Energy use in Urban Transport sector within the Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) of three Italian Big Cities

Promising Renewable Energy solutions could be installed in cities, but they require specific morphological conditions as well as architectural integration. Transport sector is still neglected from a strong policy initiative. A first attempt along with a defined framework to attract economic resources as well as interested stakeholders is the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). Within this agreement, the Municipality has to design a plan, the so-called Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP). The plan must contain a clear outline of the strategy and relative actions to be taken by the local authority to reach its commitments in 2020, in terms of sustainability goals set by EU 20-20-20. The aim of this paper is to discuss and evaluate the differences of fuel usage and transport sector interaction in Italian urban scenarios, taking into account geographical and morphological constraints, and to compare the forecasts for 2020 and 2030scenarios, in accordance with European and National laws in force

Exploratory literature review of blockchain in the construction industry

First academic publications on blockchain in construction instantiated in 2017, with three documents. Over the course of several years, new literature emerged at an average annual growth rate of 184%, surmounting to 121 documents at time of writing this article in early 2021. All 121 publications were reviewed to investigate the expansion and progression of the topic. A mixed methods approach was implemented to assess the existing environment through a literature review and scientometric analysis. Altogether, 33 application categories of blockchain in construction were identified and organised into seven subject areas, these include (1) procurement and supply chain, (2) design and construction, (3) operations and life cycle, (4) smart cities, (5) intelligent systems, (6) energy and carbon footprint, and (7) decentralised organisations. Limitations included using only one scientific database (Scopus), this was due to format inconsistencies when downloading and merging various bibliographic data sets for use in visual mapping software

Performance analysis of blockchain-based smart grid with Ethereum and Hyperledger implementations

Abstract. Smart grids lay the foundation for future communities. Smart homes, smart buildings, smart streets, and smart offices are built when intelligent devices piles on intelligent devices. To reach the maximum capacity, they all must be supported by an intelligent power supply. For optimal and real-time electricity consumption, monitoring and trading, blockchain possess number of potential benefits in its application to electricity infrastructure. A comprehensive system architecture of blockchain-based smart grid is proposed and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading is implemented between Distribution System Operators (DSO), Local energy providers and Consumers. This thesis presents a virtual smart grid equipped with smart contracts capable of virtual activities like market payment function and the comparison and the performance of the blockchain-based smart grid by using Ethereum and Hyperledger Fabric-based implementations. The challenges faced during the implementation of blockchain protocols are discussed and evaluation in the light of finding sustainable solutions to develop secure and reliable smart grid operations, is the major objective of the thesis

Low-latency, query-driven analytics over voluminous multidimensional, spatiotemporal datasets

2017 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.Ubiquitous data collection from sources such as remote sensing equipment, networked observational devices, location-based services, and sales tracking has led to the accumulation of voluminous datasets; IDC projects that by 2020 we will generate 40 zettabytes of data per year, while Gartner and ABI estimate 20-35 billion new devices will be connected to the Internet in the same time frame. The storage and processing requirements of these datasets far exceed the capabilities of modern computing hardware, which has led to the development of distributed storage frameworks that can scale out by assimilating more computing resources as necessary. While challenging in its own right, storing and managing voluminous datasets is only the precursor to a broader field of study: extracting knowledge, insights, and relationships from the underlying datasets. The basic building block of this knowledge discovery process is analytic queries, encompassing both query instrumentation and evaluation. This dissertation is centered around query-driven exploratory and predictive analytics over voluminous, multidimensional datasets. Both of these types of analysis represent a higher-level abstraction over classical query models; rather than indexing every discrete value for subsequent retrieval, our framework autonomously learns the relationships and interactions between dimensions in the dataset (including time series and geospatial aspects), and makes the information readily available to users. This functionality includes statistical synopses, correlation analysis, hypothesis testing, probabilistic structures, and predictive models that not only enable the discovery of nuanced relationships between dimensions, but also allow future events and trends to be predicted. This requires specialized data structures and partitioning algorithms, along with adaptive reductions in the search space and management of the inherent trade-off between timeliness and accuracy. The algorithms presented in this dissertation were evaluated empirically on real-world geospatial time-series datasets in a production environment, and are broadly applicable across other storage frameworks

Blockchain Technology: An Analysis of Potential Applications and Uses

This paper will focus on explaining what blockchain technology is, the fundamentals of how it works, and applications of it. By utilizing sophisticated cryptography, a distributed network, a specified order of events the technology is able to create a ledger that cannot be altered due to its existence on many computers that able to detect if the data has been changed or tampered with. To help illustrate the uses of blockchain technology the technical explanation is complemented with real and hypothetical ways that the technology it being used. The use of blockchain technology originated with financial application and has expanded to many industries as new and creative ideas come to fruition

The role of intelligent systems in the development of peer-to-peer systems for energetic distribution management

Intelligent Systems are one of today’s greatest strengths, while environmental sustainability is one of today’s biggest challenges. This study aims to integrate the most recent innovations in intelligent technologies with the development of smart energy grids and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) systems for energetic distribution. Specifically, it investigates the complex relations between these concepts, while analysing how developments in each field both influence and are influenced by each other. To do so, this study answers three research questions. The first one regards the implementation of Intelligent Systems, the second concerns the development of Smart Grids, while the third is concerned with the possibility of building P2P Systems. To provide relevant conclusions, an extensive literature review regarding all subjects was carried, along with a statistical analysis of three online surveys. The obtained results show that there are significant influences and connections between the development of intelligent technologies and the implementation of smart grids and P2P Systems, thus supporting several hypotheses formulated for this study. On this basis, conclusions are drawn concerning the high value of each topic in separate, and the even higher value of the topics when integrated.Sistemas Inteligentes são um dos maiores benefícios dos dias de hoje, enquanto a sustentabilidade ambiental é um dos maiores desafios. Este estudo pretende integrar as mais recentes inovações em tecnologias inteligentes com o desenvolvimento de redes de energia inteligentes (Smart Grids) e sistemas Peer-to-Peer (P2P) para distribuição energética. Especificamente, investiga as relações complexas entre estes conceitos, enquanto analisa como desenvolvimentos em cada área influenciam e são influenciados pelas outras. Para isso, este estudo responde a três questões de pesquisa. A primeira relaciona-se com a implementação de Sistemas Inteligentes, a segunda com o desenvolvimento de Redes Inteligentes, e a terceira está relacionada com a possibilidade de construir Sistemas P2P. Para obter conclusões relevantes, foi feita uma extensa revisão de literatura relativa a todos os temas, assim como uma análise estatística de três questionários online. Os resultados obtidos mostram que existem influências e conexões significativas entre o desenvolvimento de tecnologias inteligentes e a implementação de Smart Grids e Sistemas P2P, suportando assim múltiplas hipóteses formuladas para este estudo. Com esta base, são retiradas conclusões que confirmam o elevado valor de cada tópico em separado, e o ainda maior valor dos tópicos quando integrados