Make Cebu sustainable to become competitive

EVERY city like Cebu should adopt to disruptive changes and become sustainable in order to remain globally competitive.

In a briefing last Friday, Schneider Electric country sales manager for IT business Ian dela Rosa said that there are five critical areas in order to become a sustainable city or community.

These are smart energy, mobility, water, public services and buildings and homes.

For a place like Cebu, Dela Rosa said that it is wise to prioritize achieving a smart energy system by first adopting a smarter grid.

Smart grid

“Achieving efficiency is the key to becoming sustainable and a smart grid for Cebu can help achieve that,” he said.

He added that by 2020, at least 70 percent of the total population in Cebu will be living in the urban areas which means demand for energy is likely to shoot up.

At present, 61.28 percent of the 4.17 million people in Cebu live in the city. By 2020, it is projected that the population would grow by 5.18 million, 70 to 80 percent of which will reside in the city.

“It would be easy to manage that demand if we have an efficient smart system like a smart grid that reduces loss. Thus, maximizing energy use for more development and growth,” he said.

Dela Rosa said that in every city, the needs and priorities vary.

“In one city, electricity will be a short-term priority because of power blackouts while in another, electricity will be a mid-term one because of rising costs,” he said.

Aside from smart energy, Dela Rosa said that Cebu can also start looking at having more smart infrastructure as the building block for a sustainable Cebu especially with Cebu being one of the fastest growing economies in the country.”

Dela Rosa was in Cebu last week for their Xperience Efficiency road show which was held at Radisson Blu Hotel Cebu.

AWARENESS

The road show aims to spread more awareness to the private and public sectors that technologies are now available to support efficiency and develop a more sustainable community.

“Our vision is to become a partner in developing smarter cities in the country that is why we hold awareness events like the road show,” he said.

He said the more Filipinos become aware of the importance of developing smarter cities, the more chances for them to translate this awareness into concrete investments.

“This will however take the private and public sector to work together. Collaboration is the key to achieve sustainable communities especially in urban centers where most of the economic activities are happening,” he said.

Today, urban centers only make up two percent of the Earth’s surface but is home to half of the world’s population, consumes 75 percent of the global energy supply and emits 80 percent of carbon dioxide that contributes to climate change.

“By 2050, we expect population to increase by 70 percent. Imagine how much energy it will require, how much carbon emission that will result to more drastic environmental conditions that will threaten development,” he said.