Announcements

We are pleased to share with you a recent interview conducted with Prof. Dr. Anastassios M. Stamatelos, the winner of the Energies 2024 Editor of Distinction Award.

The following is an interview with Prof. Dr. Anastassios M. Stamatelos:

1. Could you give a brief introduction of yourself to the readers?
My name is Anastassios Stamatelos, and I am a Professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Thessaly in Greece. For the first two decades of my academic career, my research was primarily centered on applied thermodynamics and internal combustion engines, with particular emphasis on modeling and performance evaluation of engine systems and exhaust after-treatment technologies.
Over time, I broadened my research interests to encompass a wider range of energy-related topics, including energy systems simulation, control and performance optimization, real-world performance assessment, and forecasting of photovoltaic systems, and various solar energy applications. Our research group has also been active in the areas of building energy simulation, HVAC system modeling, and heat transfer applications involving infrared thermography.
Throughout my career, my work has consistently focused on applied research, integrating experimental investigation with advanced simulation techniques.

2. How was your experience being an editor for Energies?
Having previously published and reviewed for Energies, I was familiar with the journal’s editorial standards and scientific scope. Following repeated invitations, and being positively influenced by the feedback of my longtime friend and colleague, Prof. Rakopoulos from NTUA—who has served on the Editorial Board for many years—I accepted the invitation to join the Editorial Board. Given that my research focus aligns closely with the journal’s, it was a natural progression. It has been a rewarding experience to contribute to the academic community in this role, although I must note that the workload can be quite demanding at times.

3. Do you have any suggestions for improving our editorial process?
The main problem today with most journals is how to attract good reviewers who are able and willing to produce acceptable-quality reviews in a feasible period of time. Improving the journal’s reviewer database could help alleviate some of the editorial workload. This would reduce the total publishing cycle time, ultimately streamlining the review process and improving the overall efficiency of editorial operations.
Strengthening the Pre-Peer Review screening process, approximately 25% of all submissions could be rejected in the pre-peer review stage. This would save valuable time for our qualified reviewers and help enhance the overall quality of our published papers.

4. What motivated you to participate actively in the editorial process, and what do you find most rewarding about it?
When I decided to join the Editorial Board of Energies, I recognized that there was a clear need for a journal that could address the diverse and multidisciplinary nature of modern energy research and provide a platform for work that might not fit within the scope of more traditional journals in the field. In this context, I aimed at improving the journal’s publication procedures in the following directions: (i) Allow a fair and valid assessment of manuscripts summarizing important energy engineering achievements and innovative case studies that are difficult to publish in traditional journals in the field. (ii) Enhance the fast response and reduce the publishing cycle duration, with the selection of high-quality reviewers and removing under-qualified ones from the journal’s database. (iii) Strengthen the Pre-Peer Review screening process. This would save valuable time on our good reviewers and further increase the overall quality of our published papers. What I find most rewarding after serving for two and a half years in this post is a feeling of some progress in the above directions, and a steady improvement in the journal’s quality and status.

5. How do you manage your time and balance your responsibilities as a researcher and an editor?
This is something that is constantly changing because our job requirements as professors are changing. In the past, my workload was approximately equally distributed between teaching, research, and administration. The introduction of new technologies, along with the changing needs and learning styles of the current generation of students (Generation Z), presents unique challenges. Adapting our teaching methods to meet these needs requires considerable effort and time. This comes at a time when faculty staff are retiring, and replacements are not being made at the same rate, which in turn increases the teaching load.
At the same time, our aging experimental infrastructure demands more attention and maintenance. These factors combine to put significant strain on the time available for research, reviewing, and editorial responsibilities—traditionally taking up around 5–10% of our time.
Given these challenges, making the best use of the time available requires us to be highly efficient in managing our editorial duties.

6. How do you see the role of editors evolving with the advancements in artificial intelligence and automated tools in research?
Our work as teachers, researchers, and editors has already begun to feel the influence of artificial intelligence. However, its full impact is still unclear. The main challenge lies in integrating AI in a way that enhances our overall productivity without compromising the quality of our publications. The core issue remains ensuring the quality and validity of AI-generated outputs.
Integrating AI into the publishing pipeline could significantly improve efficiency. For example, AI could assist in the administration of our reviewer database: If our evaluations of each reviewer are processed through AI tools, we could systematically identify and remove unsuitable reviewers. This process could be guided by an automated technical report and evaluation generated by a specially designed AI tool.

7. In your opinion, which research topics will be of particular interest to the research community in the coming years?
In my area of focus, I think a research topic of particular interest is the general area of thermal management. This established field receives renewed interest due to the recent advancements in AI cloud computing and the electrification of vehicles. Many innovations in these areas are constrained by heat rejection and thermal management challenges, and the journal has already placed significant emphasis on this topic. Additionally, the evolving energy mix and the growing role of hydrogen will require the development of an infrastructure for its production, storage, transportation, and integration with electrical grids.
Lastly, multi-disciplinary research in energy systems holds great promise. This area requires collaboration across various engineering fields and other disciplines.

We are pleased to announce that Energies (ISSN: 1996-1073) has been accepted into the ICI Journals Master List 2024, receiving an MSHE scoring (provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education in Poland) of 140 pkt, as well as an Index Copernicus Value (ICV) 2024 of 177.50. The ICV index, valid for one year, aims to reflect the level of the journal’s development and its impact on the world of science.

The ICI Journals Master List is an international indexing database of scientific journals that has been evaluating the submitted periodicals for almost 20 years. The condition for being indexed in the database is passing a positive multidimensional evaluation which is based on over 100 criteria. The process of evaluation is free of charge, and it is available for every journal that is registered in the ICI World of Journals database.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to our editors. We also acknowledge that this achievement would not have been possible without the many valuable publications of our authors and the contributions of our dedicated reviewers. We wish to thank you all for your support and hope to receive more contributions from you in the future.

In addition to ICI Journals Master List, Energies is also indexed within Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), Ei Compendex, ANVUR, and other databases.

For more journal statistics, please visit https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/stats.

Energies Editorial Office

The journal Energies (ISSN: 1996-1073) is accepting applications for the Energies 2025 PhD Thesis Award. This prize will be awarded to a PhD student or recently qualified PhD fellow who has produced a highly anticipated thesis with great academic potential.

Prize:

• CHF 500;
• A certificate;
• An Article Processing Charge (APC) waiver voucher for one submission to the journal (subject to peer review)—valid for one year.

Number of Winners: 2.

To find out more information about the award and how to nominate candidates, please click here. To request further information, please contact the Energies Editorial Office.

Energies Editorial Office

MDPI is launching a special webinar to commemorate the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (IDCABS) and encourage researchers to share their knowledge to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution.

Air pollution is the leading environmental threat to human health, causing millions of premature deaths each year. In order to recognise its global impact, the UN has designated 7^th of September as the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies to highlight the need for urgent action towards a sustainable future.

Date: 9 September 2025 at 12:00 p.m. CEST | 6:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 891 7022 7572

Register now for free!

Program

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway, and we will let you know when the recording is available to watch.

Webinar Chairs and Keynote Speakers:

• Dr. Suraj Bhagat, Marwadi University, India;
• Prof. Umberto Berardi, Politecnico di Bari, Italy;
• Dr. Linda Walters, University of Central Florida, USA.

Relevant Special Issues:

“Air Pollution: Health Risks and Mitigation Strategies”
Guest Editors: Dr. Gabriele Donzelli and Prof. Dr. María M. Morales Suárez-Varela
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025
Submit to Atmosphere

“Bio-Energy: Biogas, Biomethane and Green-Hydrogen”
Guest Editor: Prof. Dr. João Fernando Pereira Gomes
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025
Submit to Gases

“Air Quality in Indoor Environments, 3rd Edition”
Guest Editors: Dr. Ana Monteiro, Prof. Dr. Carla Viegas, Dr. Sandra Cabo Verde and Dr. Marina Almeida-Silva
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 January 2026
Submit to Applied Sciences

“The Impact of Wildfires on Climate, Air Quality, and Human Health”
Guest Editors: Dr. Diogo Lopes and Dr. Estela Vicente
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026
Submit to Fire

“Air Pollution Exposure and Its Impact on Human Health”
Guest Editor: Dr. Nedim Durmus
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 July 2026
Submit to Air

Relevant feature papers:

“Mitigating Built Environment Air Pollution by Green Systems: An In-Depth Review”
by Serena Vitaliano, Stefano Cascone and Provvidenza Rita D’Urso
Appl. Sci. 2024, 14(15), 6487; https://doi.org/10.3390/app14156487

“Methanol, a Plugin Marine Fuel for Green House Gas Reduction—A Review”
by Dimitrios Parris, Konstantinos Spinthiropoulos, Konstantina Ragazou, Anna Giovou and Constantinos Tsanaktsidis
Energies 2024, 17(3), 605; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17030605

“Determination of Ozone Concentration Levels in Urban Environments Using a Laser Spectroscopy System”
by Mioara Petrus, Cristina Popa and Ana-Maria Bratu
Environments 2024, 11(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11010009

“Review of Satellite Remote Sensing of Carbon Dioxide Inversion and Assimilation”
by Kai Hu, Xinyan Feng, Qi Zhang, Pengfei Shao, Ziran Liu, Yao Xu, Shiqian Wang, Yuanyuan Wang, Han Wang, Li Di and Min Xia
Remote Sens. 2024, 16(18), 3394; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16183394

“An Overview of Waste-to-Energy Incineration Integrated with Carbon Capture Utilization or Storage Retrofit Application”
by Michele Bertone, Luca Stabile and Giorgio Buonanno
Sustainability 2024, 16(10), 4117; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16104117

The editorial team of Energies (ISSN: 1996-1073) would like to congratulate the winners of the Energies 2024 Editor of Distinction Award, who were chosen by a selection committee chaired by the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Dr. Enrico Sciubba. Following a formal review process by the Award Evaluation Committee, six Editorial Board Members were selected as winners. The recipients are as follows:

Date: 23 September 2025
Time: 11:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m
Location: The Chelsea Hotel, 33 Gerrard Street West, Toronto

MDPI is thrilled to announce our participation in the University of Toronto’s largest career fair, taking place at the St. George Downtown Campus. This exciting event brings together thousands of students, graduates, and professionals looking to connect with top employers and explore career opportunities.

We invite all attendees to visit the MDPI booth to discover how you can be part of one of the world’s leading open access academic publishers. Whether you are passionate about scientific research, editorial work, marketing, or supporting global innovation in publishing, we want to meet YOU!

What to expect at our booth:

• Learn more about MDPI’s mission and global impact;
• Explore exciting career opportunities in publishing, editorial, communications, and more;
• Network with our team and ask questions about working at MDPI.

Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to take the next step, don’t miss this opportunity to connect with MDPI. Bring your resume, your curiosity, and your questions—we look forward to seeing you there!

For additional information on the Career Fair and Open MDPI positions, please visit the following links:

• Learn more about the U of T Career Fair;
• Explore Careers with MDPI Canada.

In celebration of World Architecture Day, MDPI is presenting a webinar, which is open to all who enjoy conducting any type of research on the topic of “Architecture Design for Strength” or are passionate about learning about this exciting and competitive research area. The webinar speakers will present new findings from basic to translational research. Any interesting ideas for topics and speakers for this webinar are most welcome.

Keywords: architecture design; design for strength; architecture resilience; architecture durability
Date: 6 October 2025 4:00 p.m. CEST | 10:00 a.m. EDT | 10:00 p.m. CST Asia
Webinar ID: 874 6114 8686
Website: https://sciforum.net/event/MWAD2025

Register now for free!

Program

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email on how to join the webinar. Registrations with academic institutional email addresses will be prioritized.

Unable to attend? Register anyway and we will let you know when the recording is available to view.

Webinar Keynote Speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Derek Clements-Croome, University of Reading, UK;
• Dr. Paris Fokaides, Frederick University, Cyprus;
• Dr. Ehsan Harirchian, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany;
• Prof. Dr. Umberto Berardi, the International Association of Building Physics, Canada.

It is our great pleasure to announce the winners of the Energies 2024 Best PhD Thesis Award. This award is given in recognition of a PhD student or recently qualified PhD who has produced a highly anticipated thesis with great academic potential.

The award has been granted to the following theses:

“Development and Application of Advanced Artificial Intelligence Methods in the Detection of Power Theft in Smart Electric Power Distribution Networks with Strong Renewable Energy Penetration”
by Konstantinos Blazakis, Technical University of Crete, Greece

“Condition and Health Monitoring of Three-phase Inverter for Traction Application”
by Xing Wei, Aalborg University, Denmark

As the awardees, they will each receive an honorarium of CHF 500, an electronic certificate, and a voucher to waive the Article Processing Charges (APC) for one submission in the Energies (ISSN: 1996-1073) journal (subject to peer review)—valid for one year.

With so many high-quality applicants, the evaluation process and final decision were challenging. We would like to thank all the applicants for submitting a diverse and fascinating range of research topics. On behalf of the assessment committee, we congratulate the winners on their accomplishments.

Prof. Dr. Enrico Sciubba
Editor-in-Chief of Energies

“Cooling Techniques for Enhanced Efficiency of Photovoltaic Panels—Comparative Analysis with Environmental and Economic Insights”
by Tarek Ibrahim, Mohamad Abou Akrouch, Farouk Hachem, Mohamad Ramadan, Haitham S. Ramadan and Mahmoud Khaled
Energies 2024, 17(3), 713; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17030713
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/713

“The Impact of the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism on China’s Exports to the EU”
by Jingzhi Zhu, Yuhuan Zhao and Lu Zheng
Energies 2024, 17(2), 509; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17020509
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/2/509

“Biofuels in Aviation: Exploring the Impact of Sustainable Aviation Fuels in Aircraft Engines”
by Ramozon Khujamberdiev and Haeng Muk Cho
Energies 2024, 17(11), 2650; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17112650
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/11/2650

“A Review on the Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Livestock Manures in the Context of Sustainable Waste Management”
by Rahul Kadam, Sangyeol Jo, Jonghwa Lee, Kamonwan Khanthong, Heewon Jang and Jungyu Park
Energies 2024, 17(3), 546; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17030546
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/3/546

“Hydrogen Purification Technologies in the Context of Its Utilization”
by Anna Król, Monika Gajec, Jadwiga Holewa-Rataj, Ewa Kukulska-Zając and Mateusz Rataj
Energies 2024, 17(15), 3794; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17153794
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/15/3794

“Green Hydrogen Energy Systems: A Review on Their Contribution to a Renewable Energy System”
by Julián Gómez and Rui Castro
Energies 2024, 17(13), 3110; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17133110
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/13/3110

“Methods for Quantifying Expansion in Lithium-Ion Battery Cells Resulting from Cycling: A Review”
by Tessa Krause, Daniel Nusko, Luciana Pitta Bauermann, Matthias Vetter, Marcel Schäfer and Carlo Holly
Energies 2024, 17(7), 1566; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17071566
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/7/1566

“Status and Development Perspectives of the Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) Technologies—A Literature Review”
by Marcin Jankowski, Anna Pałac, Krzysztof Sornek, Wojciech Goryl, Maciej Żołądek, Maksymilian Homa and Mariusz Filipowicz
Energies 2024, 17(9), 2064; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17092064
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/9/2064

“Optimization of Energy Consumption in a Wastewater Treatment Plant: An Overview”
by Nikolaos Tsalas, Spyridon K. Golfinopoulos, Stylianos Samios, Georgios Katsouras and Konstantinos Peroulis
Energies 2024, 17(12), 2808; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17122808
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/12/2808

“Lithium-Ion Batteries on Board: A Review on Their Integration for Enabling the Energy Transition in Shipping Industry”
by Giovanni Lucà Trombetta, Salvatore Gianluca Leonardi, Davide Aloisio, Laura Andaloro and Francesco Sergi
Energies 2024, 17(5), 1019; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17051019
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/1019