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ePaper created 2014-06-03, 15:03:20 | version 1.30.01
88 04 POLICY LANDSCAPE efficiency upgrades or renewable energy installations, and loans are repaid through additional charges on property tax bills.187 Toronto, Ontario, approved a pilot programme in 2013 to install renewable systems in 1,000 single-family homes and 10 multi- residential buildings, and to finance them through LIC.188 Several U.S. states have adopted the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programme, with Texas being the newest member, and many cities around the country were participating as of 2013.i 189 Several cities around the world continued to launch programmes in 2013 to move from electricity to solar energy for water heating in buildings. Santa Fe, Argentina, mandated SWH systems in all municipal childcare centres, resulting in installations at 34 refurbished nurseries in 2013.190 Cape Town, South Africa, made SWHs more available to mid- to high-income households through monthly repayment rates that are below the cost of electricity saved through the installation. By the end of 2013, this programme had avoided 100,000 GWh of electricity consumption. Cape Town targets the installation of 60,000–150,000 high-pressure SWH systems over a five-year period.191 To help achieve its CO2 reduction targets, Halifax, Canada, launched a programme to provide up to 1,000 “turn- key” SWH systems per year.192 In India, spurred on by state incentives, at least 90 cities in 8 states had amended their building by-laws to mandate SWH as of 2013.193 As local governments transform their buildings, they also seek to use renewable energy for space and industrial heating and/ or cooling purposes. District heating and cooling are becoming best practice for the integration of renewable energy in cities. Many cities are advancing local district heating and cooling with renewables in heat-only or combined heat and power (CHP) configurations. In 2013, Sydney launched a plan to achieve its 100% renewable energy target (for electricity, heating, and cooling) with solar and wind power accounting for 30%; for the remainder, the city will use co- and tri-generationii gas engines at the building or city-block level (as is the case in Güssing, Austria; Gothenburg, Sweden; and most Danish cities), to be fuelled initially by natural gas but then progressively by syngas and biogas from biomass.194 An increasing number of cities is transitioning towards more sustainable transport systems by promoting the use of electric or plug-in vehicles powered by renewable energy, or by using biofuels in public transport systems. In 2013, Indianapolis, in the U.S. state of Indiana, mandated that all new vehicles purchased for its municipal fleets be EV or plug-in hybrids, and New York City required the use of at least B5 in all 6,000 diesel-fuelled city vehicles.195 Bogota, Colombia, implemented a pilot project consisting of 50 EV taxis and introduced hybrid buses as part of its mass transportation system (200 units planned for 2014).196 São Paulo launched Brazil’s first battery-electric bus, and Lublin, Poland, launched solar-powered buses in 2013.197 Kapiti, New Zealand, began operating the first electric rubbish collection truck in the southern hemisphere; Johannesburg, South Africa, announced plans to purchase some 175 new buses to be fuelled by biogas and biodiesel; and London, U.K., announced plans to fuel city buses with biodiesel processed from used cooking oil.198 Cities are also adopting regulations and legislation to advance the infrastructure that will be needed to support electric- powered transport systems. For example, Palo Alto, California, revised its building codes in 2013 to require that all new homes be pre-wired for EV charging, and New York City amended its zoning and building code to mandate that all new public parking spaces be wired for EVs.199 As cities seek to share and scale up best practices, highlight their commitments to renewable energy, and account for their achievements, local governments are increasingly prioritising systematic measurement and reporting of climate and energy data. By the end of 2013, the carbonn Cities Climate Registry (cCCR) had 836 registered energy and climate commitments in 414 cities in over 45 countries, amounting to 4,208 reported mitigation and adaption actions (double the 2012 number).200 As of early 2014, ICLEI, C40, the World Resources Institute, and the Joint Work Programme of the Cities Alliance among the World Bank Group, UN-HABITAT, and UNEP worked together to pilot the Global Protocol for Community-scale Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GPC) in 35 global cities.201 C40 announced a new partnership with Siemens to help cities measure, plan, and mitigate their greenhouse gas emissions, and C40 and the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) announced a joint programme to increase the number of cities that report annually on climate actions and to standardise emissions accounting, enabling cities to track their progress and identify effective climate and energy actions.202 The year 2013 also saw the consolidation and strengthening of city participation in the formal international climate negotiations. The first-ever “Cities Day” was held during the high-level segment in the UNFCCC 19th Conference of Parties (COP19), bringing national ministers and city mayors together to strengthen multi-level governance on climate change.203 i - Similar to LIC, PACE financing allows property owners to borrow money from a local government to pay for renewable energy systems and/or energy efficiency improvements. The amount borrowed is typically repaid via a special assessment on property taxes, or another locally collected tax or bill, such as a utility bill. ii - Tri-generation (or combined cooling, heat, and power, CCHP) adds an extra service to CHP, whereby the thermal energy is converted to chilled water for air conditioning and/or refrigeration, which further displaces electricity used for these services. Cooling can be delivered via central thermal chiller stations combined with district cooling pipes, or via hot water pipes to decentralised thermal chillers in individual buildings.