Smart and Hot: Barcelona's Efforts to Mitigate Climate Change Through Digitalisation

Creator: rawpixel.com | Credit: rawpixel.com on Medium.com

Copyright: CC0 1.0 Universal DEED | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic 

Introduction

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. An insight into its origins is its connection to technology. As such, the Technological Determinism Theory posits that climate change is “closely tied to the use or the misuse, the unforeseen consequences or the malfunctions, of relatively new and powerful science-based technologies (Smith and Marx, 1994: 238).” This claim finds support in respected scientists such as Nobel laureate Syukuro Manabe, who argues that human activities have been the primary drivers of alterations in the composition of the atmosphere and therefore, the Earth’s climate (Manabe and Broccoli, 2020: xiii).

The scenario in Spain reflects a global trend. The latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predict an even further worsening of the situation, with projections of an average temperature increase of 2.7-3.2 °C and up to 3.5 °C and a reduction of annual runoff in Spain by 20% compared to the period 1980-2010 (Ali et al., 2022: 2237). Catalonia reached the historical maximum of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in 2007, with a record 57.11 million metric tonnes (MT), an increase of 46.62% over 1990 levels, mainly due to transport and energy processing activities (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2024). Moreover, in 2022, only 7.3% of the energy of Barcelona, its largest city, came from renewable sources, highlighting the city’s dependence on fossil fuels (Agència d’Energia de Barcelona, 2022: 5).

Given the link between the phenomenon and rapid technological advances, a pertinent question arises: “How could technology, often cited as a contributor to environmental issues, be used to mitigate climate change in Barcelona?” This poses a paradox where an agent contributing to environmental degradation is also seen as a potential solution, emphasising the complexity of the relationship between technology and climate change in one of the largest cities in Southern Europe.

Barcelona, as a leading “Smart City” (see Angelidou, 2016), exemplifies the potential of integrating advanced technologies to address urban challenges, including climate change. Therefore, this requires an in-depth analysis of multiple factors associated with technology and policy through digitalisation, which involves the transformative impact of applying technology across all areas of human society (Parviainen et al., 2017: 64). These include energy consumption, GHG emissions, and public health.

The “Smartness” of Barcelona

In Spain, 32 million people suffer the effects of climate change (La Moncloa, 2019). As this issue runs deeper implications, potential action plans to mitigate it lie in digitalisation, including the management of already existing technologies. As Balogun et al. note, “Digitalisation is a key enabler […] to foster climate-friendly […] environments and societies (2020: 1).” Barcelona has advanced these efforts by putting a new twist on existing practices through the innovative use of digital tools, rendering it “Smart.”

The city’s digitalisation began with former Mayor Trias, but it was not until 2015, under Ada Colau, that the city’s digitalisation projects were agreed upon and implemented. As Gascó-Hernándes points out, “no smart city can involve its citizens only as recipients of its interventions but include them as partners deciding the type of city they want to live in when designing, implementing, and evaluating related projects (2018: 57),” and so did Barcelona.

For instance, since the strategy’s implementation from 2015 to 2017, there has been a steady decrease in total energy consumption, indicating efforts towards more efficient energy use or a shift towards less energy-intensive activities. While there was an increase in 2018 (15,896.22156 GWh/year), the levels in 2019 (15,320.45407 GWh/year) suggest a long-term trend towards lower energy consumption (Generalitat de Catalunya, 2024) (see Table 1 and Figure 1). This trend supports the need for a new approach to better use existing resources to mitigate climate change, as increased electricity use (especially if it comes from fossil fuels) correlates with higher GHG emissions (mainly CO2), which negatively affect public health (see Markandya and Wilkinson, 2007).

Before 2016, policymakers designed strategies to improve energy consumption. These include a 10% reduction in municipal consumption, the installation of 25,000 new LED luminaires to light 30% of Barcelona’s streets and the plan to increase renewable electricity generation across the city to 10%, along with infrastructure improvements to supply 20,000 homes with clean energy (Ajuntament de Barcelona, n.d.).

As Barcelona has made significant progress in mitigating climate change through better use of energy, it becomes evident the effects of reducing GHG emissions. The city’s CO2 emissions peaked at 4.75 million MT in 2005. Since then, emissions have decreased by 27.66%, reaching 3.43 million MT in 2022 (see Table 2 and Figure 2) (Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2024).

This is especially important when Barcelona is contrasted with Catalonia as a region, which peaked in 2007 (see Table 3 and Figure 3). The city achieved this through the interconnection of policies and digitalisation. For example, it enhanced smart mobility initiatives, such as expanding the use of electric vehicles and developing mobility-as-a-service apps for smart parking and bike sharing. In addition, it reduced transportation speed limits (ThoughtLab, 2022: para. 5).

Just as urban mobility contributes significantly to emissions, accounting for more than 20% of energy consumption, it also poses serious health risks. Aware of this, the city is controlling technology and implementing policies, for instance, through Low Emission Zones (LEZ). This is part of the city’s climate action policies. Barcelona aims to reduce CO2 levels by 40% by 2030, compared to 2005 levels (Ajuntament de Barcelona, n.d.).

The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) investigated the effects of reducing emissions to improve air quality. They concluded that the study might not show an immediate impact on long-term health outcomes (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 2021: 22). However, the ASPB recognises the positive effects on respiratory diseases resulting from changes in mobility patterns, such as implementing LEZs and promoting alternative transport methods such as cycling and walking (Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 2021: 20–21). These measures are aligned with initiatives introduced in 2015 to boost sustainable mobility and reduce the number of emission-generating vehicles, which has led to an improvement in air quality and a 31% reduction in air pollution (Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2022: para. 1).

Conclusion

Although technology is often criticised as a contributor to environmental problems, its strategic integration presents a powerful solution to mitigate climate change in Barcelona. The city’s path to sustainability exemplifies the transformative potential of digitalisation. By connecting advanced technologies and Smart City initiatives, Barcelona has significantly reduced its GHG emissions and improved energy efficiency. Initiatives such as smart mobility solutions, including electric vehicles and mobility-as-a-service applications, together with the implementation of LEZs, show how technology can be used to address public health challenges. Thus, rather than contributing solely to environmental degradation, technology emerges as a fundamental tool in mitigating climate change, offering hope for a sustainable future in Barcelona and beyond.

References

Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona, 2021. RESULTS REPORT. Salut als Carrers (Health in the streets).

Agència d’Energia de Barcelona, 2022. BALANÇ D’ENERGIA I EMISSIONS DE GASOS AMB EFECTE D’HIVERNACLE DE BARCELONA. Barcelona.

Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2024. The Energy Observatory | Energia Barcelona | Ajuntament de Barcelona.

Ajuntament de Barcelona, 2022. Air pollution in the city down by more than 30% | Info Barcelona | Barcelona City Council [WWW Document]. URL https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/en/tema/environment-and-sustainability/air-pollution-in-the-city-down-by-more-than-30_1238916.html

Ajuntament de Barcelona, n.d. Strategy for energy transition | Urban Planning, Ecological Transition, Urban Services and Housing [WWW Document]. URL https://ajuntament.barcelona.cat/ecologiaurbana/en/what-we-do-and-why/energy-and-climate-change/strategy-energy-transition (accessed 5.11.24).

Ajuntament de Barcelona, n.d. Zero Emission City | Mobility and transport | Barcelona City Council [WWW Document]. URL https://www.barcelona.cat/mobilitat/en/about-us/zero-emission-city (accessed 5.12.24).

Ali, E., Cramer, W., Carnicer, J., Georgopoulou, E., Hilmi, N., Le Cozannet, G., Lionello, P., 2022. 2022: Cross-Chapter Paper 4: Mediterranean Region Supplementary Material., in: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. pp. 2233–2272.

Angelidou, M., 2016. Four European smart city strategies. Int’l J. Soc. Sci. Stud. 4, 18.

Balogun, A.-L., Marks, D., Sharma, R., Shekhar, H., Balmes, C., Maheng, D., Arshad, A., Salehi, P., 2020. Assessing the Potentials of Digitalization as a Tool for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Development in Urban Centres. Sustainable Cities and Society 53, 101888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2019.101888

Gascó-Hernandez, M., 2018. Building a smart city: Lessons from Barcelona. Communications of the ACM 61, 50–57.

Generalitat de Catalunya, 2024. Catalonia GHG Emissions [WWW Document]. Climate Change. URL http://canviclimatic.gencat.cat/en/canvi/inventaris/emissions_de_geh_a_catalunya/index.html

La Moncloa, 2019. Efectos del Cambio Climatico en España [WWW Document]. URL https://www.lamoncloa.gob.es/serviciosdeprensa/notasprensa/ecologica/Documents/2019/260319-Open%20Data%20Clim%C3%A1tico.pdf (accessed 3.15.24).

Manabe, S., Broccoli, A.J., 2020. Beyond global warming: How numerical models revealed the secrets of climate change. Princeton University Press.

Markandya, A., Wilkinson, P., 2007. Electricity generation and health. The lancet 370, 979–990.

Parviainen, P., Tihinen, M., Kääriäinen, J., Teppola, S., 2017. Tackling the digitalization challenge: how to benefit from digitalization in practice. International journal of information systems and project management 5, 63–77.

Smith, M.R., Marx, L., 1994. Does technology drive history?: The dilemma of technological determinism. Mit Press.

ThoughtLab, 2022. Barcelona, Spain: Racing to net zero. ThoughtLab. URL https://thoughtlabgroup.com/barcelona-spain-racing-to-net-zero/