Smart Cities

At 10:00 am PDT on July 26th, Meeting of the Minds will host a live webinar featuring Steph Stoppenhagen from Black & Veatch, Jim O’Gara from Deloitte Advisory, and Marisa Walker from Arizona Commerce Authority.

I’ve received many questions over the past few months about Ingersoll Rand’s commitment to reducing energy demand and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Those questions intensified this week with news of the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change.

A network of local and global businesses are collaborating with the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative (MUFI) to transform a long-vacant apartment complex in Detroit’s lower North End into a multi-functional community space that will become one of the most sustainable, energy-efficient buildings in Detroit.

The future of urban mobility is connected, autonomous, electric, and wireless. And Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. (QTI) is one of the companies leading the charge — figuratively. Qualcomm Halo, our wireless electric vehicle charging (WEVC) technology, is a simple and efficient way to charge electric vehicles (EV), helping drive a cleaner and smarter future for urban mobility.

Infrastructure Week allows us to reflect on the modernization needed to drive the new digital grid. A comprehensive view of the infrastructure elements needed to create a more efficient and sustainable energy landscape should include communications networks and embedded computing. Utilities, technology vendors and community leaders will need to work in collaboration to ensure all elements are considered for the digital grid to thrive.

As a courtesy to our stakeholders, Leonardo Academy is excited to forward an available funding opportunity for Clean Diesel projects though the EPA’s Diesel Emission Reduction Program (DERA). EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality is soliciting proposals nationwide for projects that achieve significant reductions in diesel emissions, particularly from fleets located in areas designated as having poor air quality. The EPA anticipates awarding approximately $11 million in DERA funding to eligible projects​.

The rise of the smart city will rely on the ability of stakeholders to collaborate, engage citizens and act on data. Partnerships are hard at work and planning is under way to overcome the legacy of siloed services, focus on integrated systems that will ultimately be more adept at delivering critical services, empower communities and elevate our quality of life.

Microgrids aren’t new. But Duke Energy’s efforts to power them with renewable energy have caught the attention of the industry. In simple terms, a microgrid is an energy system consisting of distributed energy sources – like solar and batteries – that can operate in parallel with, or independently from, the main power grid.

As more and more customers begin exercising more control over how and where their energy is produced, utilities have a responsibility to make the appropriate infrastructure investments that will optimize smart grid benefits for all stakeholders.