Energy transition and great cities

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: This paper analyses the relationship between energy and large cities in the current context of the energy transition from fossils to renewable sources OBJETIVE. History shows that cities have grown with the capacity to ensure their metabolism, that is, the exchange of energy and matter with their geographical context. METHOD. A double correlation is established: the size of historic cities with their energy bases and, for today's large metropolises, the surrounding area is estimated to feed their populations. RESULTS. In a context without fossils, the limits of agricultural productivity and the relative increase in transport costs will pose challenges of the first magnitude for large cities, especially with regard to human nutrition. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. All this suggests a strike in the globalization of basic material goods, the revaluation of local activities and, probably, the paralysis of the gigantism of cities and their greater link with the environment based on a circular economy.