Special Issue "Energy Transition and Cities: Renewable Energy Storage, Production and Social Issues"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Alessandra Scognamiglio
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Renewable Energy Technologies, Photovoltaic Division, Innovative devices laboratory, ENEA Research Center, 80055 Portici NA, Italy
Interests: transdisciplinarity; design for social acceptance; Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV); Landscape Integrated Photovoltaics (LIPV); food-space-energy nexus; agrivoltaics; net zero energy buildings
Prof. Agatino Rizzo
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Architecture Research Group, Lulea University of Technology, Lulea 97187, Sweden
Interests: design-thinking; resourceful urbanism; urban planning; urban-energy transition; transdisciplinarity
Dr. Paolo Picchi
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Research Group High Density Energy Landscapes, Academy of Architecture, Amsterdam University of the Arts, 1011 PG Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Interests: renewable energy landscapes; energy communities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

While central governments work on strategies to pursue sustainable development goals (UN DESA, 2019), local governments aim to increase capacity building to put in practice new directives and objectives through concrete planning and design solutions.

Research into energy transition from carbon to renewable energy sources points to the importance, and possible conflicts, of enlarging the footprint of renewable energy generators into the public space.

The future planning of our cities will require a greater sensibility to innovative design thinking for the integration and occupation of space by ever more present photovoltaic modules, microturbines, heat pumps, electric networks, storage sites. etc.

However, the current planning system is ill-equipped to this task while there are many issues related to the public opposition to the visual, sound, and space impacts of renewables. Capacity building is frequently slowed-down by the fragmentation of local governments into different departments, leading to a separation of competences and decrease of communication. The pursuit of sustainability goals, however, requires inter/transdisciplinarity and knowledge exchange, and this claims for new approaches, such as the organization of workshops for civil servants for capacity building.

The design thinking process has to deal at once with the triple issue of making public space accessible to all, while generating energy for the public. We would like to discuss how integrated urban design with renewable energy systems can contribute to re-imaging the future public space. Some questions to be explored are: how to design new concepts for public spaces, that couple the energy generation function with other, new functions, that are people-oriented? How to involve the citizens in the process of producing the energy they need in a socially and economically sustainable way while preserving the living environment? Are there cases where creative ways of thinking have been applied to couple energy communities with community gardens and citizens urban spaces reclamation? To what extent and through what means are public administrations increasing capacity building?

(1) Outline the overall

a. The focus is the link between urban design and planning visions and approaches to build up a sustainable vision for the energy transition

b. In a social constructivist scope we want to link the energy transition challenge to social needs because we believe that a socio-technical approach can speed economic transformation better than a purely technical approach.

c. The purpose of the special issue is collecting interdisciplinary studies that tackle the energy transition challenge upon which it is possible to develop a transdisciplinary integrated design approach.

(2) Suggest how the issue will usefully supplement (relate to) existing literature. There is a lot of research on the technical aspects of the energy transition but not so much studies focus on the innovative integration of these technologies in cities through design thinking and co-creation. Very few studies report on how design thinking can be applied to increase capacity building through a workshop for civil servants in adult learning processes. Indeed we need innovative design thinking, but we need this is shared between public administrations and private citizens (public-private projects; public projects with strong participatory bases) and initiatives which will be according to EU directives even more responsible in the future to foster the energy transition.

Dr. Alessandra Scognamiglio
Prof. Agatino Rizzo
Dr. Paolo Picchi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Sustainability 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 1900 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

  • energy transition
  • urban spaces
  • high density landscapes
  • energy communities
  • energy-space nexus
  • capacity building
  • public administrations

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Article
A Trans-Disciplinary Vocabulary for Assessing the Visual Performance of BIPV
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5500; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105500 - 14 May 2021
Viewed by 607
Abstract
It is widely acknowledged that the visual dimension of photovoltaics (PV) is fundamental for social acceptance. In this sense, the so-called Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) is a possible catalyzer, as PV is hidden (integrated) into building envelope morphologies that are familiar to the [...] Read more.
It is widely acknowledged that the visual dimension of photovoltaics (PV) is fundamental for social acceptance. In this sense, the so-called Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) is a possible catalyzer, as PV is hidden (integrated) into building envelope morphologies that are familiar to the public. It is crucial to be able to design and assess a BIPV system so that its visual performance is optimal. Many studies exist in this regard, but still they do not deliver a clear theoretical organization of the concepts used for defining the visual performance of BIPV. This paper elaborates a trans-disciplinary systemic formalization of BIPV and proposes a vocabulary focusing on the formal perception of BIPV as a part of the building’s envelope system. The proposed vocabulary is based on a set of 11 visual keywords; as the proposed method unifies the formal and the cognitive information contents. It will facilitate the dialogue among different stakeholders (e.g., architects, clients, modules manufacturers, and public authorities) and, in general, the visual performance assessment of BIPV. In consequence, it allows for objective comparison and thus informed decision-making. Full article
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Review

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Review
Agrivoltaic Systems Design and Assessment: A Critical Review, and a Descriptive Model towards a Sustainable Landscape Vision (Three-Dimensional Agrivoltaic Patterns)
Sustainability 2021, 13(12), 6871; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126871 - 17 Jun 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 825
Abstract
As an answer to the increasing demand for photovoltaics as a key element in the energy transition strategy of many countries—which entails land use issues, as well as concerns regarding landscape transformation, biodiversity, ecosystems and human well-being—new approaches and market segments have emerged [...] Read more.
As an answer to the increasing demand for photovoltaics as a key element in the energy transition strategy of many countries—which entails land use issues, as well as concerns regarding landscape transformation, biodiversity, ecosystems and human well-being—new approaches and market segments have emerged that consider integrated perspectives. Among these, agrivoltaics is emerging as very promising for allowing benefits in the food–energy (and water) nexus. Demonstrative projects are developing worldwide, and experience with varied design solutions suitable for the scale up to commercial scale is being gathered based primarily on efficiency considerations; nevertheless, it is unquestionable that with the increase in the size, from the demonstration to the commercial scale, attention has to be paid to ecological impacts associated to specific design choices, and namely to those related to landscape transformation issues. This study reviews and analyzes the technological and spatial design options that have become available to date implementing a rigorous, comprehensive analysis based on the most updated knowledge in the field, and proposes a thorough methodology based on design and performance parameters that enable us to define the main attributes of the system from a trans-disciplinary perspective. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Technology, Beliefs and Practice: Perceptions on SHS Storage in Urban South-Eastern Nigeria
Authors: Edlyne E. Anugwom
Affiliation: Department of Sociology/Anthropology,University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria.
Abstract: The study depending on a randomly selected sample in two urban centres in South-eastern Nigeria examines how perceptions and beliefs regarding Solar House System (SHS) storage impacts on its usage and adoption. It sought not only to unravel perceptions regarding storage but experiences of people in the attempt to store this popular form of renewable energy. It discovered that dominant beliefs about the efficient and dependable storage of the SHS affects both adoption and usage among urban households. While the new craze for renewable energy (RE) catches on, the uptake has been less than impressive. In Nigeria and most of Sub-Saharan Africa, the most popular and diffused renewable energy source is the Solar House System (SHS). However, the utilization of the SHS and its adoption as shown in previous study may have been undermined by both evidence-based and anecdotal beliefs regarding its reliability and efficiency for the energy needs of typical urban households, A critical albatross in the attempt to enhance the adoption of the SHS has been doubts and challenges regarding its storage. In effect, the desire and propensity to adopt may have been overtly influenced by beliefs and opinions regarding its utility and storage. Therefore, the study examined the dominant perceptions and beliefs about the efficient storage of the SHS and the impact of this on its adoption. Incidentally, it discovered that even among non-adopters, storage concerns remain a crucial deal-breaker; while among those who have adopted experiences regarding storage have been mostly deplorable. As a result, boosting renewable energy adoption and usage especially in developing economies must be benchmarked against ensuring efficient and reliable storage technologies that enable consumers use and access energy on demand.

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