Page 26 - European Energy Innovation - winter 2017 publication
P. 26
26 Winter 2017 European Energy Innovation
COVENANT OF MAYORS
A strong partnership to support
and Covenant of Mayors initiatives
By David Donnerer (pictured), Communication Officer, Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy
The EU has set itself a goal hence key to foster green growth and transport and ICT solutions is still risky.
to reduce greenhouse gas job creation. If these “smart tools” were widespread
emissions to more than 80% across Europe, cities could optimise
below 1990 levels by 2050. The accelerating urbanisation by 2050 their energy infrastructures and make
It is an ambitious goal that will require poses multiple challenges to Europe’s their traffic management systems more
major changes to our energy and cities, such as increasing traffic efficient.
transport system. Therefore, Europe congestion and air pollution which, in
has to decarbonise its energy sector extremis, can make cities dysfunctional, In order to boost the widespread
and shift to a more sustainable use of undermine competitiveness and uptake of smart solutions for energy
transport. This will only be possible seriously affect quality of life. and transport in cities, the European
when energy and transport are Tackling these challenges effectively Commission launched in 2012 the
supported by advanced information is therefore a top priority to ensure European Innovation Partnership for
and communication technologies. sustainable, resilient and liveable cities Smart Cities and Communities. The
for EU citizens. partnership and its current
Cities have a crucial role to play in this community of more than 6,300
process. In today’s Europe, about three Many technologies which can members seeks to engage
quarters of the population live in or potentially be used as part of smart stakeholders at various levels from
around urban areas. While consuming solutions and which deliver intelligent cities, industry and research, in order
an approximately equal amount of and resource-efficient energy and to create a pipeline of projects worth
energy and emitting about the same transport management are already at least €1 billion of investment and
share of greenhouse gases, they create available. However, their scale-up involve 300 cities by the end of 2019.
about 80% of the EU’s GDP and are in a fragmented market for energy, This will build the nucleus of a real
Smart City market, which is based on
solid business models and bankability
of the promoted solutions.
The bottom-up work of the
EU Innovation Partnership is
supplemented and actively supported
by the so called “Smart City Lighthouse
projects”, funded with €300 million
by the EU Horizon 2020 programme.
Currently 12 Lighthouse projects are
operational, building an innovative
community of 36 so called Lighthouse
Cities being in the lead and 42
Follower Cities tasked to replicate
and further scale-up the solutions
demonstrated in the Lighthouse Cities.
And the collaboration between these
cities goes well beyond their project
scope, tackling common challenges
such as business models, replication
strategies, citizen involvement,
communication and technical aspects.
www.europeanenergyinnovation.eu
