Commitment 02Read more
Energy Transition and the Circular Economy
Innovative and sustainable solutions for energy and industry in city-port regions
Committing the City Port territory to achieving a low carbon, low resources society, through the transformation of industrial production, and the production and management of carbon-neutral, renewable energies.
How can energy usage be optimised in port-city territories?
Water, present by definition in all port territories, is a natural asset and energy source. Faced with the challenge of climate change, using water in port basins as an energy source represents a sustainable economic concept that port cities can exploit. Different technologies can be used to generate electricity, such as mini hydroelectric plants, watermills, ocean waves and geothermal energy. The last option was chosen in San Francisco by two warehouses during the renovation process; given the historical values of the sites, geothermal energy was the most suitable.
This good practice also includes objective 2.3 (Committing the Port City territory to achieving a low carbon, resource-efficient society, through the transformation of industrial production, and the production and management of carbon-neutral, renewable energies) of the AIVP’s 2030 Agenda.
San Francisco’s built heritage has been renovated and refurbished since the 1960s. Over the last fifty years, converting lofts into warehouses has become a common practice. However, since the early 2000s, sustainable architecture has become a priority for the city. This is evident in buildings such as the warehouse on Pier 1 and the Exploratorium Museum on Pier 15/17, which use water from the bay to power their air-conditioning system. Both warehouses utilised their location over the sea to submerge the heat exchanger, creating a geothermal system. This solution also helped redevelopment to meet the historical conservation requirements, as it was not possible to install cooling towers.
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