Page 393 - Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

366 Sustainable Cities and Communities Design Handbook

other industrialized nations or states like California in the United States. These
programs can begin immediately, with near- and long-term impacts.
A “Green Electricity Strategy” could become policy, such as in Germany,
Japan, and California, with solar/photovoltaic policy and laws with financial
incentives for related industries. Some attainable objectives are as follows:
l Place the burden of increased costs on the business and wealthier consumer
sectors.
l Exempt certain sectors of consumers, such as the agriculture sector and the
poor, from increased electricity tariffs.
l Define a long-term price that adds investor certainty in the market.
l Spur growth, for example, in wind power generation (already increased in
PRC; 40% in 2004 and 2005), and also for other renewables like solar and
photovoltaic, geothermal, biomass, hydroelectric, and related areas.
l Provide special incentives for hybrid energy industries and companies.
l Create university training and educational programs for workers and
entrepreneurial companies.
The IMAR should try to set energy goals (in conjunction with the PRC
central government) that could attract global attention. Such goals could be
based on demonstrations of future technologies that are becoming available
today (2006), and their applications to green power and transportation, green
buildings, and include models and demonstrations of the IMAR’s new energy
infrastructures.
The national PRC energy and environment goal, like the “blue skies”
(pollution free) on 80% of the days in Beijing by the year 2008, could be
adopted for the IMAR, as the coal and energy industry is one of the largest
sources of atmospheric pollution. Many cities in the nations covered in the
Case Studies set specific goals for air pollution from their industries. Because
energy production has such high potential for causing pollution in the
downwind provinces, specific emission goals have special importance to the
IMAR. An international organization called “Green Cities” holds annual
meetings to share goals, objectives, experiences, and ideas. Annual awards are
given for both clean cities and those that have mitigated atmospheric pollution
among other environmental concerns.
All governments, like those in the Case Studies, must have enforcement
power and successes behind the public policies that they enact. These
enforcement and regulatory powers include (1) mandatory catalytic converters
for cars; (2) factories moved out of cities; (3) “dirty coal” replaced by natural
gas or “clean” coal, and (4) major efforts for renewables.
Finally, regions, cities, and communities, as part of the “agile energy”
systems strategy, must form seamless combinations of the central gird and
on-site power generation that meet their needs and are based on available and
plentiful energy resources. Today, the costs for producing energy from these
resources have been greatly reduced.
Hence, governments at all levels might start with the development of a
vision and then enact policies like: (1) restrict private car access to the city