Bristol has been awarded more than £300,000 of European Union funding to develop two projects involving green technology.
The first is to develop a new model capable of monitoring energy use in public buildings such as schools. Bristol City Council will work in partnership with a British systems manufacturer and more than 30 partners across Europe, including computer giants IBM and Cisco.
The second project aims to set up handy web-based tools for electric car drivers which give information such as where to find charging points and links to public transport options.
This follows the launch in the spring of the first electric car charging units in city council car parks.
Council Leader Barbara Janke said: “This recognition by the EU of Bristol’s pioneering work on the importance of green technology is very welcome. This is exactly why we commissioned one of the UK’s leading experts, Dr Chris Tuppen, to recommend how Bristol can take forward this agenda.
“His report shows that there are real benefits to be gained in terms of reducing our emissions through the use of user-friendly data and technology. The more information that we have as consumers, the more likely it is that we choose to go green and save energy.”
The City Council commissioned Dr Tuppen, hailed by the Guardian as one of the 50 people that could save the plant from climatic disaster, to write the Smart City Bristol Study.
His report recommends three key areas as a focus for Bristol’s smart city work: smart grid and meters, smart transport and smart data. These areas could cover innovative energy efficient urban energy, transport, ICT, water and waste solutions.
Dr Tuppen added: "Smart cities will rely on high-quality information streams which are used for everything from effective energy management to integrated transport systems. This data will also need to be presented to users in simple and engaging ways. This new funding will help Bristol develop the necessary systems and help it on its path to becoming one of Europe's leading smart cities."
Bristol’s Smart City programme was launched in March with the funding from the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
The EU-funded projects start next year.
