Evaluation of regional sustainable development - Transitions and prospects

Evaluation practice, "regional development" and "sustainability" are each complex and contentious. Each shows rapid trends and transitions, and opportunities to be gained for more integrated governance and regional development. This paper takes a case study approach, based on the "Evaluation Workshop" of the EU thematic network project REGIONET. The case studies each concerned the restructuring and modernization process: one in an industrial conurbation, another in an agricultural region and a third in a peripheral region. For each case study, the workshop sessions explored in depth the current evaluation practice, the technical tools, the social processes and the trends and prospects in sight. The results of this exploration highlight the rapid transitions emerging in several areas - in technical tools, in social participation and in multi-level governance. The implications are for a new kind of evaluation toolkit, a "meta-information system", which helps to link between existing methods and tools. They also point towards an evaluation approach that is based on a proactive "opportunity building", as much as a reactive "impact assessment". © Imperial College Press

Agent-based appliance scheduling for energy management in industry 4.0

With the growing concerns regarding energy consumption, companies and industries worldwide are looking for ways to reduce their costs and carbon footprint linked to energy usage. The rising cost of energy makes energy saving and optimisation a real stake for businesses which have started to implement more intelligent energy management techniques to achieve a reduction of costs. As industries migrate towards more renewable energy sources and more sustainable consumption models, decentralised energy infrastructure is required where actors can manage and monetise energy capabilities. In fish processing industries, energy is utilised to operate a range of cold rooms and freer units to store and process fish. Modelling thermal loads, appliance scheduling and integration of renewable energy represent key aspects in such industries. To enable the transition towards Industry 4.0 and to efficiently optimise energy in fish industries, multi-agent systems can provide the mechanisms for managing energy consumption and production with standalone entities that can interact and exchange energy with a view of achieving more flexible and informed energy use. In this paper, we propose a multi-agent coordination framework for managing energy in the fish processing industry. We demonstrate how agents can be devised to model appliances and buildings and to support the formation of smart energy clusters. We validate our research based on a real use-case scenario in Milford Haven port in South Wales by showing how multi-agent systems can be implemented and tested for a real fish industrial site

Prosumers' Digital Business Models for Electric Vehicles: Exploring Microfoundations for a Balanced Policy Approach

Mäkinen et al. provide an indispensable view of business model opportunities for electric vehicle (EV) prosumers in the future energy market. The digitalization of energy markets has started a transformation to smart grids where information flows bi-directionally end to end between energy production and consumption. The chapter explores how prosumers can create, deliver, and capture value with EVs in future energy systems. Focusing on prosumers’ digital business models (DBMs), the chapter illustrates the complex interdependencies between various activities and actors needed in the development of an energy system. In addition to demonstrating prosumers’ EV DBMs and the current state of readiness in value creation, delivery, and capture, Mäkinen et al. develop a balanced policy approach that is based on these DBM microfoundations.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe