POWERING CITIES OF THE FUTURE
Sustainable Energy Solutions for the World’s Varied Communities
September 27 & 28, 2011
Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC
OVERVIEW
With over half the world’s population already living in cities and the trend towards greater urbanization expected to continue, communities around the world face an increasing number of challenges in responsibly sourcing, delivering and consuming energy. And because the vast majority of future urban growth will occur in developing countries with varying needs and capabilities, a range of innovative solutions will be required to meet expanding world energy demand: a one-size-fits-all approach won’t work.
However, a cornerstone of sustainability – efficiency – can readily and cost-effectively be integrated into almost all energy plans. Building on a foundation of energy efficiency, communities can head down the path to sustainability by also including supply diversification, distributed generation, smart metering, alternative transportation and energy storage as key components of their policies.
This high-level Summit of global policymakers, experts and energy industry executives debated these timely issues and provided attendees with a better understanding of the energy challenges, risks, and opportunities that lie ahead for the world’s communities – from small villages to modern megacities.
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