Track 2: Beyond energy efficiency: Integrating green energy, material and product flows for sustainable industrial systems
Download Track 2 CFP (PDF)
Organizers
Track Chair
Luca Silvestri (Associate Professor, Track Chair)
Universitas Mercatorum, Department of Engineering and Sciences, Piazza Mattei, 10, 00186 Rome, Italy
Co-Chairs
Cecilia Silvestri (Full Professor)
Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of "Tuscia" of Viterbo, Via del Paradiso, Viterbo, Italy
Francesco Pacchera (Assistant Professor)
Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of "Tuscia" of Viterbo, Via del Paradiso, Viterbo, Italy
Alessandro Silvestri (Full Professor)
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy
Antonio Forcina (Associate Professor)
Department of Engineering, Isola C4, Centro Direzionale Napoli, University of Naples "Parthenope", Naples, Italy
Abstract
The transition towards sustainable industrial systems requires moving beyond energy efficiency as a stand-alone objective towards the integrated design and management of green energy technologies, resource-efficient processes and circular material flows. The increasing penetration of renewable electricity, energy storage, green hydrogen, waste-heat recovery and industrial electrification creates new opportunities for reducing fossil-energy dependence and carbon emissions, while also introducing new interactions among energy systems, manufacturing processes, raw materials and product characteristics. However, these dimensions are still frequently addressed separately, potentially overlooking synergies and trade-offs between energy decarbonization, material efficiency, process performance and product requirements.
This Track aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform connecting green energy applications with industrial plant engineering, materials and product science, sustainable manufacturing and resource management. Particular attention will be devoted to the integration of renewable and low-carbon energy solutions into industrial systems and to their interactions with energy and material flows throughout production processes. Methodological contributions, industrial case studies and demonstration projects addressing industrial electrification, renewable energy integration, energy storage, green hydrogen and alternative energy carriers, waste-energy recovery, integrated energy and material flow analysis, resource-efficiency indicators, industrial symbiosis, secondary material valorization, circular manufacturing and critical materials for clean-energy technologies are particularly encouraged.
The Track will also explore digital and methodological enablers, including energy and material monitoring, life-cycle approaches, digital twins and data-driven decision-support systems. By connecting energy, materials, processes and products, the Track seeks to advance integrated approaches capable of identifying and managing synergies and trade-offs among green energy deployment, resource efficiency, circularity and product sustainability, thereby supporting the decarbonization and long-term sustainability of industrial systems.
Topics of Interest
- Renewable energy integration in industrial systems
- Industrial electrification and low-carbon energy technologies
- Energy storage, green hydrogen and alternative energy carriers
- Waste heat and waste energy recovery
- Integrated energy and material flow analysis
- Resource and material efficiency in industrial processes
- Industrial symbiosis and secondary material valorization
- Circular and sustainable manufacturing systems
- Critical materials for clean-energy technologies
- Digital twins and data-driven methods for sustainable industrial systems