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The EU’s bid for leadership in green technologies will focus on developing a network of “smart cities” to demonstrate renewable and other low-carbon energies in Europe, according to draft European Commission proposals. The Commission argues that billions will need to be invested in basic research over the next decade to get the Union back up to speed with the US, which has dedicated around €555 million to energy research for the next five years. “Without a similar effort, Europe will eventually fall behind as new discoveries overtake current technologies,” the ommunication says. One of the biggest investments that the Commission wants to make is to select 25 to 30 European cities to pioneer green technologies by 2020. “These ‘Smart Cities’ will be the nuclei from which smart networks, a new generation of buildings and alternative transport means, will develop into Europe-wide realities that will transform our energy system,” the document states.
Source: http://www.euractiv.com/en/science/eu-promote-clean-energy-smart-cities/article-185547