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Energies
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Urban Energy Systems: Challenges and Prospects for a Sustainable Future
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Urban Energy Systems: Challenges and Prospects for a Sustainable Future

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "B: Energy and Environment".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 September 2025 | Viewed by 2297

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Eduardo Antonio Pina

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Guest Editor
Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering (IPESE) Group, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Interests: building; energy systems; thermal energy systems; CHP; optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ana Catarina Gouveia Braz

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Industrial Process and Energy Systems Engineering (IPESE) Group, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland
Interests: urban energy system; process systems engineering; energy systems; chemical reaction engineering; optimization; thermal energy systems

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Urban areas present both a challenge and an opportunity for climate action. They are responsible for 75% of greenhouse gas emissions and are also highly vulnerable to climate change impacts. As countries transition their energy supply systems towards net-zero emission targets, a holistic and multi-sectoral approach is crucial to ensure that the proposed efficient and cost-effective solutions are aligned with sustainable development goals and transcend into practical implementation.

This Special Issue focuses on the challenges and prospects in urban energy systems, exploring the dimensions of the energy trilemma: energy security, energy equity, and environmental sustainability. The sustainable transition of cities requires a coordinated effort towards the implementation of innovative technologies that valorize local resources, harness environmental and waste energy sources, and integrate into existing and future energy infrastructure (e.g., district energy networks) to meet urban heating and cooling needs across the territory, from building to national scales. Additionally, the increased relevance of prosumers and social behavioral changes, such as mobility, will strain existing energy distribution infrastructure, demanding new frameworks for planning and control to ensure supply security. Finally, social actors’ abilities to influence energy-related issues must be considered in assessing the effectiveness of climate change policies.

Dr. Eduardo Antonio Pina
Dr. Ana Catarina Gouveia Braz
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban energy systems
  • socio-technical transition
  • district heating and cooling networks
  • optimization
  • energy modeling
  • energy transition
  • energy hubs
  • waste heat valorization
  • energy storage
  • waste-water-energy nexus

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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20 pages, 3158 KiB  
Article
Integrating Energy Generation and Demand in the Design and Operation Optimization of Energy Communities
by Gianluca Carraro, Enrico Dal Cin and Sergio Rech
Energies 2024, 17(24), 6358; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246358 - 17 Dec 2024
Viewed by 705
Abstract
The optimization of the energy system serving users’ aggregations at urban level, such as Energy Communities, is commonly addressed by optimizing separately the set of energy conversion and storage systems from the scheduling of energy demand. Conversely, this paper proposes an integrated approach [...] Read more.
The optimization of the energy system serving users’ aggregations at urban level, such as Energy Communities, is commonly addressed by optimizing separately the set of energy conversion and storage systems from the scheduling of energy demand. Conversely, this paper proposes an integrated approach to include the demand side in the design and operation optimization of the energy system of an Energy Community. The goal is to evaluate the economic, energetic, and environmental benefits when users with different demands are aggregated, and different degrees of flexibility of their electricity demand are considered. The optimization is based on a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming approach and is solved multiple times by varying (i) the share of each type of user (residential, commercial, and office), (ii) the allowed variation of the hourly electricity demand, and (iii) the maximum permitted CO2 emissions. Results show that an hourly flexibility of up to 50% in electricity demand reduces the overall system cost and the amount of energy withdrawn from the grid by up to 25% and 31%, respectively, compared to a non-flexible system. Moreover, the aggregation of users whose demands match well with electricity generation from renewable sources can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 30%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Energy Systems: Challenges and Prospects for a Sustainable Future)
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Review

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38 pages, 1723 KiB  
Review
Smart Grids in the Context of Smart Cities: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis
by Nuno Souza e Silva, Rui Castro and Paulo Ferrão
Energies 2025, 18(5), 1186; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18051186 - 28 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1163
Abstract
Cities host over 50% of the world’s population and account for nearly 75% of the world’s energy consumption and 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, ensuring a smart way to organize cities is paramount for the quality of life and efficiency [...] Read more.
Cities host over 50% of the world’s population and account for nearly 75% of the world’s energy consumption and 80% of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Consequently, ensuring a smart way to organize cities is paramount for the quality of life and efficiency of resource use, with emphasis on the use and management of energy, under the context of the energy trilemma, where the objectives of sustainability, security, and affordability need to be balanced. Electrification associated with the use of renewable energy generation is increasingly seen as the most efficient way to reduce the impact of energy use on GHG emissions and natural resource depletion. Electrification poses significant challenges to the development and management of the electrical infrastructure, requiring the deployment of Smart Grids, which emerge as a key development of Smart Cities. Our review targets the intersection between Smart Cities and Smart Grids. Several key components of a Smart City in the context of Smart Grids are reviewed, including elements such as metering, IoT, renewable energy sources and other distributed energy resources, grid monitoring, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, or buildings. Case studies and pilots are reviewed, and metrics concerning existing deployments are identified. A portfolio of 16 solutions that may contribute to bringing Smart Grid solutions to the level of the city or urban settings is identified, as well as 11 gaps existing for effective and efficient deployment. We place these solutions in the context of the energy trilemma and of the Smart Grid Architecture Model. We posit that depending on the characteristics of the urban setting, including size, location, geography, a mix of economic activities, or topology, the most appropriate set of solutions can be identified, and an indicative roadmap can be built. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Urban Energy Systems: Challenges and Prospects for a Sustainable Future)
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