SHENZHEN’S infrastructure needs to serve the new, low-carbon economy instead of the old high-carbon model to retain its competitiveness, John Byrne, a Nobel laureate, told the Shenzhen Daily yesterday.

Director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at University of Delaware, Byrne shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the authors and review editors of the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 jointly with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore.

“The city’s urban planning should show how to make everything low-carbon, then the city will be attractive to investors, because they know that’s the future,” Byrne said.

He added that buildings are the largest source of energy use and the city should set strong intelligent building standards to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption.

The city government has vowed to give full support to the development of three emerging industries including new energy. However, the city’s low-carbon ambitions have been confronted by the heavy presence of high-carbon industries and a shortage of new energy research and development resources.