Objectives By the end of this assignment, students will be able to describe which energy system components are affected by community energy planning, explain the key energy policy touchpoints of local...

Case Study on Community Energy Planning for the City of Vancouver
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Case Study on Community Energy Planning for Vancouver
CASE STUDY ON
THE KEY COMPONENTS & GENERIC BENEFITS OF
CONDUCTING COMMUNITY ENERGY PLANNING
FOR THE CITY OF VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
Abstract
The energy awareness among the educated population with the help of governmental and non-governmental initiatives has mandated the development and implementation of effective energy-efficiency programs. Additionally, global climate change has worried people and necessitated climate-friendly and energy-sustaining action plans. With the appreciable progress achieved in the last few decades, the requirement of more energy-efficient global and local solutions is arising. This paper describes the generic benefits and key components of conducting community energy planning for the British Columbian city, Vancouver. Earlier studies and few literature data would help to conduct the community-based energy planning for Vancouver. Use of different tools and techniques and how they impact the overall energy consumption were analyzed. Most importantly, it would help to identify the components of an energy system that would be affected by such planning.
Introduction
Before diving into the details of the present study, it is important to understand the meaning of energy efficiency. As defined by International Energy Agency (IEA), it refers to the means of restricting and managing the growth of consumption of energy. An appliance or method can be called energy efficient if it helps to achieve the same output in terms of service, utilizing less energy, or obtain greater service utilizing the same energy as compared to the energy inefficient. For example, a compact fluorescent lamp can be called more efficient in terms of energy if it utilizes one-third to one-fifth lesser energy than an incandescent bulb but generates the same amount of light.
According to Love (2018), in the most recent report by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the importance of reducing energy use has been highlighted to combat climate change. Due to the accumulation of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrous oxide (N2O), methane (CH4) in the atmosphere, warming similar to a greenhouse has happened. Hence, these gases are called greenhouse gases (GHG) and the emission of GHGs has been a prime concern. This effect as identified by research data in 1824, later led to the establishing a relationship between CO​2 emissions and increased GHG impacts, in 1896. At present, each country has its targets. The city of Vancouver’s major portion of carbon pollution arises from the natural gas used in buildings. It constitutes about 54% of the carbon pollution. Whereas the vehicular emission utilizing gas and diesel constitutes the second major portion of 39%. Thus, based on these emission data specific to Vancouver, the action plan of this city aims to tackle the major sources constituted of buildings and transport. Besides, the plan also includes capturing carbon from the atmosphere.
Although people have recognized the issue of climate change, the understanding of the issue is far lower. Mass understanding is important from the perspective of community action plans. Broadly, the components of the energy system are, - generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption units. As it is well known that energy can...