AUGUST 26 — Conventional wisdom states that urbanisation degrades the environment, but this view is not always correct. In fact, with good planning and governance, urbanisation offers opportunities to achieve environmental sustainability. Asia is urbanising at a more rapid rate than any other region in the world. By 2050, some 64 per cent of Asia will become urban [1] and this is potential for good news for the environment. 

Building cities of the future

To derive environmental advantages from urbanisation and today’s widespread connectivity, city planners and governments should consider running a city in the same vein as a running a multinational company — gather key data, use that information effectively, and have a clear, long-term strategy.

At Schneider Electric, we work in collaboration with municipalities and our network of trusted partners to ensure that city leaders have all of these things in place — data, expertise, and strategy. Schneider Electric’s Energy and Sustainability Services (ESS) help cities to design and implement strategies customised to their unique needs. This might involve tracking, managing, and forecasting sustainability metrics such as carbon, water and waste, optimising the performance of building infrastructure, developing long-term sustainability plans, and more.

We look at cities as being the nexus of where energy issues are going to come into play, and break cities down into their various departments — such as transportation, water, energy, buildings and security — and aim to make each as efficient as possible. As a next step, we help cities integrate systems across verticals and start to drive further efficiencies from the whole. The idea is to generate savings that cities can then use to improve education and other elements of city life.

There’s nothing stopping cities from starting to make the change to become more liveable, more efficient, and more sustainable. In fact, it’s paramount that they do it if they want to keep up with urbanisation trends.

The good news is that many East Asian cities are actively evolving and innovating in using smart technologies to achieve the goals of sustainability, liveability, and responsiveness, and their efforts can be seen in three key areas — buildings, water and energy.

Smart buildings

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, energy consumed by buildings has grown to around 40 per cent of total consumption.

Integrated building management solutions are an excellent way to enable smart, sustainable ecosystems inside and outside of buildings. Our SmartStruxure solution, for instance, some 40 per cent of energy savings when deployed in Malaysia in the Prime Minister’s Office, demonstrating that new and existing buildings can be transformed into energy efficient buildings.

Smart water

In many East Asian cities, the combination of population growth and a sharp increase in demand for energy and manufacturing has major repercussions on water as a resource. The World Bank forecasts a global deficit of 40 per cent between anticipated demand and available water resources by 2030.

Smart water solutions such as improving water management systems and networks, preventing and reducing leaks, and optimising processing are critical to address this challenge. When implemented in East Water’s water pipe network — Thailand’s most advanced, efficient and complete water pipeline at approximately 400km long, our PLC Quantum and SCADA Vijeo Citect solutions reduced water loss in the pipeline from 20 per cent to 3 per cent, and reduced energy consumption by 5 per cent.

Smart energy

Energy demand in East Asia looks set to double in the next 15 years [2], with the demand growth largely concentrated in the region’s cities. Since fossil fuels remains the main source of Asian cities’ power, generating electricity in a sustainable way poses a great challenge.

Thankfully, the growth in alternative sources of energy has created new opportunities for governments and companies in East Asia to integrate renewable energy sources such as solar and wind with smarter upgrade projects across the region. One such example is the San Lorenzo Wind Farm, which is part of an effort to give greater emphasis on the use of more sustainable energy sources in the Philippines. We provided the end-to-end solution, including the ring main units for the wind turbine generators, the vacuum circuit breakers for the main switchgear and the protection relays for the protection panels of the substations, along with the training to operate these systems. These components were designed and installed to protect the wind farm from many system faults and ensure reliable production all-year round, especially as it is projected to generate over 120 GWh of electricity annually and capable of sustaining the energy demands of 48,000 households.

Smart grid solutions are also playing a central role in transforming the power industry. By letting businesses know how much power they are using, the machines involved and the costs every minute of the day, they have the necessary tools to measure and reduce energy consumption. Our solutions leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart grids to build more efficient energy infrastructure in cities. When electrical systems of buildings are connected to smart grids, the grids detect power usage in different parts of the city and divert power to places where it is needed most.

As urbanisation rapidly transform the face of East Asia and the lives of its citizens, everyone from policy makers to planners and residents have an important role to play in ensuring that the benefits that urban expansion brings is efficient, inclusive and sustainable — that Life is On for everyone, everywhere at every moment.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.

** Tommy Leong is President at Schneider Electric (East Asia & Japan).

[1] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2014). World Urbanization Prospects: The 2014 Revision, Highlights (ST/ESA/SER.A/352).

[2] “Energy issues in Asia and the Pacific,” Asian Development Bank, 2014, www.adb.org/sectors/energy/issues