Economic Generation and Utilization of Electrical Energy

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable development strongly relies on the economic generation and utilization of electrical energy. Human activity is still mainly based on fossil fuels, namely, coal, oil, and natural gas, representing circa 80% of the world’s total primary energy supply, being the main contributors for the CO₂ emissions worldwide, and, therefore, presenting a significant impact on global warming and climate change. The projections of International Energy Agency (IEA) for the year 2050 indicates that the end-use fuel and electricity efficiency, renewables, carbon capture and storage, end-use fuel switching, nuclear, and power generation efficiency and fuel switching, can potentially contribute to the annual CO₂ emissions reduction in 38%, 30%, 13%, 10%, 8%, and 1%, respectively.   

Hence, the main technological options for sustainable energy use are energy efficiency on the end-use side (e.g., industry, transport and buildings) and renewables in the power generation side.

The use of multiple primary energy sources to produce electrical energy poses several challenges regarding optimal power supply management, considering the several technical and economic restrictions, such as natural resources, availability and flexibility, intermittency, and variability, cost, environmental impact, dominant economic sectors, energy consumption profile, etc.

It is also important to reduce electrical energy consumption as much as possible without affecting the converted useful energy required for human activities (motion, heat, light, etc.). This can be achieved by developing and implementing end-use energy efficient technologies/solutions and demand-side management strategies. The best kilowatt is the one that is saved! Promoting energy efficiency is probably the best way to decouple increasing power generation and CO₂ emissions from growing human economic activity worldwide.

Ultimately, both sides of the problem must be managed and optimized together to achieve an efficient and economic generation and utilization of electrical energy, which is the general topic of this Special Issue.

We invite all colleagues to submit an original manuscript addressing technical and economic aspects on that general topic, including, but not limited to, power generation, power supply management, renewable energy, cogeneration, smart grids, power quality, electric mobility, energy efficient technologies, motor-driven systems, HVAC, and lighting.

Prof. Dr. Fernando J. T. E. Ferreira
Prof. Dr. Pedro S. Moura
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Electrical energy
• Power generation
• Power supply management
• Power quality
• Renewable energy
• Smart grids
• Cogeneration
• Electric mobility
• Energy efficiency
• Energy efficient technologies
• Power drive systems
• Motor-driven systems
• HVAC
• Lighting
• Demand-side management
• Demand response
• International standards
• Policies and programs