Speaking in Fukushima City to commemorate the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the region, Jones highlighted several smart community demonstration projects, based in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, as proof that smart communities are achievable and can be based on existing infrastructure.
13 March 2012: The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Deputy Executive Director, Richard Jones, has called for the global deployment of smart communities, i.e. cities, towns, neighborhoods and villages that reduce their energy demand and generate their own power from renewable sources.
Speaking in Fukushima, Japan, one year after the region’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, Jones highlighted several demonstration projects, based in the UK, Denmark, Germany and Sweden, as proof that smart communities are achievable and can be based on existing infrastructure. Jones urged those in attendance to use modern technology to rebuild and turn their cities and villages into smart communities, making them “models for a new Japan.” Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of Minamisoma City, called on Japan to find meaning in the Fukushima-Daiichi accident “by changing the adversity that befell it into an economic, environmental and social opportunity.”
The IEA describes a smart community as being a low energy demand community, that integrates several energy supply systems, such as wind and solar. These communities reduce energy demand by implementing energy efficiency and energy sufficiency measures. Smart communities reduce their environmental impact, including via efforts to improve the energy performance of existing and new buildings as well as infrastructure systems, such as power and water plants.[IEA Press Release]