Smart Grid for a Smart City

11 June 2009 - 5:00am

Amsterdam has taken its smart grid live, installing solar panels and 300 electric car recharging stations throughout the city.

The creation of this "smart grid" is all part of a nationwide effort to create "smart cities" that cut emissions and generate their own power. The first round of these project is expected to complete by 2012.

"The projects are Amsterdam's first steps toward making its infrastructure more eco-friendly. Other projects are expected to follow soon. They include 300 power hookups around the city to recharge electric cars, solar panels that will be installed on Amsterdam's historic 17th century townhouses, and infrastructure upgrades that will allow households to sell energy they generate from small-scale wind turbines or solar panels back to the city's electricity grid for a profit."

Source: Business Week, June 10, 2009
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If hundreds of people in your community raised reasonable concerns about a planning program you developed, how would you respond? Perhaps you might call a community meeting, or ask community elected officials to reach out to community leaders.