Bright city lights [urban power systems]

The global trend towards city living among the growing middle classes in developing countries such China and India, coupled with the need to radically rethink how energy is sourced and distributed, has prompted a study into urban energy system. Undertaken by researchers at Imperial College in London, the study aims to explore how energy and money could be saved if cities integrate heating, lighting, transport and electricity systems. The study hopes to determine exactly how people and businesses use energy in cities by reviewing past academic work, gathering existing datasets and conducting original surveys. Researchers hope to take advantage of the improved processing power of the latest supercomputer to analyse the mountains of data, and ultimately wish to work out exactly how many people live in different types of accommodation and how much energy they consume.