Towards a balanced energy community in Sud-Oest del Besòs, Barcelona : matching energy supply and demand curves for different types of communities and renewable energy technologies : ways of governance

Energy communities are groups that organise collective and citizen-led energy activities for a clean energy transition. The most efficient balance between the types of energy generation and consumption profiles were studied, as well as energy efficiency measures for better demand and supply combinations. The aim is to prove that the more diverse the load profiles, the greater the synergy benefits. The potential pathways for governance were also analysed. Sud-Oest del Besòs in Barcelona, Spain was utilised as a pilot area. Several case studies were analysed and different types of renewable technologies were investigated in order to understand the size, physical and regulatory constraints and governance that should be considered. It was concluded that the most balanced combination for the analysed energy community is: energy demand profiles: three schools, civic centre, market and 42% of the residential buildings within a 500m radius (24% of the neighbourhood) and energy supply technologies: 2400 horizontal PV panels, 1960 south-west vertical PV panels and 300 rooftop wind turbines. This will generate 64.58% of self-consumption and hence, provide the community with lower energy bills and reduced energy poverty issues. By implementing simple behaviour change measures, 90.1% of the energy demand could be self-generated. Due to the current regulations, the system will have to follow the “proximity via network” modality, which establishes static distribution coefficients rather than dynamic. This could impact the project negatively in terms of potential earnings from selling the surplus energy back to the grid. Two potential pathways for governance were shown in the report, which take into account ownership and investment possibilities. It is expected that installing an energy community and utilising the profits for regeneration will lower energy poverty issues, improve social cohesion and the living standards

The impact of intelligent cyber-physical systems on the decarbonization of energy

Assessing the impact of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, so-called intelligent cyber-physical systems, on emission reduction in the critical sector of energy provision.</p

Bit Bang 7: Future of Energy

This book is the 7th in the Bit Bang series of books produced as multidisciplinary teamwork exercises by doctoral students participating in the course Bit Bang 7: Future of Energy at Aalto University during the academic year 2014–2015. The course aims at fostering teamwork and multidisciplinary collaboration, as well as providing participants with a global, futurecentric perspective on the energy sector. The growing global demand for energy and diminishing natural resources are driving the development of eco-efficient energy sources, new ways of doing business, and designing our living environment. Bit Bang 7 addresses the topic of energy sources and technologies from the perspective of their economic, environmental and social sustainability. The course elaborates on the interconnectedness of these phenomena, and links them to possible future scenarios, global megatrends and ethical considerations. Will we see disruptive changes in our energy future? Can we impact consumption patterns, ways of doing business, and our way of life? Are we creating a sustainable future for the generations to come? Working in teams, the students set out to answer questions related to the changing energy sector and to brainstorm radical scenarios of what the future could hold. This joint publication contains articles produced as teamwork assignments for the course, in which the students were encouraged to take novel and radical views on the future of energy. The Bit Bang series of courses is supported by the Multidisciplinary Institute of Digitalisation and Energy (MIDE). Previous Bit Bang publications are available from http:/mide.aalto.fi

The ecomics of ecosystems and biodiversity: scoping the scale

The G8 decided in March 2007 to initiate a “Review on the economics of biodiversity loss”, in the so called Potsdam Initiative: 'In a global study we will initiate the process of analysing the global economic benefit of biological diversity, the costs of the loss of biodiversity and the failure to take protective measures versus the costs of effective conservation. The study is being supported by the European Commission (together with the European Environmental Agency and in cooperation with the German Government. “The objective of the current study is to provide a coherent overview of existing scientific knowledge upon which to base the economics of the Review, and to propose a coherent global programme of scientific work, both for Phase 2 (consolidation) and to enable more robust future iterations of the Review beyond 2010.

Discovering the New Place of Learning

The book explores the potential of learning outside the traditional classroom when students gain real-world experiences in a variety of contexts and public spaces such as built, natural and virtual landscapes, museums, heritage sites, science centres and community venues. The authors of the book promote and put the flexible and ‘plastic’ concept of a place of learning into action by including physical geographical location, digital, virtual and textual spaces into the analysis. The book illuminates the importance of innovative educational strategies in connecting formal, non-formal and informal education – experiential learning in museums, heritage places and communities, inquiry-based pedagogy, digital storytelling, environmental online games, narrative geographies, and the use of geospatial technologies

FSEA 2014 – Proceedings of the AVI 2014 Workshop on Fostering Smart Energy Applications through Advanced Visual Interfaces

It is with great pleasure that we welcome you to FSEA 2014, the AVI 2014 workshop on Fostering Smart Energy Applications through Advanced Visual Interfaces. This workshop focuses on advanced interaction, interface, and visualization techniques for energy-related applications, tools, and services. It brings together researchers and practitioners from a diverse range of background, including interaction design, human-computer interaction, visualization, computer games, and other fields concerned with the development of advanced visual interfaces for smart energy applications. FSEA 2014 is the result of the efforts of many people involved in its organization, including our programme committee, and others who have assisted us in putting this workshop together

Energy dependency, the potential supply of renewable energies and the political responses in Turkey in the decades since the oil-crisis

The transition to post-fossil future and widespread utilization of renewable energy technologies have become inevitable across the globe, not only due to limited amount of fossil energy sources, but also the impacts of human-dominated activities on the planet Earth. Turkey, is one of the countries, having scant amount of fossil energy, but rich in various renewable sources with the sufficient capacity to contribute Turkey’s primary energy goals; such as diminishing energy dependency, increasing supply security and diversification of energy sources. Nevertheless, the country is still highly dependent on natural gas and crude-oil imports to meet its growing energy hunger as a result of economic and demographic expansion as well as the insufficient implementation of the energy efficiency technologies. The rising energy imports and therewith the current account deficit put a big burden on country’s vulnerable economy. Turkish government plans to raise the share of renewable energy sources in electricity production to at least 30% by 2023. The calculations show that geothermal power and biomass-based energy production will achieve the 2023 targets, while solar energy installations remain insufficient in number. Wind- and hydropower with their high potential and adequate number of proposed facilities will contribute to the total electricity generation in considerable amount. The public awareness and social acceptance of utilization renewable energy plants have positive impacts to the gradual development of these plants

Electricity pricing and regulation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This work aims to assess the development of competition in the electricity industry of England and Wales, emphasising one of the key elements of the restructured industry, the pool - a centralised day ahead electricity spot market. The pool's structure is examined, along with the relationship that the pool has with the market for electricity forward contracts. However, the key to this work is the relationship between the major electricity generators and the industry's regulator. This is introduced through two theoretical models, and undertaken through a series of econometric models using pool prices, forward prices, electricity demand, and the sharep rices of the major generators: National Power and Powergen. The work tests the hypotheses put forward by Green( 1992) and Helm & Powell (1992) of an inverse relationship between the volume of output that a generator sells forward through contracts and the general level of pool prices. The break-up of the first and second sets of forward contracts - which expired in 1991 and 1993 - and their impact on pool prices are assessed By using the market model, this work examines the impact of a series of both regulatory and nonregulatory events on the share returns of National Power and Powergen. Given the existence of spot and forward markets for electricity, one would expect a relationship between the prices in these markets The relationship is examined for England and Wales by a synthetic data set that approximates the prices at which the contracts were sold. The relationship is then examined using actual and forecast electricity prices for California, this latter analysis forming part of an overview of electricity deregulation in America. Ultimately, this research hopes to add to the growing amount of material on energy privatisation - a topic that continues to promote interest and controversy in academic and industrial circles