Archer: A Community Distributed Computing Infrastructure for Computer Architecture Research and Education

This paper introduces Archer, a community-based computing resource for computer architecture research and education. The Archer infrastructure integrates virtualization and batch scheduling middleware to deliver high-throughput computing resources aggregated from resources distributed across wide-area networks and owned by different participating entities in a seamless manner. The paper discusses the motivations leading to the design of Archer, describes its core middleware components, and presents an analysis of the functionality and performance of a prototype wide-area deployment running a representative computer architecture simulation workload.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures. Describes the Archer project, http://archer-project.or

Retrospective Examination of Demand-side Energy-efficiency Policies

Energy efficiency policies are a primary avenue for reducing carbon emissions, with potential additional benefits from improved air quality and energy security. We review literature on a broad range of existing non-transportation energy efficiency policies covering appliance standards, financial incentives, information and voluntary programs, and government energy use (building and professional codes are not included). Estimates indicate these programs are likely to have collectively saved up to 4 quads of energy annually, with appliance standards and utility demand-side management likely making up at least half these savings. Energy Star, Climate Challenge, and 1605b voluntary emissions reductions may also contribute significantly to aggregate energy savings, but how much of these savings would have occurred absent these programs is less clear. Although even more uncertain, reductions in CO2, NOX, SO2, and PM-10 associated with energy savings may contribute about 10% more to the value of energy savings.energy efficiency policy, appliance standards, information, incentives, voluntary programs

CITIES: Energetic Efficiency, Sustainability; Infrastructures, Energy and the Environment; Mobility and IoT; Governance and Citizenship

This book collects important contributions on smart cities. This book was created in collaboration with the ICSC-CITIES2020, held in San José (Costa Rica) in 2020. This book collects articles on: energetic efficiency and sustainability; infrastructures, energy and the environment; mobility and IoT; governance and citizenship

Dynamic Demand Response in Residential Prosumer Collectives

This research aims at exploring how smart grid opportunities can be leveraged to ameliorate demand response practices for residential prosumer collectives, while meeting the needs of end-users and power grids. Electricity has traditionally been generated in centralized plants then transmitted and distributed to end-users, but the increasing cost-effectiveness of micro-generation (e.g. solar photovoltaics) is resulting in the growth of more decentralized generation. The term "prosumers" is commonly used to refer to energy users (usually households) who engage in small-scale energy production. Of particular interest is the relatively new phenomenon of prosumer collectives, which typically involve interactions between small-scale decentralized generators to optimize their collective energy production and use through sharing, storing and/or trading energy. Drivers of collective prosumerism include sustaining community identity, optimizing energy demand and supply across multiple households, and gaining market power from collective action. Managing power flows in grids integrating intermittent micro-generation (e.g. from solar photovoltaics and micro-wind turbines) presents a challenge for prosumer collectives as well as power grid operators. Smart grid technologies and capabilities provide opportunities for dynamic demand response, where flexible demand can be better matched with variable supply. Ideally, smart grid opportunities should incentivize prosumers to maximize their energy self-consumption from local supply while fairly sharing any income from trading surplus energy, or any loss of utility associated with altering energy demand patterns. New businesses are emerging and developing various products and services around smart grid opportunities to cater for the socio-technical needs of residential prosumer collectives, where technical energy systems overlap with social interactions. This research studies how emerging businesses are using smart grid capabilities to create dynamic demand response solutions for residential prosumer collectives, and how fairness can be adopted in solutions targeting those collectives. This research interweaves social and technical knowledge from literature to interpret the interactions and objectives of prosumer collectives in new ways, and create new socio-technical knowledge around those interpretations. Conducting this research involved using mixed research methods to draw on social science, computer science, and power systems. In the social stream of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with executives in businesses providing current or potential smart grid solutions enabling dynamic demand response in residential prosumer collectives. In the technical stream, optimization, computation and game theory concepts were used to develop software algorithms for integrating fairness in allocating shared benefits and loss of utility in collective settings. Interview findings show that new business models and prosumer-oriented solutions are being developed to support the growth of prosumer collectives. Solutions are becoming more software-based, and enabling more socially-conscious user choice. Challenges include dealing with power quality rather than capacity, developing scalable business models and adequate regulatory frameworks, and managing social risks. Automated flexibility management is anticipated to dominate dynamic demand response practices, while the grid is forecast to become one big prosumer community rather than pockets of closed communities. Additionally, the research has developed two software algorithms for residential collectives, to fairly distribute revenue and loss of utility among households. The algorithms used game theory, optimization and approximation algorithms to estimate fair shares with high accuracy using less computation time and memory resources than exact methods

Energy Efficiency

Energy efficiency is finally a common sense term. Nowadays almost everyone knows that using energy more efficiently saves money, reduces the emissions of greenhouse gasses and lowers dependence on imported fossil fuels. We are living in a fossil age at the peak of its strength. Competition for securing resources for fuelling economic development is increasing, price of fuels will increase while availability of would gradually decline. Small nations will be first to suffer if caught unprepared in the midst of the struggle for resources among the large players. Here it is where energy efficiency has a potential to lead toward the natural next step - transition away from imported fossil fuels! Someone said that the only thing more harmful then fossil fuel is fossilized thinking. It is our sincere hope that some of chapters in this book will influence you to take a fresh look at the transition to low carbon economy and the role that energy efficiency can play in that process

Sustainable Energy Access for Communities

This open access book examines the transition to sustainable energy systems in emerging cities. Experts from around the world present case studies from different countries and discuss efforts were needed for achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The authors look into the issue of environment vs. economics and discuss the question of whether the energy transition goal can conflict with other development goals such as decent work and economic growth. Furthermore, innovation in energy transition is introduced, both in technology and citizens’ engagement. The book presents the latest developments on energy access and transition to sustainability throughout the overall value chain: from basic research in universities to documentation of lessons learned in the field. The empirical evidence presented makes this book appealing to scholars in the field of energy sustainability as well as to policy-makers and energy service companies

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting

At the EEDAL'15 conference 128 papers dealing with energy consumption and energy efficiency improvements for the residential sector have been presented. Papers focused policies and programmes, technologies and consumer behaviour. Special focus was on standards and labels, demand response and smart meters. All the paper s have been peer reviewed by experts in the sector.JRC.F.7-Renewables and Energy Efficienc

Proceedings of the International Conference on Energising the SDGs through Appropriate Technology and Governance

This volume presents the papers presented at the international conference on Energising the SDGs through appropriate technology and governance. Papers were presented in eight sessions. In addition, there was a keynote speech, a panel discussion, a workshop on Sustainability Compass and a lunch-time poster session. This compendium provides a summary of the event and includes original papers and posters delivered at the conference. These covered various themes, including climate action plan in UK and Japanese cities and their alignment with the SDGs; sustainable energy access; contribution of renewable energies, urban design and sustainable development goals, tools for evaluation and monitoring of progress with the SDGs, and innovations and business models for various services