustainable, resilient, and equitable. The program is co-chaired by Mr. Jean Pascal Tricoire, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric, and Mr. Francesco Starace, CEO and General Manager of Enel Group. In September, the initiative also published a briefing paper on Urban Transformation: Integrated Energy Solutions showing how the built environment and mobility can serve as the foundations to kickstart urban transformation and decarbonisation anywhere in the world.
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Featured photo by Henry Chen on Unsplash
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