About this Research Topic
The world is facing a continuous growth of variable renewable energy production, both distributed and centralized, which changes the way electric, heating and cooling, as well as gas, and feedstock systems operate. The larger the share of renewables, the more complex both controlling and keeping the overall system operating with reliability, affordability, sustainability, security, and safety from a societal and economic point of view, which is why innovative solutions will help to manage these systems and enable the increasingly high share of renewables.
The current Research Topic is looking at innovative solutions that enable the integration of renewable energy sources in current energy systems to push forward their decarbonization, with the primary focus on such primary energy sources as electricity, heating, cooling, mobility, and feedstocks.
On shorter time horizons, we seek solutions that take advantage of improving the capabilities of existing technologies and infrastructures. Examples of such solutions include improved decision-making tools for planning and operations, cost-benefit and policy simulations, and analyses, as well as detailed surveys of current practices. On longer time horizons, we seek solutions that are more advanced; i.e., with a deeper degree of technical innovation, which will be capable of reaching deeper levels of decarbonization. Such solutions include but are not limited to developments of new chemistries (e.g., organic flow batteries or non-electrochemical storage) as well as massive infrastructural investments in sustainable gasses (e.g., increasing share of bio-methane, renewable synthetic methane, and hydrogen) or carbon capture and storage or utilization (CCSU).
Overall, we are seeking contributions that bring innovation to the field with the frontiers kept intentionally wide-ranging, in terms of both applications and the methods advanced, with both short and long-term time scales in mind. Original Research, Review, Opinion and Perspective papers are welcome.
The Topic Editors welcome contributions around, but not limited to, the following themes to exemplify the fields of investigation:
● Integration energy sectors/infrastructures, e.g. via the massive deployment of heat pumps and combined heat and power, including mobility and any kind of storage (electricity, heat, chemical) as well as unutilized heat or cold recovery;
● State of the art optimization and control methods applied to an increasing level of technical complexity, leveraging upon the increasing digitalization, e.g., Peer to Peer (P2P) and community-based energy markets eventually enabled by blockchain technology and artificial intelligence;
● Policy and market models development to find suitable business models capable to enable such deep decarbonization and appropriate for all the actors involved;
● Technologies to decarbonize fuels, feedstocks, and heavy industries, such as steel, concrete/cement, and lime.
The current Research Topic is looking at innovative solutions that enable the integration of renewable energy sources in current energy systems to push forward their decarbonization, with the primary focus on such primary energy sources as electricity, heating, cooling, mobility, and feedstocks.
On shorter time horizons, we seek solutions that take advantage of improving the capabilities of existing technologies and infrastructures. Examples of such solutions include improved decision-making tools for planning and operations, cost-benefit and policy simulations, and analyses, as well as detailed surveys of current practices. On longer time horizons, we seek solutions that are more advanced; i.e., with a deeper degree of technical innovation, which will be capable of reaching deeper levels of decarbonization. Such solutions include but are not limited to developments of new chemistries (e.g., organic flow batteries or non-electrochemical storage) as well as massive infrastructural investments in sustainable gasses (e.g., increasing share of bio-methane, renewable synthetic methane, and hydrogen) or carbon capture and storage or utilization (CCSU).
Overall, we are seeking contributions that bring innovation to the field with the frontiers kept intentionally wide-ranging, in terms of both applications and the methods advanced, with both short and long-term time scales in mind. Original Research, Review, Opinion and Perspective papers are welcome.
The Topic Editors welcome contributions around, but not limited to, the following themes to exemplify the fields of investigation:
● Integration energy sectors/infrastructures, e.g. via the massive deployment of heat pumps and combined heat and power, including mobility and any kind of storage (electricity, heat, chemical) as well as unutilized heat or cold recovery;
● State of the art optimization and control methods applied to an increasing level of technical complexity, leveraging upon the increasing digitalization, e.g., Peer to Peer (P2P) and community-based energy markets eventually enabled by blockchain technology and artificial intelligence;
● Policy and market models development to find suitable business models capable to enable such deep decarbonization and appropriate for all the actors involved;
● Technologies to decarbonize fuels, feedstocks, and heavy industries, such as steel, concrete/cement, and lime.
Keywords: renewable energy sources, deep decarbonization, smart energy systems, integrated energy infrastructures, Power-to-X
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
