The meaning and effect of climate change has been on the agenda among world leaders for some years, and for much longer has presented big research questions to the scientific community. While the links between human activities, increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change have been scientifically proven, there are a number of people who are trying to deny the existence of climate change in this context and to attribute existing weather phenomena to natural variations and the continuous evolution of Earth processes.
Irrespective of the views of those involved in the debate, one fact that everyone agrees on is the increasing consumption of natural resources by the human race as the world’s population grows and living standards improve. In particular, energy is becoming one of the critical natural resources that will have significant social and technical impacts if it is not managed properly. Hence, it is important to carry out research that focuses on energy efficiency and its sustainable supply and use.
In this special issue we aim to explore research in the design and development of sustainable energy systems for the foreseeable future. The ever-changing global economy, technology and societal adaptation provide fertile ground for the evolution of agility within an unstable environment. Developments in systems, methodologies, models, engineering, science, management and other practices can all contribute to creating a better, more energy-efficient and hence sustainable world.
We invite theoretical and empirical research submissions relating to contemporary and future energy systems, design, engineering and experimental investigation, both in project-controlled environments and in larger community trials. In doing so, this issue will facilitate expert views from a wide variety of sources to develop a roadmap for sustainable energy systems development.
Suitable topics include but are not limited to:
- The design and development of energy supply systems
- The adoption of agile management practices/systems for improving energy efficiency
- Modelling and analysis of energy systems
- Simulation of system energy efficiency and operations
- Management practices for long-term sustainability
- Sustainable organisational design for securing energy efficiency
- Energy-efficient transport systems
- Architecture and implementation towards energy-efficient systems
- Knowledge management for achieving sustainability
- Information sharing and systems integration as the backbone for sustainable energy systems
- Initiatives for reduction of energy consumption
- Managing system complexity and performance indicators
- Collaborative energy-related product design and development
- Collaborative planning, operation and research of sustainable energy systems
- Global energy supply network design and structures
- The role of maintenance and logistics in contemporary energy supply systems
- Trends in energy system architecture design
- Resilience and management of energy sources
- Changing global consumption and supply bases
- Sustainable energy supply
- Renewable energy and technologies
- Rural and remote energy supply
- Contemporary critiques of energy systems and policies
Full paper due: 31 May, 2012
Notification of acceptance: 30 June, 2012
Final version of paper due: 31 August, 2012
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