Agent Based Modelling for Decision Making in Energy Policy

The paper describes a decision-making exploratory modelling approach to simulate different situations leading to a sustainable consumption of energy. An Agent Based Model (ABM) is proposed in order to study the individual and collective behavioural changes toward environmental sustainability using ICT-based services, the SAM4SN (Spread of Awareness Model for Social Norms) model. It explores the role of awareness in the consumption of a resource. Simulating how environmental awareness spreads is an interdisciplinary issue that involves ICT, energy and environmental science, as well as social and behavioural sciences. The agents of SAM4SN represent households whose consumption of energy has to be reduced. Agents influence each other. Such influence improves their awareness that, in turn, impacts on resource consumption. The social influence plays an important role in spreading awareness. The model includes the role of smart metering functions. The role of the sustainability tipping point in decision-making is introduced

A simple strategy to optimally design and manage a photovoltaic plant integrated with a storage system for different applications

The main goal of the present paper is that of proposing a methodology for the optimal sizing of a Photovoltaic (PV) unit and a Storage (ST) device, basing on data concerning typical load and PV production profiles. To achieve this result, a set of simple requirements to manage the charging/discharging of the storage is firstly proposed. Then, the overall cost of the whole system is deduced as a function of two variables (PV and ST sizes) and minimized in order to find the optimal sizing of the system. Finally, an economic analysis is presented to determine whether or not the investment is profitable

Il Futuro della Cybersecurity in Italia: Ambiti Progettuali Strategici

Il presente volume nasce come continuazione del precedente, con l’obiettivo di delineare un insieme di ambiti progettuali e di azioni che la comunità nazionale della ricerca ritiene essenziali a complemento e a supporto di quelli previsti nel DPCM Gentiloni in materia di sicurezza cibernetica, pubblicato nel febbraio del 2017. La lettura non richiede particolari conoscenze tecniche; il testo è fruibile da chiunque utilizzi strumenti informatici o navighi in rete. Nel volume vengono considerati molteplici aspetti della cybersecurity, che vanno dalla definizione di infrastrutture e centri necessari a organizzare la difesa alle azioni e alle tecnologie da sviluppare per essere protetti al meglio, dall’individuazione delle principali tecnologie da difendere alla proposta di un insieme di azioni orizzontali per la formazione, la sensibilizzazione e la gestione dei rischi. Gli ambiti progettuali e le azioni, che noi speriamo possano svilupparsi nei prossimi anni in Italia, sono poi accompagnate da una serie di raccomandazioni agli organi preposti per affrontare al meglio, e da Paese consapevole, la sfida della trasformazione digitale. Le raccomandazioni non intendono essere esaustive, ma vanno a toccare dei punti che riteniamo essenziali per una corretta implementazione di una politica di sicurezza cibernetica a livello nazionale. Politica che, per sua natura, dovrà necessariamente essere dinamica e in continua evoluzione in base ai cambiamenti tecnologici, normativi, sociali e geopolitici. All’interno del volume, sono riportati dei riquadri con sfondo violetto o grigio; i primi sono usati nel capitolo introduttivo e nelle conclusioni per mettere in evidenza alcuni concetti ritenuti importanti, i secondi sono usati negli altri capitoli per spiegare il significato di alcuni termini tecnici comunemente utilizzati dagli addetti ai lavori. In conclusione, ringraziamo tutti i colleghi che hanno contribuito a questo volume: un gruppo di oltre 120 ricercatori, provenienti da circa 40 tra Enti di Ricerca e Università, unico per numerosità ed eccellenza, che rappresenta il meglio della ricerca in Italia nel settore della cybersecurity. Un grazie speciale va a Gabriella Caramagno e ad Angela Miola che hanno contribuito a tutte le fasi di produzione del libro. Tra i ringraziamenti ci fa piacere aggiungere il supporto ottenuto dai partecipanti al progetto FILIERASICURA

Cybersecurity nelle reti elettriche 4.0: stato dell\u2019arte e tendenze

L\u2019introduzione delle tecnologie digitali amplifica il livello di interconnessione delle reti elettriche. E introduce ulteriori dimensioni di rischio cyber, che gli stakeholder devono gestire insieme. Ecco una panoramica del settore e le strategie da adottare per garantire misure di difesa delle infrastrutture energetich

An awareness based approach to sustainability: Agent-Based Modeling for decision making in energy policies

The paper discusses the impact of social interaction on individual and collective behaviors and its effect on the consumption of energy. The underlying hypothesis is that ICT tools enable societal and psychological mechanisms leading to sustainable lifestyles. We envision tools supporting social norms, i.e. rules governing an individual\u2019s behavior by social sanctions that encourage sustainable behavior on the part of user and consumers. We present SAM4SN (Spread of Awareness Model for Social Norms), an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to explore the role of awareness in the consumption of a resource. Agents represent households that use a resource \u2013 e.g. energy or water \u2013 whose consumption has to be reduced. Agents influence each other and such influence improves their awareness that, in turn, influences resource consumption. Social influence and the role of smart metering functions as awareness's catalyst are described. SAM4SN is an exploratory model to play and explore different situations, leading or not to a sustainable consumption of energy. In particular, the sustainability tipping point and its role in decision-making will be introduced

Advancements and Research Trends in Microgrids Cybersecurity

Microgrids are growing in importance in the Smart Grid paradigm for power systems. Microgrid security is becoming crucial since these systems increasingly rely on information and communication technologies. Many technologies have been proposed in the last few years for the protection of industrial control systems, ranging from cryptography, network security, security monitoring systems, and innovative control strategies resilient to cyber-attacks. Still, electrical systems and microgrids present their own peculiarities, and some effort has to be put forth to apply cyber-protection technologies in the electrical sector. In the present work, we discuss the latest advancements and research trends in the field of microgrid cybersecurity in a tutorial form

A new technique for computing the response of a line of finite length excited by HF electromagnetic fields

The important EMC problem of the high-frequency electromagnetic field coupling to a single-conductor transmission line of finite length is considered. In particular, a general method to determine the current induced on the line subjected to a generic incident field wave is proposed. The governing integro-differential equation of the problem is solved by means of a numerical procedure based on a Fourier series transformation. It can be proved that the series in which the unknown of the problem, namely the current along the line, is developed converges to the exact solution and only few terms are needed. The proposed approach represents a more accurate alternative to the transmission line (TL) approximation, since it allows the removal of its typical limitations, namely assumptions about the absence of a common mode current and about the TEM (or quasi-TEM) propagation mode. Such assumptions determine restrictions on the maximum value of line height and width with respect both to the line length and to the minimum field wavelength. Numerical results obtained on a test line excited by a suitable electromagnetic pulse are compared with those provided by the numerical electromagnetic code (NEC) and a good agreement is highlighted