CITIES IN FLUX
Realizing the Electric Dream
— Umer Farooq
How a rise in climate-smart infrastructure designed to accommodate the Electric Vehicle technologies could make a difference
In contrasting life in urban Pakistan with that in my mountain hometown of Abbottabad, Pakistan, I came to better appreciate the intricate relationship between land and humankind. While I yearned to experience a close connection to nature, I also had to acknowledge the difficulty in achieving this given the alarmingly increasing pollution rate in both rural and urban Pakistan. This pollution comes courtesy of Pakistan’s energy sector, which relies predominantly on fossil fuels and is the main contributor of greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about half total emissions (UN, 2019).
As I began to fully understand the very real and existential threat of climate change, I determined to somehow help mitigate it through both my career and my interest in science. It has been reported that seventy percent of our global carbon emissions come from energy that is consumed by cities (F. Mendoza et al. 2011). Chemist Richard Smalley, a Noble Laureate, cites energy as the world’s biggest problem to solve. Seeking alternatives to a singular dependence on fossil fuels, one of the major challenges with sources of renewable energy is insufficient storage of that energy, which requires an effective harvesting system. Energy storage using lithium-ion batteries has shown a great promise in the last three decades.
To reduce our carbon footprint, technology is only one part of the solution. Interestingly, at a time when road emissions contribute 70% of total transportation emissions, and transportation is responsible for generating one third of global carbon emissions (Zhu and Du 2019), the automobile industry and governments are investing in research and developing policy on electric vehicles (EVs). Example initiatives include EV30@30, Global EV Pilot City Programme, and Lima Paris Action Agenda (LPAA). Electric Vehicles are a fine contribution to science and engineering, yet extensive commercial realization is still far off. The rapid electrification of the transport industry relies upon a multi-dimensional approach.
It is important to go beyond the study of the technical and economic characteristics of EVs, making them a mainstream option. Active participation from the automobile industry would impact the process of wider commercialization in a positive way. In addition, there are aspects of EV usage that are beyond the scope of individuals, such as price determination, transition from combustion engine to battery, policies, legislation, and planning, which require implementation by governments. The effects of charging infrastructure on the built environment, planning and transportation, and other challenges to accommodating EVs, must be critically evaluated and considered within policy frameworks. Challenges might include administrative issues related to parking, the displacement of small business due to new charging infrastructure, and the change to businesses associated with the combustion engine-based automobile industry.
Another critical factor is how the deployment of charging infrastructure may impact urban space and alter the design of our built environment. Builders, city planners, architects, technology firms and engineers are increasingly incorporating EV technology into buildings and infrastructure. However, the technological barrier of slow charging and limited reliability still needs to be addressed. For example, there may be potential for gas stations to transform their infrastructure to EV charging stations, which may bring a pleasant change to the built environment, but may be at the cost of the displacement of carparks or businesses. This may slow the process of upgrading the charging stations. Legislative decisions, such as in San Francisco which requires 10% of all new parking spaces in garages to have EV charging stations, could help in encouraging this transition.
The rise of climate-smart infrastructure designed to accommodate EV technology will provide a long-term strategic advantage to cities. It is interesting to see the direction Canadian municipalities [1] are taking in developing comprehensive EV strategies, including the installation of charging systems. The City of Calgary’s Climate Resilience Strategy includes policy that considers the availability or provision of charging infrastructure as one of the major challenges in adopting the new municipal transportation strategy. Currently, Calgary has ~175 charging stations – including 40 of them in downtown – but the significance of their impact on the built-environment is still too low to measure (City of Calgary, 2019). Specific locations will need to regulate parking duration, defining how the EV is parked at home, at the workplace, on-street parking, etc. (Nanaki, Xydis, and Koroneos 2016), and new buildings must be designed to accommodate electrified transportation.
Local community-driven initiatives, such as Peaks to Prairies (2016), aim to accelerate the adoption of EVs by installing a regional network of charging stations in Southern Alberta. This shows the interest of the communities involved as well as the interest of provincial and municipal governments in the shift.
Apart from these community and government initiatives, small businesses will need to adapt. They will need to develop expertise in repairing and configuring battery-related issues. There is also a social cost involved. The transition from combustion engines to batteries would need businesses like mechanics to switch their modes of working. There may be monetary loss associated with existing infrastructure changes experienced, for example, by gas stations and some small businesses that cannot accommodate this shift and who may need financial support from the government, such as exemptions from tax assessments, or compensation.
Besides monetary gains and losses, the human-land relationship has its own significance in a social system. This relationship changed with the development of settler societies. Alberta’s fossil fuel industry was a driving force in Canada’s modern economy which, as a consequence, established and nurtured a specific relationship among its inhabitants with land, extraction, and energy. In our efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change meaningfully, we will have to phase out oil from our energy cycle.
Calgarians are aware of climate risks, have shown resilience to the fluctuating economy in the past few decades, and have the potential to adopt new strategies regarding our built environment. We might see EVs on Calgary roads sooner than expected; however, it is also important how the global north carries along the global south in this adventure. Climate change is not a challenge limited to specific geographic regions; it is a threat for the whole planet. If one part of the planet collapses, it will cause a sequence of disruption that will dent the ecological system of the whole world.
Pakistan recently presented their first National EV Policy (NEVP); however, countries like Pakistan would not be able to achieve their targets unless the developed world takes them along with it.
[1] Many metropolitan cities have comprehensive EV strategies. My research has explored Toronto, Vancouver & Saskatoon municipal initiatives.
References:
United Nations, 2019. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/233812019_06_15_VNR_2019_Pakistan_latest_version.pdf
F. Mendoza, Joan Manuel, Xavier Gabarrell Durany, Joan Rieradevall, and Alejandro Josa. 2011. Potential Impacts of Electro-Mobility on the Built Environment of Cities: The Needs of Comprehensive Urban Planning for Its Sustainable Deployment.
Nanaki, Evanthia A., G. A. Xydis, and C. J. Koroneos. 2016. “Electric Vehicle Deployment in Urban Areas.” Indoor and Built Environment 25 (7): 1065–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/1420326X15623078.
Zhu, Changzheng, and Wenbo Du. 2019. “A Research on Driving Factors of Carbon Emissions of Road Transportation Industry in Six Asia-Pacific Countries Based on the LMDI Decomposition Method.” Energies 12 (21). https://doi.org/10.3390/en12214152.
The City of Calgary, 2019. https://engage.calgary.ca/electric-vehicle-strategy
Umer Farooq is a Ph.D in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering with a specialization in Energy & Environment from the University of Calgary. His research has revolved around the development of high-performance lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicle application.
Guest Editor: Iman Bukhari