Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARTEMIS (An integrated appRoach To improve the Environmental perforMance of smart cItieS)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-09-06 bis 2023-09-05
ARTEMIS aimed at investigating whether and how the smart city can improve the environmental performance of urban systems. The research contributed to the development of an integrated environmental impact assessment framework, coupling urban metabolism and life-cycle assessment, that can support decision-making in smart city projects. An urban metabolism model was developed for the Autonomous Province of Trento and its capital city, in Italy, annual consumption in the city and in the region for thousands of product types.
ARTEMIS addressed issues related to climate change and environmental sustainability. The research and results can contribute to achieving the EU’s vision for climate neutral and smart cities and its aim of becoming a role model in sustainable development, as well as the goals set in the EU Green Deal and in the new Circular Economy Action Plan. The research findings, data and results are applicable to other projects, geographical areas and urban systems, to support the design and implementation of environmentally sustainable regional and urban development strategies.
To account for electricity use, the environmental impacts of electricity generation and supply in Italy were assessed in detail with a novel LCA framework that addressed a wide range of environmental impacts, with an average and marginal demand perspectives, for current and future energy generation, with an hourly resolution. A scientific article in a highly journal was published presenting this new framework and the application to Italy. The framework advances several relevant issues that are useful to support decision-making and research, in assessing environmental impacts of electricity use: it has high temporal resolution (hourly), includes current mix and future scenarios, and it provides average and marginal demand impacts for a wide range of environmental impacts.
The work addressed issues related to climate change and environmental sustainability. The research findings, data and results are accessible (with open access) and applicable to other projects, geographical areas and urban systems, to support the design and implementation of environmentally sustainable regional and urban development strategies. Communication and dissemination activities across different groups fostered the exploitation of results, and the fellowship enhanced cooperation and established a productive research network involving globally recognized institutions, improving communication, international and trans-disciplinary collaboration, which contributed to the EU’s competitiveness and growth in research and innovation.