732-1996-1-LE.qxd 1. Sustainable development of energy water and environmental systems The 8th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES Conference, held in Dubrovnik in 2013, was 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 International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management Vol. 03 2014 1 venue for researchers in those areas to meet, and originate, discuss, share, and disseminate new ideas. The event was organized by University of Zagreb, Croatia and Instituto Superior Tecnico, Lisbon, Portugal in cooperation with the University of Dubrovnik, Croatia; Aalborg University, Denmark; Institute National Polytechnique de Grenoble, France; Cologne University of Applied Sciences, Germany; University of Pannonia, Veszprém, Hungary; Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Skopje; Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands; Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Belgrade, Serbia; Jozef Stefan International Postgraduate School, Ljubljana Slovenia and the Industrial University of Santander, Colombia. The eighth SDEWES Conference was the most successful up to date attracting authors from 63 countries with 554 presented papers at 61 regular sessions, ten special sessions and five poster sessions, seven invited lectures and two panels. * Corresponding author, e-mail: poul@plan.aau.dk International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management Vol. 03 2014 1-4 Sustainable energy, water and environmental systems �������� ��� � ��� ��������� � ������� ��������� � �� �� ������ � � � ��� � �� ������� � � ������� �������� �� ���� ��������� � �� � ����� ����� � �� ���� � � � � ��� �� �� � � ������ �� ������� ������� ������� A B S T R A C T This editorial presents research results from the 8th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems – SDEWES - held in Dubrovnik, Croatia in 2013. Topics covered here include the energy situation in the Middle East with a focus in Cyprus and Israel, energy planning methodology with Ireland as a case and the applicability of energy scenarios modelling tools as a main focus, evaluation of energy demands in Italy and finally evaluation of underground cables vs overhead lines and lacking public acceptance of incurring additional costs for the added benefit of having transmission beyond sight. Keywords: Natural gas use in Israel and Cyprus Regional energy planning in Ireland Contingent evaluation of underground cables Energy performance requirements in Italy URL: dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.1 https://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.1 2 International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management Vol. 03 2014 Sustainable energy, water and environmental systems 2. National energy systems While the world is on the one hand required to turn towards the use of renewable energy sources not least due to climate change issues [1] , individual nations also have a pronounced self-interest in exploiting locally available fossil energy resources where market prices exceed extraction costs or where societal benefits such as self-sufficiency and security of supply are factored in. Such factors are thus also criteria applied when assessing the appropriateness of different energy futures [2]. Natural gas use is experiencing a growth both as conventional natural gas and as methane from fracking – for economic, resource availability reason as well as for greenhouse gas emission reductions reasons. Taliotis et al. [3] have investigated energy security prospects in Cyprus and Israel in the light of recent off-shore discoveries, and based on scenario development, analysed the potential export of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and electricity. Significant energy savings of US$ 182 billion may be realized, with the highest benefits being if the resource is used for export in the form of LNG in spite of initial investments for processing plants. Waenn et al. [4] put forward the hypothesis, that it is required moving from the national level to the regional level when addressing energy system scenario design and energy system analyses with the goal of achieving sustainable energy systems. From this starting point they address the South West Region of Ireland and develop one reference and three alternative high-RES scenarios for the region. Secondly, the authors investigate the applicability of a certain computer energy system’s simulation model – the EnergyPLAN model – in performing such analyses. In conclusion, the said region may be converted to 100% RES supply – and the model was also found to be an adequate tool for performing such analyses. 3. Electricity systems Transmission systems are a focal point for public debate in several countries, and in Denmark, analyses have investigated the possibility of replacing above-ground transmission lines with underground cables or better local integration of RES-based electricity [5, 6] – while other analyses have addressed the policy implication of a so-called supergrid vs smart grid [7]. Menges & Beyer [8] have conducted an extensive investigation of underground cables versus overhead lines based on a contingent valuation survey in Germany. In a survey, 60% of respondents favour undergrounds cables, but nearly half of those favouring undergrounds cables are not willing to pay a premium for that treat. Surprisingly, the authors conclude, that the “thesis that cables increase acceptance of grid development has to be rejected” – though also drawing attention to a low response rate of the survey. 4. Optimisation of energy systems Buildings account for a very large part of the global energy consumption, and in the European Union (EU), the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive targets savings within the building sector. Based on this, Tronchin et al [9] analyses the cost-optimal level of energy performance improvement in an Italian case – as well the applicability of using the cost optimal levels as metrics for comparing scenarios for energy renovation of buildings. Acknowledgements We would like to express our appreciation to all the presenters and authors as well as the organisers of the SDEWES conference. Moreover, we would like to thank all the reviewers for their many helpful comments. Lastly we would like to thank the sponsors Danfoss, PlanEnergi, DESMI and Aalborg University. References [1] Østergaard P, Sperling K Towards Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management 1(2014) pages 1–5. http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.1.1. [2] Østergaard PA Reviewing optimisation criteria for energy systems analyses of renewable energy integration. Energy 34(9)(2009) pages 1236–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ j.energy.2009.05.004. [3] Taliotis C, Howells M, Bazilian M, Rogner H, Welsch M Energy Security prospects in Cyprus and Israel: A focus on Natural Gas. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management 3(2014). http://dx.doi.org/ 10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.2. [4] Waenn A, Connolly D, Ó Gallachóir B Moving from National to Regional Energy Planning using EnergyPLAN. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2009.05.004 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2009.05.004 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.2 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.2 International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management 3(2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm. 2014.3.3. [5] Østergaard PA Transmission-grid requirements with scattered and fluctuating renewable electricity-sources. Appl Energy 76(1-3)(2009) pages 247–55. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0306-2619(03)00065–5. [6] Lund H, Østergaard PA Electric grid and heat planning scenarios with centralised and distributed sources of conventional, CHP and wind generation. Energy 25(4)(2000) pages 299–312. http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1016/S0360- 5442(99)00075–4. [7] Blarke MB, Jenkins BM SuperGrid or SmartGrid: Competing strategies for large-scale integration of intermittent renewables? Energy Policy 58(0)(2013) pages 381–90. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030142151 3002176. [8] Menges R, Beyer G Underground cables versus overhead lines: Do cables increase social acceptance of grid development? Results of a Contingent Valuation survey in Germany. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management 3(2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ ijsepm.2014.3.4. [9] Tronchin L, Tommasino MC, Fabbri K On the “cost-optimal levels” of energy performance requirements and its economic evaluation in Italy. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management 3(2014). http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ ijsepm.2014.3.5;. International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management Vol. 03 2014 3 Poul Alberg Østergaard and Neven Duic http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.3 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.3 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-2619(03)00065%E2%80%935 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0306-2619(03)00065%E2%80%935 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0360-5442(99)00075%E2%80%934 http://dx.doi.org/%2010.1016/S0360-5442(99)00075%E2%80%934 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513002176 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.4 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ijsepm.2014.3.4 http://dx.doi.org/10.5278/ ijsepm.2014.3.5 << /ASCII85EncodePages false /AllowTransparency false /AutoPositionEPSFiles true /AutoRotatePages /All /Binding /Left /CalGrayProfile (Dot Gain 20%) /CalRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CalCMYKProfile (U.S. Web Coated \050SWOP\051 v2) /sRGBProfile (sRGB IEC61966-2.1) /CannotEmbedFontPolicy /Warning /CompatibilityLevel 1.4 /CompressObjects /Tags /CompressPages true /ConvertImagesToIndexed true /PassThroughJPEGImages true /CreateJDFFile false /CreateJobTicket false /DefaultRenderingIntent /Default /DetectBlends true /DetectCurves 0.0000 /ColorConversionStrategy /LeaveColorUnchanged /DoThumbnails false /EmbedAllFonts true /EmbedOpenType false /ParseICCProfilesInComments true /EmbedJobOptions true /DSCReportingLevel 0 /EmitDSCWarnings false /EndPage -1 /ImageMemory 1048576 /LockDistillerParams false /MaxSubsetPct 100 /Optimize true /OPM 1 /ParseDSCComments true /ParseDSCCommentsForDocInfo true /PreserveCopyPage true /PreserveDICMYKValues true /PreserveEPSInfo true /PreserveFlatness true /PreserveHalftoneInfo false /PreserveOPIComments false /PreserveOverprintSettings true /StartPage 1 /SubsetFonts true /TransferFunctionInfo /Apply /UCRandBGInfo /Preserve /UsePrologue false /ColorSettingsFile () /AlwaysEmbed [ true ] /NeverEmbed [ true ] /AntiAliasColorImages false /CropColorImages true /ColorImageMinResolution 300 /ColorImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleColorImages true /ColorImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /ColorImageResolution 300 /ColorImageDepth -1 /ColorImageMinDownsampleDepth 1 /ColorImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeColorImages true /ColorImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterColorImages true /ColorImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /ColorACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /ColorImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000ColorACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000ColorImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasGrayImages false /CropGrayImages true /GrayImageMinResolution 300 /GrayImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleGrayImages true /GrayImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /GrayImageResolution 300 /GrayImageDepth -1 /GrayImageMinDownsampleDepth 2 /GrayImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeGrayImages true /GrayImageFilter /DCTEncode /AutoFilterGrayImages true /GrayImageAutoFilterStrategy /JPEG /GrayACSImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /GrayImageDict << /QFactor 0.15 /HSamples [1 1 1 1] /VSamples [1 1 1 1] >> /JPEG2000GrayACSImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /JPEG2000GrayImageDict << /TileWidth 256 /TileHeight 256 /Quality 30 >> /AntiAliasMonoImages false /CropMonoImages true /MonoImageMinResolution 1200 /MonoImageMinResolutionPolicy /OK /DownsampleMonoImages true /MonoImageDownsampleType /Bicubic /MonoImageResolution 1200 /MonoImageDepth -1 /MonoImageDownsampleThreshold 1.50000 /EncodeMonoImages true /MonoImageFilter /CCITTFaxEncode /MonoImageDict << /K -1 >> /AllowPSXObjects false /CheckCompliance [ /None ] /PDFX1aCheck false /PDFX3Check false /PDFXCompliantPDFOnly false /PDFXNoTrimBoxError true /PDFXTrimBoxToMediaBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXSetBleedBoxToMediaBox true /PDFXBleedBoxToTrimBoxOffset [ 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 0.00000 ] /PDFXOutputIntentProfile () /PDFXOutputConditionIdentifier () /PDFXOutputCondition () /PDFXRegistryName () /PDFXTrapped /False /Description << /CHS /CHT /DAN /DEU /ESP /FRA /ITA /JPN /KOR /NLD (Gebruik deze instellingen om Adobe PDF-documenten te maken voor kwaliteitsafdrukken op desktopprinters en proofers. 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