PCRD

Green Economy - See for Yourself!

This morning on the way to work and listening to PBS, I learned of a new website that allows visitors to input their assumptions about the likelihood of various future energy policies being implemented and then calculates the resulting effect on the Gross Domestic Product and economic growth in the US.  This neat little trick is the product of a "meta-analysis" synthesizing the 27 leading economic models by Robert Repetto of Yale University who writes that the synthesis "... reveals what the crucial assumptions are and how changing those assumptions affects the predicted economic costs of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by specific percentages below the business-as-usual path by 2030. Surprisingly, only a handful of key assumptions account for most of the differences among model predictions of the economic costs of reducing emissions."

Check the results of your own assumptions at http://www.climate.yale.edu/seeforyourself/ - and See For Yourself!

Carbon-Neutral Cities

In response to climate change and being environmentally responsible, a few new city projects are aiming for absolute self sufficiency from the fossil fuel energy, relying completely on renewable sources of energy, such as solar power and wind power. These are known as carbon neutral cities. The first project is Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City. Designed by renowned British architect-planner Sir Norman Foster, this will be the first zero-carbon footprint project of its kind. Just to tell the scale of this master plan, Masdar is being designed to house about 50,000 people on 1,500 acres. This will be car free city with transit and personal transportation pods for movement within the city. Read more here. 

The second eco-city being designed is Dongtan in China. Located on an island close to Shanghai, this is a larger project on about 20,000 acres and expected to house a projected population of half-a-million. You can have a virtual tour of Dongtan and find more literature here. 

Posted by Indraneel Kumar

Comprehensive Planning & Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Submitted by Indraneel Kumar

The State of California recently sued San Bernardino County for failing to account for ‎greenhouse gas emissions in its 25-year growth plan. San Bernardino County is the ‎largest county in the U.S., even larger than the combined land area of states, such as ‎Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont, and Rhode Island. (Read more here). ‎ For the first time in U.S., a state has asked for accountability of greenhouse gas emissions ‎in a comprehensive or growth plan. The way we develop land has an impact on travel ‎patterns, resultant trips, congestion on our highways, and more emissions.

Transportation ‎and land use are inherently connected. The land development patterns impact ‎transportation by generating various types of trips similarly a transportation facility ‎induces development of the land. A simple example will be a sprawling development ‎with segregated shopping areas, schools, and parks may generate several un-connected ‎trips on the roads. Similarly, a new interchange may bring forth new developments and ‎activities because of increased accessibility on the site.‎ A comprehensive plan or a growth plan is a blue print for the future development ‎patterns. It has an impact on the greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumptions, etc. ‎

There are concepts and models available for energy-efficient land use planning. This ‎could become an emerging trend in land use and transportation planning, where the focus ‎is on conservation instead of consumption of the energy. The greenhouse gas emissions, ‎global warming, and energy efficiency might affect discussions in regional planning and ‎development in the coming years. ‎