25 June 2015: The Global Sustainable Cities Network (GSCN), an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), held its third session in France. Held from 13-16 April 2015, the session combined site visits, conferences and workshops to showcase city initiatives on urban sustainability, energy efficiency and waste management.

The session aimed to build municipal-level partnerships and serve as a platform for multilateral exchange on: energy efficiency and demand side management; smart grids, metering and household appliances; sustainable city planning and green urban design; sustainable waste management and waste-to-energy; and district heating and cooling.

Participants spent the first day in Nantes learning about its public policy on waste management and how it hosted the Ecocity World Summit in 2013. They also took two site visits: a waste-to-energy plant using the Rankine Organic Cycle (ROC) technology; and a medical waste treatment unit.

In Paris on the second day of the session, participants inspected energy optimization and district-scale smart grid application at the IssyGrid Project, visited the SmartGrids showroom and HIVE energy display at the Schneider Electric offices, and a waste valorization facility that uses biogas to produce energy.

The third day featured group discussions on waste-to-energy and demand side management, in particular waste treatment trends in different countries, integration of waste management into a circular economy, waste disposal versus waste transformation, methods of reusing waste in industrial applications, managing high consumption peaks on the grid, and strategies for smart grid implementation.

During the final day, in Montpellier, participants took site visits to: a wood transformation unit that provides heat, cold, and energy; Alstom’s Smart Grid Centre of Excellence; and Ametyst, a methanization unit producing electricity and heat from biogas originating from compost. [GSCN Webpage] [CEM Press Release]