Smart cities: Leading the

Digital innovations are paving the way towards a cleaner, greener future for our families and our homes. And it all starts with being smart about how and why we use energy...

RESEARCH clearly shows we need to embrace a greener and more energy efficient lifestyle. Many of the world’s commentators on future urbanisation believe in a shift towards smart cities and digital towns. This smart city revolution isn’t science fiction, it’s science fact, with a number of smart cities already operating across the country.

At the heart of this development is the smart grid, an electricity supply network that uses digital communications technology, which, along with smart meters, will help the transition to a low carbon energy industry in the country.

In effect, the smart grid acts as a near real-time energy controller delivering exactly what is needed, to the right location. One of the results of this is a more efficient, effective and cleaner energy supply.

These types of datadriven decisions are already part and parcel of modern-day life from wearable fitness trackers to smart parking solutions and smart energy meters.

Currently, there is no accurate way for the energy grid to map the demand from homes and businesses at any given time. A smart grid will put an end to that by matching supply and demand.

Domestic smart meters, currently being installed in homes across Great Britain at no extra cost by energy suppliers, are integral to the success of the smart grid. This is because the delivery of near real-time, accurate data to the smart grid allows for more effective overall management of energy across the country.

Benefits of the smart grid

Not only will the smart grid use digital communications technology to detect and react to local changes in usage, it will also enable cities and towns to be more connected and consequently better managed.

Smart grids will also result in energy-smart environments, such as making street lights more effective, with each one sending and receiving information about the level of light required at a given moment.

They could also act as a transmitter for other data to keep areas safe – they can gather and share environmental detail such as flooding, congestion or traffic incidents with either the local authority, or, in the not-sodistant future, the driverless cars on the road that they are connected with.

The smart grid could facilitate safer public spaces which will be created with data capture sensors to monitor everything from air quality to traffic flow, even monitoring and preventing crime.

Smart homes

Although this may seem like a giant leap towards super tech living, we’re actually heading that way in our day-to-day lives.

If you have a smart TV, Google Home or Alexa, or use Siri on your iPhone, you’ve already embraced the smart home revolution.

Future living will borrow a little from the past, too, with a ‘less is more’ attitude, Alice Bonasio, Editor-in-Chief of techtrends.tech, explains: “With the futuristic take on urban living, the sharing economy trend that started with companies like Uber and Airbnb will culminate in a new model of urban living where it will be entirely acceptable – and expected – for people not to own many possessions at all, but have access to everything they need on a just-in-time, on-demand basis.

“That certainly goes for cars, but instead of having to use a ride-sharing app, you could use one of the shared electric cars or bicycles which are provided for your building as part of a maintenance fee. And soon driving itself might become obsolete in some cities as driverless vehicles become the norm.”

A connected future

Research shows that in just 12 years’ time, more than 60% of the world’s total population will live in towns and cities. Planning has to flex to accommodate not just a growing population, but their need to access employment, health care and other community facilities.

From the Government down to local towns, we are already working towards a more connected future in our homes and cities.

The country-wide rollout of smart meters is just a small part of the changes we need to embrace for a cleaner, greener future. These devices are being offered to every household in England, Scotland and Wales at no extra cost, fast enabling millions of people to take control of their gas and electricity and live a more energy efficient lifestyle.

Smart Energy GB is the government backed organisation tasked with informing Great Britain about the benefits of the smart meter rollout.