Special session: On the way to 100% Renewable Energy Systems

Session resume: This session pose the question: How can we convert our energy supply to 100% Renewable Energy at a national scale? Around the world e.g. in US, In Europe and China, policies has been formulated with the objective of decreasing CO2 emissions. And in many nations policies to raise the share of renewable energy are being initiated as part of the global response to climate change. In some countries NGOs, researcher and even governments have formulated the goal of converting the entire energy supply into being based 100% on Renewable Energy. This session temps to focus on the methodologies and practice in the implementation of such long-term goals. The session is open for presentation of studies of coherent 100% Renewable Energy Systems as well as recommendation of the first steps and studies of the role of single technologies. And the session welcome technical studies of system designs as well as social science studies of how to implement such technological systems.

Prof. Henrik Lund
Aalborg University
Aalborg, Denmark

Henrik Lund is professor in Energy Planning at Aalborg University and Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier International journal Energy. He was head of department from 1996 to 2002 and holds a PhD in "implementation of sustainable energy systems" (1990). His area of expertise has for more than 20 years been energy system analysis, energy planning and energy economics. The International Energy Foundation (IEF) gave him a gold medal for "Best Research Paper Award" within the area "Energy Policies & Economics" in 1998. He has been involved in a number of research projects and committee works in Danish energy planning, and in the implementation of various local energy projects in Denmark as well as in many other countries. In 2005-2007 he headed an international research project (www.project-desire.org) on the integration of wind and CHP and he is now the coordinator a research project on 100% Renewable Energy Systems involving most Danish universities (www.CEESA.dk). Moreover HL is the architect behind the energy system analysis model EnergyPLAN (www.EnergyPLAN.eu).

Special session: Biofuels sustainability

Session resume: Biofuels gain market as an energy source that can increase security of supply, significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions as compared to fossil fuels and provide a new profits flow for farmers. However, many of the biofuels that are currently being supplied have been criticized for their unfavorable impacts on the environment, food security, and land use. Sustainability of a biofuel needs to be guaranteed in a transparent way; this includes aspects such as the social and economic development of local, rural communities, land use, agricultural practices, competition with food, air quality, water resources, agricultural practices, labor conditions, energy efficiency and GHG emissions, life cycle analysis (LCA), etc. The challenge is to support sustainable biofuel production, including the development of biorefineries, new second and third generation biofuels technologies as well as bio-hydrogen production systems in the most cost-effective way, with a commitment to improve production efficiency and social and environmental performance in all stages of the biofuel production system, together with responsible economic policies to secure that a biofuel commercialization is also sustainable. The session welcomes papers dedicated to different aspects of biofuels sustainability.

Prof. Viatcheslav Kafarov
Industrial University of Santander
Santander, Colombia

Viatcheslav V. Kafarov is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development in Industry and Energy, the Professor at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and the Director of Post Graduate Programs of the Industrial University of Santander, Colombia. He obtained a PhD. in Chemical Engineering from Russian University of Chemical Technology - D.I. Mendeleyev - Moscow, Russia in 1985, and Dr.-Ing. habil. in Technical Science at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg , Germany in 1993. Since he entered at Industrial University of Santander in 1995 he develops research in the field of bio-diesel, bio-hydrogen, second and third generation biofuels production, sustainable development and Life Cycle Assessment for biofuels production, process integration and exergy analysis. He has been involved in a number of national and international research projects in biofuels and in sustainable development, most recently in international networks CYTED 306RTO279 - New technologies for biofuels production - UNESCO code 330303,332205,530603,330399 and CYTED 307RT0324 - Hydrogen: Production and Purification; Storage and Transport - UNESCO code 332202. He is author and co-author of more than 80 papers and 7 books.

Special session: Interconnected Crises: Energy, Climate, Demography and Economy - New Approaches to Solutions

Session resume: Every crisis presents both risks and opportunities. In this session we primarily aim to address the opportunities for a sustainable solution to crises in energy, climate, demography and economy, which would assure economic development, social cohesion and environmental sustainability in the emerging global sustainable knowledge society. This session organised in cooperation with The Club of Rome - European Support Centre and National Associations will study the long-term aspects of some opportunities for sustainable solutions of the current crises. It will discuss the concept of competition in promoting innovation for sustainable development and how to convert the vision of sustainable knowledge society into practical solutions.

Prof. Aleksander Zidanšek
Institute Jozef Stefan
Ljubljana, Slovenia

Aleksander Zidanšek is Associate Professor of Physics and a researcher at Jozef Stefan Institute, Director of International Center for Sustainable Development and Secretary General of the Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School. Dr. Zidanšek holds Ph.D. in Physics and Master Degrees in Physics and Business Administration, with specialization in sustainable development management. Prof. Zidanšek is active in both solid state experimental physics and in research of renewable energy sources, in particular for applications in multifunctional devices. He has been involved in a number of national and international research and education projects in solid state physics and in sustainable development, most recently in networks Tenvors and Train to LA21. He received a Fulbright Grant for research at Montana State University with Prof. V. H. Schmidt in 1995/1996. He became associate member of tt30 in 2001 and associate member of the Club of Rome in 2005 (www.clubofrome.org).

Prof. Ivo Šlaus
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Zagreb, Croatia

Ivo Šlaus is Emeritus Professor of Physics, member of the Club of Rome, fellow of the World Academy of Art and Science, member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and founding member of Academia Europea, President of the International Network of Centers for Sustainable Development in South East Europe.

Special session: Converting Biomass and Wastes into Green Fuels by Modular Thermochemical systems

Session resume: Decentralized electricity production is likely to play an important role in future energy supply. Facilities utilizing indigenous renewable sources and designed to supply local communities and decentralized energy users are in the forefront of EU energy and environmental policies. Especially small-scale biomass installations, producing electrical and thermal power appear to be among the most promising technologies for decentralized energy generation.

The small and medium scale applications especially for decentralised CHP in rural locations are of great importance due to several benefits that could be obtained such as:
•support of agricultural and forestry sector by providing solutions for additional income for farmers and forest managers,
•ecological impact reduction of biomass routes (water and soil protection, biodiversity, air quality etc),
•increase in the share of biogenous fuels within the energy market,
•reduction of fossil fuel energy use and substitute imported energy flow.

Gasification/pyrolysis of agricultural residue can be effectively combined with various power units to generate electricity and this at a small scale. A gasifier coupled with an internal combustion engine (ICE) provides the opportunity of high-performance electricity production in small and medium scale installations (up to 35%). Increased efficiencies and decreased capital costs could be obtained in the case of solid biomass feedstock conversion into gaseous fuel able to be used in ICE.
The link-up of biomass gasification with high temperature fuel cells, such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) is a promising approach to reach high electrical efficiencies in small scale combined heat and power plants (CHP). This combination is referred to as "Biomass – Integrated Gasification Fuel Cell System" (B-IGFC). The main technical challenge is the adjustment of the three main system components gasification, gas processing and fuel cell.

The session is open for presentation of studies, projects and plans of small mobile or stationairy decentralised biomass and waste integrated Energy Systems and welcomes technical studies of system design as well as social science studies of how to implement such technological systems.

Prof. Anastasia Zabaniotou
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki, Greece

Anastasia Zabaniotou is Associate Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of Faculty of Engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. She is Board member of the Centre for Sustainable Development of the Aristotle University and participates in the Network of Mediterranean Engineering Faculties for Sustainable Development. Dr. Zabaniotou holds Ph.D. from Ecole Centrale de Paris and has been working for 4 years in the European Commission of EU in DG Research. Prof. Zabaniotou is active in thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste for energy, biofuels and materials production She develops research in the field of bioenergy, biofuels, bio-hydrogen, second and third generation biofuels production, design of small modular mobile gasification/pyrolysis systems integrated with engines and fuel cells, modelling and process integration. She has been involved in a number of national and international research projects and international networks. She is author and co-author of more than 50 papers in international journals and 80 conference presentations, she is a reviewer of several international journals and evaluator of EU and international projects.

Special session: Storage Requirements For A 100% Energy Supply

Session resume: In countries with ambitious targets concerning the integration of renewable energies into their supplies the limits of integration are on the agenda of every scientific and political discussion. Apart from the finiteness of fossil and nuclear energy sources and environmental necessities the substantial integration of renewable energies targets the interests of energy industry that has been grown for more than a century. It is generally accepted that there are limits of intermittent energy resources like wind energy and photovoltaics in an electricity system. That is argued by stability reasons of integrated electricity networks and by the nature of electricity that cannot be stored in quantities needed in our today's energy systems.

But decoupling of electricity generation and electricity consumption cannot only be done by electricity storage! And energy management cannot only be done on the supply side! In this session concepts for realization of 100 % energy supplies are discussed as well as progresses in energy storage technologies and ways to avoid energy storage by intelligent energy management strategies.

Prof. Ingo Stadler
Cologne University of Applied Sciences
Cologne, Germany

Dr. Stadler is managing director of the Institute for Electrical Power Engineering of Cologne University of Applied Sciences. Within in the institute he covers the areas of renewable energies and energy economics. Dr. Stadler is working since many years with the topic of electricity supply systems with high fractions of renewable energies. Among others he investigates demand response activities and non-electric energy storage devices in order to decouple electricity generation and consumption. In the European project "Dissemination Strategy on Electricity Balancing for Large Scale Integration of Renewable Energy (DESIRE)" it was investigated how fluctuating renewable energies can be balanced with CHP and thermal energy stores. Dr. Stadler co-ordinated the work package "Short-term solutions and long-term perspectives" - the technological side of the project. Within the second grid study of the German energy agency (dena II) it will be investigated on how high fractions of renewable energies can be integrated into the electricity supplies by energy storage and demand side activities. Within that project Dr. Stadler takes care about transition to a flexible demand side and integration of thermal stores in order to improve flexible electricity generation. Additionally, Dr. Stadler has been German's expert for "Stand-alone and Island Applications" in the Photovoltaics Power System Program of the International Energy Agency (IEA) for a period of ten years. Here he dealt with electricity supply of communities that are not connected to the public grid.

Special session: National Strategies for Sustainable Development

Session resume: In the European countries the National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSSD) are at different stage of preparation and implementation, and each has a country-specific scope, content and strategic direction. The aim of this session is to get an overview of the state of preparation and implementation, discuss different approaches, learn from each other and possibly co-ordinate further work aiming at developing a common approach to NSSD preparation, implementation and organization.

Dr. Natasa Markovska
Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Skopje, Macedonia

Natasa Markovska holds DSc degree from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Skopje, with thesis on solar energy technologies. At present she is an Associate Professor and a Senior Researcher at the Research Center for Energy, Informatics and Materials of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ICEIM-MANU). She is leading/participating in several research projects related to energy strategies, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, as well as the environmental impacts of various energy technologies, including greenhouse gases emissions and climate change mitigation options. She is the Chair of the National Committee on Climate Change and National Focal Point of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Prof. Markovska participated in the preparation of the Macedonian National Strategy for Sustainable Development, leading the working group on Energy.

Special session: Role and responsibility of local authorities in assuring energy supply and energy security for industry and population

Session resume: The efforts that European Commission and governments of the members of EU are making in implementation of European energy policy in whole Europe mainly depends on how it will be understood, accepted and conducted by the local authorities. National legislation often expands responsibility from government to local community to consider how to provide energy to industry and population. Constant analysis and evaluation of examples of good practice is important, hence the pilot studies could be chosen as the guide for local authorities in Europe. These examples should be considered as a path to local communities for successful local and/or regional implementation of energy efficiency policy and secure energy supply to industry and the population for which they are responsible. Therefore, it is expected in this session that many of important segments such as: management, planning, supply, consumption, energy efficiency, environmental protection and application of new and renewable energy sources to be scientifically clarified in a way to create the most eligible conditions for the application of European energy policy at the local level. Regarding to this the main thematic areas will enclose:
- making local energy strategy (methodology and data base),
- distributive energy production and suitable technologies,
- use of local fuels (biomass, coal, waste) – case studies, best practice,
- regional use of local energy potentials,
- renewable energy sources,
- energy efficiency issues of municipal systems and industry, and environmental issues of regional and local communities.

Prof. Milun Babic
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Kragujevac
Kragujevac, Serbia

Milun Babic is corresponding member of Serbian Academy of Engineering Science. Since 1990 he is employed as a full professor at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Kragujevac, Serbia. During academic career he worked as a lecturer at several Universities and Faculties in the country and abroad. On the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Kragujevac, Belgrade, Nis, Pristina and at Faculty od Science in Bor he held undergraduate and postgraduate courses: "Energy and Environment", "Energy and Environmental Project Management", "Process Machinery and Plants", "Turbomachinery", "Hydraulic Power Transmissions", "Computer Application", "Special Pumps", "Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Transport", "Equipment in Hydraulic Facilities", etc. At Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Kragujevac, besides teaching, he also performed duties of Vice Dean and Dean of the Faculty. He is now Chief of Department of Energy and Process Engineering and director of Regional Energy Efficiency Centre Kargujevac.
Milun Babic is also author/co-author of 265 science, research and scholar papers that are published in national and international scientific journals and conferences, 8 patents, 67 technical solutions-new industrial products and plants (which have patent character and now are integral part of national companies' production). He managed 87 science and R&D projects of regional, national and international importance. He published 8 monographies, 3 university textbooks and mentored 7 PhD theses, 11 master theses, 3 specialists and large number of graduate exams. He was the member of large number of comities for PhD and master thesis at Faculties of Mechanical Engineering in Kragujevac, Pristina, Nis, Belgrade and Novi Sad.
During his carreer Milun Babic also preformed, beside others, several nationality important duties such as: Minister in Government of Republic of Serbia for Coordination of Industry Development, head of Republic Council for Energy Efficiency, member of Scientific Board for Energy Efficiency of Ministry of Science, coordinator and manager of Program of Development Strategy for Implementation of New and Renewable Energy Resources in Republic Serbia - Subprogram MoME for Development Serbian's RES's Strategy for the period 2006-2010., director of National Energy Efficience Subprogram in Municipal Systems of Ministry of Science, local expert in international team for establishing of Energy Efficiency Agency of the Republic of Serbia and for preparing Energy Development Strategy of Republic of Serbia.

Special session: Integrating Waste and Renewable Energy to reduce the Carbon Footprint of Locally Integrated Energy Sectors

Session resume: Energy use continues to rise and with it the emissions of CO2. Energy efficiency methods have been applied across sectors. Efficiency gains and energy use per manufactured unit have fallen, particularly in relation to the processing industry. Residential, work place, leisure, and service sectors still use large amounts of energy and produce large emissions of CO2 despite efficiency gains. Successful strategies used in the processing industry for integrating energy systems such as Total Site targeting implementing advanced pinch methodology and heat integration, have been applied to locally integrated energy sectors. The recent results show that it can be successfully applied to integrate renewables into the energy source mix and consequently reduce the carbon footprint of these locally integrated energy sectors.
This session focuses on the schemes, research and tools for: (i) Maximum consumption of local energy sources, including the renewables and waste to energy; (ii) The development of solutions for regional energy supply chain taking into account the available energy resources, technical, economic, environmental and administrative constraints; (iii) Integrating waste and renewable energy to reduce the environmental impact of locally integrated energy sector; (iv) Application of multi-criteria decision making to sustainable energy planning.

Prof Jiri Klemes
University of Pannonia
Veszprem, Hungary

Jirí Klemeš - Pólya Professor and EC Marie Curie Chair Holder (EXC) at University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary. Previously the Dpt of Process Integration and at UMIST and The University of Manchester, UK. Research in neural network applications at University of Edinburgh, Scotland. Comprehensive industrial experience, process integration, sustainable technologies and renewable energy. Successful applications. Managing 66 major European and UK Know-How projects and consulted on energy saving and pollution reduction. Editor-in-Chief of Chemical Engineering Transactions, Subject Editor of Journal of Cleaner Production, Dpt Regional Editor of Applied Thermal Engineering, Associate Editor for Heat Transfer Engineering and ENERGY; Cleaner Technologies and Environmental Policies; Resources, Conservation and Recycling. In 1998 founded and is the President of International Conference Process Integration, Mathematical Modelling and Optimisation for Energy Saving and Pollution reduction - PRES

Prof. Ferenc Friedler
University of Pannonia
Veszprém, Hungary

Ferenc Friedler is a leading research figure recognised throughout Europe and overseas. He is an invited presenter of plenary and key-note lectures of international conferences. He is a Professor of Computer Science, and in 2003 he has been elected a Dean of Faculty of Information Technology. He is the Chairman of the Informational Technology PhD program and the Vice-President of the Regional Centre of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He was given recently the Knight's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary by the President of Hungary, 2003, Vaaler Awards for the industrial implementation of the research results, New York, U.S.A., 1997, László Kalmár Prize (John von Neumann Computer Science Society), 2003. He is author of over two-hundred papers, and co-founder of the P-graph and S-graph optimisation framework that has recently become part of Chemical Engineering curriculum. He is a member of International Scientific Committees of many conferences (VOCAL, PRES, ESCAPE, ICheaP)