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Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Cities

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Science and Technology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2022) | Viewed by 1675

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Mechanical Design, Department of Production Engineering and Management, Democritus University of Thrace, Vasilissis Sofias 12, 67100 Xanthi, Greece
Interests: energy management in the production process; life cycle analysis; utilization of waste energy; renewable energy sources and production processes; maintenance principles; methodologies of design and selection of materials

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

There is no doubt that smart cities are the future - and many would still argue that they are our present. Smart and sustainable cities have a positive impact on the environment, as the main theme of their development is the reduction of CO2 emissions, the improvement of energy efficiency and energy storage, as well as the development of alternative sources. As clean energy technologies evolve tenfold, it will take much more flexibility for these energy sources to provide the availability and reliability we require. This includes investing in interconnected systems, abundant control over when and how we use energy and most importantly - safe, reliable and efficient energy storage (electrical/thermal/cooling).

Globally, every nation and its cities thrive on a green environment goal of cost-effective clean renewable energy and a significant reduction in carbon emissions. Overpopulation, over-dependence on fossil fuels and population aging are some of the 3 major challenges for the future of the world energy map, resulting in increased use of currently available energy. This energy comes mainly from non-renewable sources. Although renewable energy is the way of the future, there are still concerns about how this will all be possible - especially as our cities continue to grow larger, smarter and more demanding. This uncertainty has risen valid but tough questions as renewable energy sources such as wind and solar depend heavily on the weather, will we be able to be permanently independent of coal, oil and gas? And with the transition to electric cars, will our energy system be able to handle the increased demand on the grid? The smart city is provided as the best solution to meet the challenges associated with exponential population growth and urbanization.

Renewable energy sources are available in many forms, such as geothermal, wind, solar, biomass and tidal energy. Renewable energy sources and energy efficiency are ready to shape the future development of smart cities. The energy goals achieved will provide citizens with clean energy at affordable prices and a refreshing global ecosystem that will remain under manageable conditions. But the fact is that each region has its own unique geographical boundaries, climatic zones and accessibility to a specific renewable resource. On the other hand, the transition to renewable resources means giving an urban area a completely new form of energy. Any building, transport and other utilities require a review at the primary level. Basically, an extremely strict and holistic approach is required to regulate usage.

The need for renewable energy sources has come to a head, and while many nations are taking the right steps forward, more needs to be done. A strong, efficient, and sustainable future depends on the creation of smart technologies to provide flexibility – and energy storage is just the first step. However, significant challenges concerning clean energy technologies for production and storage energy for electrification, heating and cooling, energy management systems, migrogrids, ICT infrastructures, cost of design, operation and maintenance, heterogeneity among devices, enormous data collection and analysis, information security, social awareness still remain.

In this Special Issue, we invite contributions that aim to expand the application field of RES in Smart Cities in fields like modern clean energy and energy-saving technologies, methods of monitoring and forecasting infrastructure, proposing and experimenting Big Data analytics in actual smart cities as well as maintaining an alternative and sustainable energy supply, development of smart energy grids, introduction and promotion of "green" certificates, exploiting benefits of heterogeneous devices, address existing challenges, and bring forward new problems. Both original research and comprehensive review papers are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Pantelis N. Botsaris
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • renewable energy sources
  • smart and sustainable cities
  • energy efficiency
  • clean energy technologies for production and storage energy (electricity/heating/cooling), Internet of Things (IoT)

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 2667 KiB  
Article
Improved Structural Local Thermal Energy Planning Based on Prosumer Profile: Part A
by Adamantios G. Papatsounis, Pantelis N. Botsaris and Stefanos Katsavounis
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(11), 5355; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12115355 - 25 May 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1241
Abstract
The transition to a carbon-reduced future for one of the most energy-intensive actors, the building sector, requires the development of appropriate tools and methods. One such approach is local energy communities (LECs), especially thermal LECs (TLECs), which provide a promising vector towards that [...] Read more.
The transition to a carbon-reduced future for one of the most energy-intensive actors, the building sector, requires the development of appropriate tools and methods. One such approach is local energy communities (LECs), especially thermal LECs (TLECs), which provide a promising vector towards that transition. LECs exploit energy users as key actors in the energy production process. However, their formation, creation, and continuation are still an ongoing endeavor. Many research efforts focus on creating and continuing LECs in an economic, legal, and incentivized manner, sparsely addressing the formation process. In this Part A, a collective tool for decision-making for potential TLECs is presented. The current study proposes a unified approach to classify the prosumers of energy (consumers who both produce and consume energy) using conventional methodologies (RenewIslands, Kaya Identity). A case study is presented in a fully operating LEC in Kimmeria, Greece, in which both the traditional methods of classifying users are applied as well as the proposed methodology, in comparison. The results indicate a significant improvement to the conventional solutions, which tend to overestimate the needed equipment, leading to extensive installation and operational costs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Cities)
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