Take me down to the smart city – Part One
Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation
In 2015, market research firm Juniper Research declared Barcelona the smartest city in the world. As a result of the city’s support for local public transportation and electric vehicles, there are now 500 hybrid taxis on the streets of Barcelona, as well as nearly 300 public electric vehicles and an estimated 400 private electric cars. Barcelona has also implemented a programme that calls for the intelligent networking of energy and water supplies, recycling, lighting and mobility systems. The aim is to improve quality of life and protect the environment.
Here, Jonathan Wilkins, marketing director of obsolete industrial parts supplier EU Automation, discusses how industrial automation can be used to speed up the journey to smart cities.
Smart cities make use of digital technologies, networking and automation to enhance the performance of urban services and infrastructure. This reduces costs and energy consumption, while also increasing the quality of life for inhabitants.
Keep CO2 in check
The number of people who live in cities is rapidly increasing, with the world’s biggest metropolitan area, Tokyo, home to 37 million people. In fact, the United Nations estimates that nearly 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2030. This volume of growth could cause a lot of strain for urban infrastructure, with many cities already struggling to keep up with road capacity, water and energy supplies. The increase in urban populations also means that cities need to rethink the way they address emergency situations to ensure the safety of all inhabitants.
Energy efficiency plays a big part in the smart city. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that the close relationship between economic growth and greenhouse gas emissions is weakening. The reason? Power is being produced and consumed more efficiently across different applications.
As industry moves into an era of smart factories, industrial automation is making energy efficiency a higher priority. For example, semi-conductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies is offering 8-bit microcontroller units for motor controls, pumps and fans in a bid to reduce energy consumption.
Innovations that bring together digital technologies and energy reduction are widespread. They include technology like smart sensors and control systems that monitor and reduce the energy consumption of buildings and interoperable communicating devices, such as temperature and air quality sensors, variable speed drives and robots.