This Research Topic is Volume II of a series. The previous volume, which has attracted over 45k views can be found here:
Sustainable Planning and Life-Cycle Thinking of Energy Infrastructure Like any other infrastructure, the energy infrastructure is a key driver of global economic growth and competitiveness. Does the existing research clearly defines what energy infrastructure is? and what it includes? For example, traditional utilities like gas and pipelines, power generation systems for fossil fuels (e.g., coal, nuclear, natural gas, diesel, among others), and renewable (e.g., solar, wind, biomass, fuel cell, among others), electrical transmission lines, coal trains, electrical metering and distribution systems, smart systems, storage facilities, advanced electric and electronic systems, and various types of power control systems all come under the energy infrastructure. In addition, today's energy infrastructure includes many directly or indirectly related industrial systems and numerous interdependent sectors such as transportation and agriculture. Energy infrastructure can also refer to the policies, regulations, and institutions that govern energy production and consumption. These can include energy conservation programs, renewable energy standards, and energy market regulations. Overall, energy infrastructure is a complex and multifaceted system that plays a crucial role in the functioning of modern societies. Thus, planning is crucial for the development and operation of energy infrastructure, and can have significant environmental, economic, and social impacts.
Based on the learned experiences, literature evidence, and government initiatives across the nations as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7), it is clear that this is the era of refocusing on our energy infrastructure under the lens of 'sustainable planning and life-cycle thinking' accounting for the technology and policy drivers in all the phases of energy infrastructure value chain (system design, implementation, modernization, expansion, decommissioning, and end-of-life) that are rapidly changing.
This Research Topic aims to analyze innovative solutions and approaches that enable the sustainable transformation of energy infrastructure during its implementation, modernization, expansion, decommissioning, and end-of-life from a science, technology, engineering, and policy perspective. Overall, we seek contributions in the form of original research, reviews, methods, opinions, and perspectives that bring innovation to the energy infrastructure field in terms of both applications and advanced methods, with both short and long-term time scales in mind.
The Topic Editors welcome contributions around energy and its interdependent sectors, including, but not limited to, the following themes:
• Materials, components, and products used in energy infrastructure systems
• State-of-the-art energy infrastructure designs from a life-cycle perspective
• Novel frameworks for energy infrastructure planning in various sectors
• Implementation of the RePLiCATE (Resilience Performance Life Cycle Analysis and Techno-Economics) approach for better planning of energy infrastructure
• Rethinking energy infrastructure and its systems design following the ‘design in line with SDG7’ approach.
• State-of-the-art optimization and control methods used in energy infrastructure
• Problem-solving approaches from science, technology, engineering, and policy perspective for an increasing level of technical complexity and digitalization
• Multifaceted performance investigations of integrated and interdependent energy infrastructure
• Techno-economics and life cycle assessments of energy streams and associated energy infrastructure
• End-of-life approaches and circular business models for energy infrastructure
• Policy and market models for sustainable transformation of energy infrastructure
• Novel technologies integration with existing and new energy infrastructure of interdependent sectors