Smart and Sustainable Cities: Integrating Renewable Energy Technologies and IoT for Urban Environmental Monitoring

Abstract Cities consume more energy and generate more GHGs than rural areas, with about 75% of global energy consumed, and 80% of global GHGs generated, by cities. This paper discusses extensively the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies into Renewable Energy (RE) systems, along with their potential to create smart and sustainable cities. A thorough review of the latest literature was conducted to assess how the Internet of Things (IoT) based environmental monitoring, Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT), digital twin technologies and hybrid renewable energy (RE) configurations (Solar + Wind) are converging in the context of smart cities. The results show that IoT-based sensing networks can deliver real-time environmental information that can be used in conjunction with artificial intelligence analytics for predictive modelling, efficient energy management and early warning of climatic hazards. Moreover, the use of digital twin technology provides a virtual representation of urban infrastructure, improving its resource optimization and sustainable development decision-making. The challenges of scalability, privacy of data and interoperability between different platforms are highlighted and are discussed with respect to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 11. Finally, the paper suggests a multi-layered architecture, based on standards and incorporating renewable energy resources and intelligent analytics, as a promising path towards resilient, low-emission and environmentally-friendly cities.