Enhancing the quality of energy services in urban areas by means of renewable energy technologies and information and communication technologies in energy networks: issues, challenges and opportunities

Urban areas are characterized by a high concentration of economic and social activities. As a consequence, residential, commercial or industrial activities require an enormous rate of resources consumption. This can lead to environmentally-related problems. In addition, to the depletion of fossil resources in the near future, there are legitimate calls for inovative approaches towards more sustainable energy supply-related activities. With the availability of renewable technologies and more generally of distributed generation technologies, such a goal can be reached. With the concept of energy service associated with the use of information and communication technologies (ICT), and based on experiences conducted in the city of Martigny (Switzerland), this article aims to present an innovative way to improve energy efficiency (EE) in urban areas.