The 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."

Buckminster Fuller, philosopher, futurist and global thinker (1895 - 1983)

The 10th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES Conference, to be held in Dubrovnik in 2015, is dedicated to the improvement and dissemination of knowledge on methods, policies and technologies for increasing the sustainability of development by de-coupling growth from natural resources and replacing them with knowledge based economy, taking into account its economic, environmental and social pillars, as well as methods for assessing and measuring sustainability of development, regarding energy, transport, water, environment and food production systems and their many combinations. Sustainability being also a perfect field for interdisciplinary and multi-cultural evaluation of complex system, the SDEWES Conference has at the beginning of the 21st century become a significant venue for researchers in those areas to meet, and originate, discuss, share, and disseminate new ideas.

"History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives"

Abba Eban

The scope of the Conference will continue to successfully cover the following areas (with examples in parentheses, but not confined to these examples only):

Sustainability comparisons and measurements methodologies (metrics and indices, multi-criteria analysis, external costs, exergy analysis, footprint methods, emergy)
Sustainable development as a driver for innovation and employment
Green economy and better governance (Green New Deal, energy and environment for jobs and regional development, poverty eradication, macroeconomic analysis, financial and regulatory mechanisms, trends and predictions, models and tools, rebound effects, gender issues, environmental economics, development economics, sustainability economics, energy poverty, energy affordability)
Decoupling growth from resources (potentials, models, costs and benefits, macroeconomic analysis, financial and regulatory mechanisms, trends and predictions, models and tools, rebound effects, de-growth)
Decarbonisation (policies, potentials, models, costs and benefits, macroeconomic analysis, financial and regulatory mechanisms, trends and predictions, models and tools, wedges, rebound effects)
Energy policy (security of supply, climate change mitigation, renewable energy support schemes, energy efficiency policy, employment creation, agriculture and forestry, financial mechanisms, tax, cap and trade, feed-in tariffs, feed-in premium, green certificates, markets, fossil fuel subsidies, capacity remuneration mechanisms)
Transport policy (fuel and carbon economy, transport electrification, urban sprawl management, traffic management, congestion and road pricing, dynamic road pricing, modal management, alternative fuels, social aspects, rail vs. air, autonomous mobility, shipping, aviation)
Water policy and the energy-water interaction (water management, wastewater management, water reuse, water pricing)
Environmental policy (waste management, wastewater management, climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation, air pollution policy, water pollution policy, land management, biomass management, rewilding, social aspects, emission tax, cap and trade, cap and trade vs. pollution tax, fuel and carbon economy regulation in transport and power generation)
Agricultural policy (energy use in agriculture and food processing, food vs. biofuels, sustainability of biofuels production, sustainability of food subsidies, subsidies vs. free trade, new green revolution, R&D in agriculture, sustainability of Genetically Modified Organisms vs. Terroir)
Environment and corporate social responsibility (quality management systems, environment management systems, eco management and audit schemes, occupational health and safety assessment systems, hazard analysis and critical control point, integrated management systems)
Employment and energy, transport, water and environment systems (technology development, equipment production, installation, maintenance, macroeconomic analysis, financial and regulatory mechanisms, national, regional and municipal policy)
Technology transfer and development (emerging markets, developing countries, least developed countries, clean development mechanism)
Social acceptance (reform, NIMBY, nuclear, wind, biofuels, hydrogen, hidden and special interests, cost based pricing, inclusion, fossil fuel subsidy, green economy and employment)
Sustainable resilience of systems (resilience of energy systems, resilience of water systems, resilience of environmental systems, resilience of agricultural systems, resilience of social systems, resilience of engineering systems )
Sustainable tourism (energy systems, transport systems, water systems, environment systems, green hotels, certification, labelling proliferation, green cruisers)
Urbanism (urban planning, zoning, transport, modal shift, zero energy buildings, energy system planning, district heating/cooling, Civitas, Concerto, Covenant of Mayors)
Regional planning and cooperation (energy and environment for jobs and development, financial and regulatory mechanisms, obligations and standards, energy and resource flow optimisation, 100% renewable regions, regional cooperation and networking, sustainable development across international borders)
Smart energy systems (markets, transactive energy, demand side management, integration of power, heating/cooling, transport, water and waste sectors, smart grids, smart meters, dynamic electricity pricing, ICT, network-user interface)
Sustainable islands, regions and cities (energy and environment for jobs and development, financial and regulatory mechanisms, obligations and standards, energy and resource flow integration, 100% renewable islands/regions/cities, networks)
Sustainable shipping (efficiency, regulation, renewables, cruisers, tankers, cargo)
Microgrids (off grid solutions, virtual power plants)
Research, innovation and development (demand side funding, supply side funding, researchers mobility, intrasectorial mobility, industry-academia partnership, knowledge based society, knowledge management, learning curve)
Education in sustainable development (governance, environmental awareness, higher education, engineering education)
Cooperation for development (International Development Mechanisms, Clean Development Mechanisms, emerging markets, least developed countries, technology transfer, etc.)
Energy system analysis (models, tools and methodologies, surveys and results, integration of power and district heating systems, integration of power and water systems, integration of power and transport systems)
Water system analysis (models, tools and methodologies, surveys and results)
Transport system analysis (models, tools and methodologies, survey and results)
Life cycle assessment, Environmental impact assessment, Eco-design and Eco-labelling, Product cycle assessment
Energy planning (power system planning, smart energy systems, smart energy networks, natural gas system planning, 100% renewable energy systems, high penetration of renewables, island energy systems, development of energy planning tools, internalizing environmental externalities, electrification of transport, storage vs. grids vs. demand management, long term demand planning)
Transport management (modelling, optimisation, tracking, GPS/mobile systems, dynamic road pricing system implementation, electrification of transport)
Renewable energy resources (forest and agricultural biomass, biofuels, second generation biofuels, biogas, hydro, wind, solar, geothermal, wave and ocean, technical and economic potentials, barriers, cost and benefits, integration)
Primary energy resources (oil, gas, coal, uranium, thorium, oil peaking, scarcity)
Water resources (renewable, surface, underground, desalination, etc., river management, arid areas)
Food and agriculture (energy and water use, environmental impact, financial mechanisms, subsidies, free trade, impact of biofuels, new green revolution, R&D, GMO, biogas, renewables in agriculture)
Renewable electricity generation systems (biomass, grid and fluidized bed, biofuels, biogas, hydro, wind, offshore wind, high altitude wind, photovoltaic, concentrated solar thermal power, geothermal, wave, tide, ocean thermal)
Thermal power plants (clean coal, fluidized bed, combined cycles, advanced cycles, flexible operation, cycling)
District heating and/or cooling infrastructures in future smart energy systems (integration of renewable energy heat supply, cogeneration, industrial waste heat, waste incineration and CHP, power to heat, electric boilers, heat pumps, integration of CHP with district heating and electricity markets, heat maps, distribution)
Nano and micro technologies and science for sustainable development of energy, water, and environment systems
Carbon capture and storage/sequestration (oxy-fuel combustion, pre-combustion capture, post-combustion capture, CO2 transport, enhanced oil/gas recovery, enhanced coal bed methane recovery, chemical fixation, aquifer storage, bedrock storage, ocean storage, leakage)
Nuclear energy (new power plant designs, waste, proliferation, fusion, transmutation, sustainability, policies, social acceptance, financial support schemes)
Advanced sustainable energy conversion systems (fuel cells, thermoelectric, thermionic, organic, ORC, waste heat recycling, thermoacustic, piezoelectric)
Renewable heat systems (biomass, biofuels, biogas, solar, geothermal)
Biofuels and biorefineries (biodiesel, bioethanol, second and third generation biofuels, waste to biofuels, algae, anaerobic digestion, BTL, biorefineries, vehicles, infrastructure, combustion modelling, sustainability assessment, pyrolysis, torrefaction)
Hydrogen production and use technologies (stationary, mobile, small applications, electrolysis, reforming, nuclear hydrogen, infrastructure)
Hybrid and electric vehicles (first generation, plug in, charging, batteries, infrastructure)
Other alternative fuels (synthetic fuels, BTL, DME, CNG, resources, production, vehicles, infrastructure)
Water treatment (methods, health issues, standards, grey water)
Water desalination (distillation, reverse and forward osmosis, electrodialysis, energy recovery, discharge management)
Wastewater treatment (municipal, industrial, agricultural)
Waste treatment (composting, incineration, landfill, anaerobic digestion, gasification, mechanical biological treatment, mechanical heat treatment, plasma arc waste disposal, pyrolysis, recycling)
Waste to energy (incineration, landfill gas capture, biogas, RDF/SRF, cement industry, tyres, combustion modelling)
Recycling waste (glass, paper, metals, containers, tyres, textiles, batteries, biodegradable waste, electronic waste, construction material, separation, financial schemes)
Pollution modelling (CFD models, air pollution spreading, water pollution spreading, combustion modelling)
Heat and mass transfer modelling (CFD models, energy efficiency)
Cogeneration (heat and power, water and power, biofuels and power, transport and energy, food and energy, waste to energy)
Trigeneration, polygeneration
Storage (heat storage, hydrogen storage, hydropower as storage, pump storage, compressed air storage, batteries, water storage, biofuels storage, storage optimisation modelling, financial support mechanisms, maximising renewables, optimising load, power market arbitrage)
Electricity transmission and distribution (grid extension and robustness, long distance transmission, implicit auctioning as part of market coupling, automation, local voltage control in areas with high penetration of PV, power quality, power electronics, renewables and power quality)
Gas security of supply (shale gas, extension of transmission pipelines, LNG, Southern corridor)
Energy efficiency in industry and mining (cement and lime, construction materials, glass, pulp and paper, food industry, metallurgy, chemical industry, process optimisation, kilns, boilers, heat exchangers, pinch analysis, exergy and exergoeconomic analysis, energy audits, water use and waste minimisation, ecoinnovation, total site integration)
Energy efficiency in agriculture and aquaculture
Energy efficient appliances (smart appliances, labelling and standards, user interfaces, user behaviour)
Buildings (zero energy buildings, passive buildings, smart buildings, smart metering, ICT, load and demand side management, green buildings, building standards, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, cooling, insulation, renewables, heat pumps, storage, sustainable architecture, buildings certification)
Energy markets (market coupling, price coupling, liberalisation, deregulation, spot markets, pools, storage, renewables, merging and acquisitions, modelling, day ahead markets, intraday markets, balancing, reserve capacity markets, demand side management, role of district heating, desalination and water pumping on electricity markets, grid parity, net metering, adequacy, cycling)
Emission markets (emission trading system, carbon taxing, carbon markets, GHG, SOx, CER, ERU, AAU, EUA, certification standards, VER, air transport participation)
Political aspects of sustainable development (long term planning, the role of political leaders and of voters, international conflict vs. sustainable development, security and sustainability, resource and political security)

In addition, acknowledging that regional coordination is the only feasible solution for gaining synergy effects for the small and only partially connected emerging energy markets of the Mediterranean, the Conference will address the core goals of the Energy Community and the wider region:

Competitive integrated regional energy market (regional cooperation, market opening, price reform, regulatory framework and independence, coordination on regional projects, market coupling)
Security of supply (diversification of fuels, energy efficiency, oil and gas storages, regional emergency response, energy and water scarcity)
Climate change and environment (regional emissions reduction plans, fuel mix in power generation - renewable energy - gasification - energy efficiency, intelligent use of energy)
Infrastructure development (Mediterranean power ring, Southern Corridor vs. South Stream, investment projects of regional interest - minimum definition criteria, investments in the gas sector, electricity interconnections, grid access and integration of renewable energy)
Social dimension (energy poverty, definition of vulnerable customers, protection schemes, stepwise phasing out of regulated energy prices, fossil fuel subsidies)
External relations in light of sustainable development (enlargement - EU neighbours, cooperation with other international organizations)