Energy in High-Density Cities

There can be no doubt that the future energy prospects for the planet offer something very different from that which has developed over the last 200 years and its extreme reliance on fossil fuels. This change will be forced by an increasing scarcity of supplies to meet an increasing demand scenario, and by restrictions on use that are being introduced in an attempt to mitigate the effects of carbon dioxide-induced global climate change. The current fossil-fuel era should thus be viewed as a transient stage of human and, indeed, architectural, history. This chapter deals with both energy supply and with energy use associated with buildings, and what the future may hold.