UNIDO BMUN LXVII

Hi everyone! To get you more prepared for our topic on Smart Cities, I'd like to reiterate a few reasons why the concept is so important and a few misconceptions surrounding it. The main draw of Smart Cities is their ability to collect user-driven data in order to streamline energy efficiency to fit each citizen's needs. By increasing efficiency, Smart Cities also have a huge potential to increase sustainability. Smart Cities could become more and more popular as our technology and understanding grows, so it is important to discuss their implementation and possible challenges that could arise. The idea of Smart Cities is very complex, so the topic comes with myths and misconceptions. One key misconception about Smart Cities is that with advanced technology usually comes alienation and automation. However, Smart Cities are actually meant to bring communities together and increase the quality of life. Additionally, a major concern is the use of personal data. When pe...

Hello Everyone! This week, I'm going to talk about our first topic--efficient energy capture, storage, and transmission. As most of you probably know, human civilization mainly run off of fossil fuels; however, this type of energy source is not only finite, but it also negatively impacts the environment. In our committee, we hope to talk about alternative ways to power human developments, perhaps through biomass, hydropower, wind power, solar energy, or geothermal energy. While all these sources of energy provide interesting alternatives to traditional fossil fuels, they aren't all super efficient, so it's important to keep in mind how your country's natural resources, financial standings, and policies would play into energy development. Often, when people talk about renewable energy, they forget about the potential cons that come along with it. Make sure you think about how switching to alternative energy could affect certain jobs/industries and what demographic of ...

Hi  Delegates! It's only 14 days until the BMUN 67 conference! Are you excited because I'm so excited!!!! Excitement aside, today's blog post will be focusing on carbon capture systems around the world. Some great articles below: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/01/canada-switches-on-worlds-first-carbon-capture-power-plant In 2014, Canada switched on "the first large-scale coal-fire power plant fitted with a technology that ... enables the burning of fossil duels without ... [global] climate catastrophe." The technology they are talking about in this article is carbon capture systems. The first step in these systems is capture; the powerplant takes in air and separates the carbon dioxide out with absorption, adsorption, or membrane gas separation technologies. Next, the carbon dioxide is transported to a suitable storage site through - most commonly - pipelines. Lastly, the carbon dioxide, in a half fluid half gas form, is injected underg...

Hi Delegates! Hope you all are super excited for conference. Our dais is looking forward to reading your position papers and finally meeting you in person. This week, I wanted to talk about the extreme cold weather that has hit the Midwest and how this relates to city infrastructure. Please refer to the following article for more information:  https://www.harborlightnews.com/articles/arctic-temperatures-lead-to-michigan-state-of-emergency-tips-for-dealing-with-regions-bitter-cold-weather/ The article explains how temperatures have hit sub-zero in Michigan, with wind chills predicted to be around -50 degrees. This weather negatively affects residents in many ways, including health concerns, frozen pipes, barriers to transportation, and rising costs of electricity bills due to heating. The article offers some advice on how to handle these problems, but there are limits on what we can do. Right now, cities have limited resources and may not be able to efficiently handle the weathe...

Hey Everyone, I hope your research has been progressing well. As committee draws closer I wanted to elaborate on how our committee will run, specifically in terms of resolutions/solutions. Because we have two topics, both relatively technical and challenging in nature I wanted to clarify a few things before we arrived at committee. The key to the first topic is understanding what current energy efficiency policies are in your country and worldwide; and understanding new and developing technologies in the energy efficiency space, some of which were mentioned in the background guide. It is up to you, as a country, to decide which current policies, what new policies, and what technologies should be implemented in the next 10 years to provide the most effective energy efficiency policy. Due to the depth at which some of the resolutions will engage in, we are hoping to see some resolution work by the end of the first session . This means that it is critical that you understand your c...

Hi guys! Hope the research is going well. Wanted to start up a discussion surrounding a facet of Smart Cities: transportation. Connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) have dominated recent visions of what could constitute a Smart City. They hold a lot of potential for data sharing with the goal of understanding the two-way connection between user needs and service performance. Purchases of electric vehicles (EVs) are already skyrocketing. This also adds to the promise of cleaner transportation system. However, a huge challenge arises with charging stations, as both types of vehicles have very different charging requirements. The energy grid needed for such an expansion is fairly daunting and the actual demand for energy could cause many issues as well. If any city wishes to transform to a Smart City, they must keep in mind the crucial need for integration of CAVs and EVs into the energy grid and the challenges that could arise with such a task.  This link  explains the...

Hi  Delegates! Are you excited for BMUN LXVII, because I am! I can't wait to meet all y'all delegates. Until then, here's some more exciting content about the topics at hand. This blog post's topic will be on smart grids, their purpose, pros and cons, and how they can be used. Here's a link if you want to learn more: https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/news/2019/01/29/465520/energy-efficient-buildings-central-modernizing-u-s-infrastructure/. First off, what are smart grids? Simply a smart grid is an electrical grid that can allow for a two-way system of communication between customers and producers. This technology has the potential to revolutionize the energy industry, leading to more reliability, availability, and environmental efficiency. Furthermore, the article states that the South African smart grid can lessen the load of the grid during peak demand, which will "lower electricity rates, [increase] integration of large-scale renewable...

Hello Everyone! As the position paper deadline approaches I wanted to clarify some guidelines on the position paper The general format is exactly what is specified by the position paper guide, however, this committee differs slightly from a traditional position paper in the 3rd part, proposed solutions. For the first topic, you all will work to create a 10-year protocol for energy efficiency sustainability and development. In terms of the position papers proposed solutions part, you will propose concepts that your country wishes to implement in this protocol, ranging from a focus on certain technologies to policies that will further global energy efficiency. For the second topic, you will come up with a framework for what a smart city should be like. As far as the position paper goes, you will propose qualifications for a smart city that must be met and ideas to further regular cities to becoming smart cities. Once again if you have any questions please feel free to ema...