alexandra.penedo@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/ area: Quantification of carbon emissions embodied in a country’s final demand and in the payments made to primary factors of production, using multi-region input-output (MRIO) models.
Income-Based Carbon Responsabilityon May 5th, 2013.
aft17649@fct.unl.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
alexandre.lucas@ist.utl.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
PhD supervisor : Carla Alexandra Silva ; PhD co- supervisor Rui Pedro Neto and Randolph Kirchain.
PhD Thesis (2013): Evaluation of Energy Supply Infrastructure in the context of Life-cyce analysis of alternative light-duty vehicles
Thesis abstract: Many transportation environmental life cycle analyses (LCA), neglect the contribution of the energy supply infrastructures. In alternative light-duty vehicle technologies, it has been shown through case studies that this can be a relevant factor. However, no model exists to generalize the evaluation of emissions and energy from construction, maintenance and decommissioning of such infrastructure in different scenarios. This study proposes a model, focusing on electricity and on hydrogen supply through centralized steam methane reforming, H2(a), and on-site electrolysis H2(b). The model outputs are in gCO2eq and MJeq per MJ of final energy. The model main inputs are: the region’s electricity mix, the annual distance driven, the supply chain losses and the number of vehicles per station or electric chargers. The evaluation of the number of vehicles served per each charger/station as a function of annual distance driven is also discussed. The uncertainty in the study is incorporated by using the pedigree matrix, the impact uncertainty and literature estimates. The study shows that infrastructure impacts are higher in alternative vehicle pathways. Moreover, higher renewable energy penetration in the electricity mix means higher contribution to infrastructure LCA. The model shows consistency in the results and in the uncertainty range. Charging policies that minimize the electricity infrastructure burden should incentivize approximately 37% of vehicle charging in normal chargers. H2(a) pipeline lifetime should be extended and improvements in the electrolyser should be undertaken, to approximate the ratio of vehicles per station to a conventional one.
Keywords: alternative propulsion technologies; alternative energy pathways; electricity, hydrogen; life-cycle analysis; energy supply infrastructure;
Alexandre Lucas has successfully discussed his thesis on November, 19th, 2013 with the following members of the jury:
Publications:
amir263@yahoo.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008 | Graduation year: 2014
Current position: Project Manager at Internationlisation/ecoinvent Centre, Switzerland
Research topic/ area: Life cycle optimization model for integrated co-generation and photov
Thesis Title: Life-cycle Optimization Model for Distributed Generation in Buildings
Supervisors: Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC), Fausto Freire (FCTUC), Stephen Connors (MIT)
ana_hgoncalves@yahoo.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
PhD Supervisor: Tiago Domingos, Técnico Lisboa,
PhD Thesis (2014): Modeling Urban Growth and Electricity Consumption: The power of Power Laws
ana.proenca@netcabo.pt | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ana.caeiro@ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2012
Research topic/area: Energy Efficiency for Agriculture and Industry SME’s
Research Summary: Her research interests include energy efficiency, electric power systems, smart meters and solar photovoltaic systems.
ana.neves@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Sustainable energy planning and assessment of local energy systems
Thesis discussion on March, 19th, 2013.
argsoares@gmail.com ; argsoares@inescc.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
LinkedIn ; ResearchGate ; Degois ; Google Scholar
Current position: R&D EnergyVille
Research topic/area: Integrated Energy Management Algorithms with Responsive Demand and local generation/storage
Research Summary: The goal of the research is to design a methodology to be implemented in an integrated energy management system for controlling domestic energy resources in a smart grid scenario, taking into account different inputs signals as well as considering uncertainty and multiple criteria evaluation aspects in order to obtain robust decisions. Domestic energy resources comprise typical manageable loads, energy storage systems, plug-in electric vehicles and micro-generation systems. As a consequence of this management, impacts of automated demand response actions in the domestic aggregated load diagram must be adequately assessed, which in turn contribute for subsequent decisions to be made.
Thesis Title: (Near) Real-Time Integrated Management of Residential Energy Resources
Supervisors: Álvaro Gomes Martins (FCTUC), Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC)
Book chapters
Publications
Communications and conference presentations
A. Gomes, A. Soares, C. Henggler Antunes, “Impacts of demand side management and micro-generation units on low voltage distribution radial networks”, 11th International Conference on Electrical Power Quality and Utilisation (EPQU), Lisbon, Portugal, 2011
anadu@isec.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009 | Graduation year: 2015
Research topic/ area: “Thermal Energy Storage Control for Space Heating Systems based on a Ground Source Heat Pump”
Thesis Title: Thermal energy storage control for space conditioning systems based on ground source heat pump
Supervisor: Aníbal De Almeida (ISR – University of Coimbra)
boaldeia@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2013
Current Position: Postdoc Research Associate at Arizona State University
Research area: Buildings efficiency/microgeneration
Thesis Title: Study of process to grow silicon ribbons by fast CVD
Supervisor: Joao Serra (FCUL)
andre.pina@tecnico.ulisboa.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Current Position: Post-Doc Researcher at IST – IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research
Research topic/area: Green Islands Project – Energy planning
Thesis Title (2012): Supply and demand dynamics in energy systems modeling
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST), Carlos Silva (IST), Stephen Connors (MIT)
Thesis Abstract:
The shift towards high penetrations of renewable energy sources and the increase in energy efficiency, on both the supply and demand sides, are currently the main challenges that energy systems are facing. To design economically and technically feasible transition pathways to more sustainable energy systems, detailed energy models are required. However, the most commonly used modeling methodologies are not prepared to perform long-term analysis of energy systems while taking into account the inherent hourly dynamics of supply and demand. The work presented in this thesis analyzes the importance of accounting for the dynamics of renewable energy sources availability and of the introduction of changes in the patterns of electricity consumption, through the implementation of demand side management policies or the deployment of electric vehicles, in the optimization of investments in new generation capacity. A new framework that allows modeling the long-term evolution of energy systems while having a high temporal resolution is proposed and tested to develop investment plans for systems with high penetrations of renewable energy sources. The results show that accounting for the dynamics is crucial for avoiding the overinvestment in new generation capacity and increase the cost-effectiveness of the systems.
Communications/Conference presentations:
1 – F. Amorim, A. Pina, H. Gerbelova, J. Vasconcelos, P.P. da Silva, V. Martins, “Electricity decarbonisation pathways for 2050: a TIMES based approach in closed versus open systems modeling”, Energy, Volume 69, May 2014, Pages 104-112.
2 – H. Gerbelová, F. Amorim, A. Pina, M. Melo, C. Ioakimidis, P. Ferrão, “Potential of CO2 taxes as a policy measure towards low-carbon Portuguese electricity sector by 2050”, Energy, Volume 69, May 2014, Pages 113-119.
3 – R. Paleta, A. Pina, C. Silva, “Polygeneration Energy Container: Designing and testing energy services for remote developing communities”, IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, (accepted for publication 2014) .
4 – A. Pina, P. Baptista, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, “Energy reduction and environmental benefits potential from the shift to electric vehicles: the Flores island case study”, Energy Policy, Volume 67, April 2014, Pages 37-47.
5 – A. Pina, C. Silva, P. Ferrão, “High-resolution modeling framework for planning electricity systems with high penetration of renewables”, Applied Energy, Volume 112, December 2013, Pages 215-223 [5].
[1]http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214000735
[2] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544214000188
[3]http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=06779683
[4]http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421513007799
[5]http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030626191300487X
aferrazlr@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Urban/Business metabolism, Corporate sustainability, Urban ecology, Industrial Ecology, Smart-Metering
antonio.abreu1@sapo.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ajferreiradossantos@gmail.com | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Defining new control and management solutions for security assessment and preventive
Personal webpage/Blog: www.energiaeficiencia.blogspot.com
dragoneas@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ari_lc@msn.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008 | Graduation year: 2016
Current position: Professor at Insituto Federal do Mato Grosso
Research topic/ area: An Integrated Assessment Methodology Applied to the Brazilian Bioethanol Case
Thesis Title: An Integrated Assessment Methodology Applied To The Brazilian Bioethanol Case
Supervisors: Carlos Henggeler (FCTUC), Fausto Freire (FCTUC)
bernardo.silva@fe.up.pt | INESC FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
Current Position: Researcher at INESCTEC
PhD Supervisor: Hélder Filipe Duarte Leite (FEUP) ; PhD co- supervisor: Carlos Coelho Leal Monteiro Moreira (FEUP).
PhD Thesis (2014): Multi-terminal HVDC grids: control strategies for ancillary services provision in interconnected transmission systems with offshore wind farms
Thesis abstract: Wind Energy (WE) has largely contributed to the de-carbonization of the energy sector and consequently to the definition of the European Commission (EC) targets on renewable-based electricity generation. During the last decade, massive investment has culminated in the substantial installation of Wind Farms (WF). Moreover, the ambitious plans for increasing these targets on renewable-based electricity generation demand the deployment of more WF. To tackle this challenge, a large amount of offshore WF is envisioned to be built during the next decade. From the technical perspective, the adoption of HVDC becomes crucial to allow the installation far from coast and large power WF. Most recent plans point for the adoption of DC-grids as the mean of interconnecting offshore WF and also inter-AC area, allowing further renewable integration and the development of a common European electricity market.This thesis presents control strategies based on a communication-free framework that were developed in order to allow DC grid-connected offshore WF and interconnected AC areas on providing advanced system services such as: a) primary frequency regulation, b) inertial behavior emulation, c) Fault Ride-through (FRT) capability. The association of the control strategies for primary frequency regulation and FRT has culminated in the design of the coordinated approach for increasing the DC grid reliability by allowing its operation following the disconnection of one onshore HVDC converter. The presented control strategies rely on local controllers to be housed in offshore and onshore High Voltage Direct Current – Voltage Source Converter (HVDC-VSC) as well as on WT. The local controllers operate autonomously providing the adequate regulation based on quantity variations. The main outcomes of this thesis consist on the development of communication-free control strategies for MTDC grid with offshore WF participating in the mainland systems frequency regulation, the capability of remaining connected to the mainland grids during voltage sags, thus mitigating the problems resulting from the disconnection of a large amount of wind power. Finally, a control scheme to guarantee the operation of the DC grid following the disconnection of one evacuation node (onshore HVDC-VSC) is presented.
Publications:
caldeira.carla@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2012 | Graduation year: 2017
Thesis Title: Blending optimization of biodiesel produced with waste and virgin oils
Supervisor: Luís Dias (FEUC), Fausto Freire (FCTUC)
Thesis Abstract: The main aim is to develop a multiobjective optimization (MO) model to optimize blends of virgin and waste oils (WO, i.e., waste cooking oils and animal fats) for biodiesel production that minimize costs and environmental impacts in a life-cycle perspective, incorporating uncertainty and variability. Analyses based on this model will allow industry stakeholders to obtain blends for biodiesel production in compliance with technical standards that are efficient in terms of cost and environmental impact, and will inform policy makers on the effects of changes to biodiesel regulations
ar.carla@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2012 | Graduation year: 2017
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Center for Industrial Ecology | ADAI-LAETA | University of Coimbra
Thesis Title: Sustainability Assessment of Building Retrofit: an Integrated Life Cycle Approach
Supervisor: Fausto Freire (FCTUC)
Thesis Abstract: The main goal of this PhD research is to identify strategies and select the most appropriate options for improving the life-cycle environmental and economic sustainability of buildings retrofit, for family households and service buildings in South Europe. An integrated cost and environmental life-cycle model combined with thermal dynamic simulation will be developed and implemented to different building retrofit projects in Coimbra. Uncertainty and contribution analyses associated with environmental impacts in an early design stage of a retrofit process will also be performed to allow generalization of the results and reduce the effort of performing a complete LCA while maintaining the fidelity and robustness of the results This research is expected to support decision-making of architects and engineers to optimize the life cycle environmental and economic performance of buildings.
IST/ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Researcher at Instituto Superior Técnico
Thesis Title: Impacts of adopting on board ICT and training on driving behavior, safety, energy and environment: application to light duty vehicles and buses
Supervisors: Tiago Farias (IST-UL), Patricia Batista (IST-UL)
cserra@itecons.uc.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2017
Thesis Title: Use of thermography in assessing hygrothermal performance of building elements
Supervisors: António Tadeu (FCTUC), Nuno Albino Vieira Simões (FCTUC)
Thesis Abstract: In this research, numerical and experimental studies of heat transfer using Infrared Thermography (IRT) applied to buildings envelope thermal behavior are proposed. By developing and implementing analytical solutions and using numerical models to simulate transient heat transfer in layered media and studying heat and moisture diffusion features experimentally using active IRT, it is expected that the basis for the successful use of quantitative IRT in building inspections is set. This aims to further support the use of IRT in building diagnostics as an effective tool in the predictive maintenance of constructions and for promoting better thermal performance of building envelopes an essential aspect in reducing energy consumption in constructions.
crisstian@gmx.de, c.wimmler@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Thesis Title: Towards Electrical Isolated Systems based on 100% Renewables
Supervisors: Eduardo de Oliveira Fernandes (Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto); Carlos Moreira (Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto); Stephen Connors (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Research summary: Energy supply faces enormous challenges given the costs of fuels and the still inaccessibility of some new technologies. Islands and isolated energy systems even experience greater energy challenges; high import costs, higher sensitivity to greenhouse gas emissions and climate effects and higher costs for whatever technology. Renewable energy technologies can be a solution to overcome these challenges. A methodological concept for gradually covering all energy purposes that can be electricity based on 100% renewables will be established in this study. Consequently, energy demand and future development, reduction potential as well as local resource potential of renewables need to be assessed. In combination with storage technologies a 100% renewable electricity system will be built. The decision for a specific future supply scenario will be strengthened by a sustainability assessment, which will be compromised of technical, economic, environmental and social criteria. As there are many criteria to be considered, decision makers will have the flexibility to choose supply alternatives based on their preferences and priorities, including onshore and offshore technologies
Communications and Conference presentations:
clarixe@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2017
Current Position: Data Analyst Intern at EDP
Thesis Title: Radiation models for the Azores Islands
Supervisors: Miguel Brito e Pedro Soares
FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Graduation year: 2015
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Thesis Title: Representing Battery Energy Storage in Electric Power System Studies
Supervisors: João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Ignacio Pérez-Arríaga (UPComillas)
ccamus@deea.isel.ipl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area:Smart Energy Networks
Communications/Conference presentations:
Paper presented: ”Microgeneration. Evaluation of the zero Emissions Technologies in the Portuguese Market”, EEM08 5th International Conference on the European Electricity Market 28-30 May 2008
Links:
daniewie@phys.ethz.ch | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Sustainable Energy Urban System (SUES)
Thesis Title (2012): Quantify the Drivers of Residential Urban Metabolism
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST) , Inês Azevedo (Carnegie Mellon University), John E. Fernandez (MIT).
Thesis DiscussionQuantify the Drivers of Residential Urban Metabolism on December, 13th, 2012.
Research Summary:
Daniel Wiesmann and David Quinn (MIT PhD) have developed an interactive web-map that allows for an integrated understanding of resource use in cities- Urban Energy Patterns. By displaying measures of construction material (kg/person), building and transportation energy use (kWh/person) and population density (people/km2), the researchers hope to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between these measures and urban development patterns. Thanks to a Google Map satellite imagery, users can examine specific urban areas, and automatically generate a detailed PDF report of the area which they examined.
This work was motivated by a desire to better understand how spatial patterns can be related to material and energy use in cities and therefore the two PhD students have mapped 40 cities across the United States hoping to contribute to the public discussion of urban sustainability. The data shown in the web-map uses a combination of publicly available datasets, survey data, and sophisticated spatial analysis methods at a high-resolution, enabling the prediction of values in cities where some data was not available.
More info here.
danyela.samaniego@gmail.com; https://www.linkedin.com/in/danyela-samaniego/ | U Coimbra | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2013 | Graduation year: 2017
Research topic/area: Renewable Energy, Solar energy systems, Solar radiation, Risk analysis, Environmental conditions assessment, Green jobs hazards, Natural hazards and Climate change impacts, Occupational health and safety, Interdisciplinary Research
Thesis Title (2017): Occupational And Safety Issues Of Workers In Central Tower SolarEnergy Facilities Supervisors: Manuel Carlos Gameiro da Silva and Almerindo Domingues Ferreira
Research summary: The growing motivation of countries to use renewable energy for the production of electricity, nowadays solar thermal plants have increased in number. all solar thermal power plant has mirrors that concentrate sunlight on a point called white, so the presence of concentrated sunlight in large quantities is usual in this type of plants, so you may encounter various risks, including skin type, burns on the skin or ocular type, either from burns in the retina or momentary dazzle (post image effect), which can cause distractions. Some previous studies have provided the possible effects to such exposure. The need for risk assessment on this type of facilities is evident. With the help of Risk Management we pretend to achieve the overall purpose of this research, which is to propose technic security elements in thermal solar power facilities in the way of the development of standard proposal.
Communications / conferences presentations:
david.rua@ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
PhD supervisor: João Abel Peças Lopes (FEUP) ; Co-supervisor: José António Ruela Simões Fernandes (FEUP)
PhD Thesis (2014): Last-Mile Communications Systems for Smart Electric Distribution Grids
up201306934@fe.up.pt | FEUP Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2013 | Graduation year: 2017
Thesis Title: Economic evaluation of energy storage systems and their impact on electricity markets in a smart-grid context
Supervisor: João Tomé Saraiva (FEUP)
Thesis Abstract: The objective of the research is to evaluate the commercial benefits of distributed energy storage systems and determine the market risks associated with an investment in such a system. To assess the economics of energy storage and establish a clear value proposition, different storage implementations and operations will be simulated. This will provide an understanding of the benefits that a storage device can provide, including barriers and drivers to its deployment. Furthermore, reciprocal effects on market prices will be determined and analyzed to understand the impact of a wide-scale implementation of storage.
dpneves@fc.ul.pt | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
Current position: Post-Doc Researcher at IST – IN+ Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research
Research topic/ area: Energy Planning
Thesis Title (2016): “Optimization of hybrid renewable energy systems on isolated microgrids: a smart grid approach”
Publications:
issicaba@labplan.ufsc.br | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Multi-Agent System for Self-Healing in Distribution Grids with Large Scale Integration of DERs and PEVs
PhD Thesis (2013): “Block-Oriented Agent-Based Architecture to Support the Power Distribution System Operation: System Design and Environment Model”
Diego Issicaba’s research was supervised by João Abel Peças Lopes (FEUP) and co-supervised by Mauro Augusto da Rosa (INESC TEC).
scott.dd@telus.net | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ehsanasadi82@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Refurbishment Decision Support System (RDSS) for building renovation strategies
PhD Thesis (2013): A Retrofit Decision Support Approach for Improving Energy Efficiency and Indoor Environmental Quality in Buildings
Ehsan Asadi has successfully discussed his thesis on November, 2013, with the following members of the jury:
Ehsan Asadi’s research was supervised and co-supervised by Manuel Carlos Gameiro da Silva; Carlos Henggeler Antunes; Luís Dias & Leon Glicksman.
Thesis Summary: Retrofitting of existing buildings offers significant opportunities for reducing global energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This is being considered as one of the main approaches to achieve sustainability in the built environment at relatively low cost and high uptake rates. Although there are a wide range of retrofit technologies readily available, methods to identify the most suitable set of retrofit actions for particular projects are still a major technical challenge. Such methods can be categorized into two main approaches; models in which alternative retrofit actions are explicitly know a priori and models in which alternative retrofit actions are implicitly defined in the setting of an optimization model.
This thesis focuses on using modeling and optimization techniques to assess technology choices in the built environment. Firstly two multi-objective optimization models using a classical optimization technique, namely Tchebycheff technique are developed. The functionality of the proposed models is discussed through the application on a residential building. The results verify the practicability of the approaches and highlight potential problems that may arise. Afterward a multi-objective optimization model based on the Genetic Algorithm Integrating Neural Network (GAINN) approach is developed. The benefits of this approach with respect to the classical optimization models are its rapidity and computational efficiency. This model is used for the optimization of the energy consumption, retrofit cost and thermal comfort in a school building. The results from the optimization show the impact of each objective function on the building’s overall performance after retrofit and more importantly illustrate the trade-off between different objectives. Finally, the proposed methodology highlights the improvements added to the GAINN methodology by use of a multi-objective genetic algorithm.
erica@dem.uc.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008 | Graduation year: 2014
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Coimbra, Portugal
Research topic/ area: Environmental Sustainabillity Assessment of Bioenergy: A life cycle multi–criteria decision–support approach
Thesis Title: Environmental sustainability assessment of soybean and palm biodiesel systems: A life-cycle approach
Supervisor: Fausto Freire (FCTUC)
eugenio.rodrigues@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ResearchGate ; Academia ; ORCID
PhD Supervisor: Álvaro Gomes (UCoimbra) , Adélio Gaspar (UCoimbra)
PhD Thesis: Automated Floor Plan Design: Generation, Simulation, and Optimization
Thesis Abstract: “Architects need to design more energy efficient buildings. The best way to achieve this is to incorporate building performance simulation in the design process to estimate how they will behave. However, practitioners rarely make use of such tools. According to recent inquiries on the needs to improve these kind of programs, it can be concluded that they are non user-friendly, demand detailed building specifications that are usually absent from initial architectural design phases, take too much time to build the simulation model, results are not presented in a meaningful way to the architects, and in a trial-and-error design process it becomes unbearable to use. Researchers have been working in the usability of the graphical interface and in the development of optimization techniques to improve the designed building solution. However, such approaches aim to final design stages, when all the most important decisions have been already made and thus too late to implement meaningful design changes. The approach proposed in this research work is fundamentally different, as it aims to assist practitioner in the earliest design phase of architectural practice, the space planning phase. In this phase, architects seek to accommodate all preferences and requirements from the clients design program into floor plan designs. The approach aims to automatically generate, assess, and optimize alternative floor plan designs. Two algorithms were developed. The first generates floor plans by allocating spaces on one or more levels, served by parametric vertical circulation spaces that adapt their shape, dimensions, and position to the evolving design solution. A hybrid evolutionary computation technique is used, which couples the searching capabilities from an Evolutionary Strategy and local search technique. Clustering mechanism is used to incorporate morphological preferences of the user and to give structure to large design programs. Transformation operators perform random geometric and topological mutations aiming to satisfy all requirements and preferences. Self-adaptive mechanism and adaptive operators are used to reduce the computational time, and deepens the exploitation and widens the exploration of the search. The second algorithm imports those generated floor plans and assesses, ranks, and optimizes their thermal performance. It uses a sequential variable optimization procedure, where different architectural elements are added or changed with the purpose of maximizing the thermal performance. The two algorithms were tested in several case studies with different complexity levels, design programs, requirements, and constraints. Both algorithms have their performance analyzed. Results shown that both algorithm may be valuable instruments in speeding up the design process, in enlarging the number of design solutions to be compared, in improving thermal performance of floor plans, and in helping the architects in their decision-making process.”
Full thesis available at Repository of the University of Coimbra .
Publications:
pds12002@fe.up.pt ; felipecalabria@yahoo.com.br | FEUP | SES PhD | Entering year: 2012 | Graduation year: 2016
Current position: Specialist in regulation at ANEEL
Thesis Title: A virtual reservoir model for power systems with large share of hydros: Analysis of the Brazilian case in a liberalized wholesale electricity market
Supervoisors: João Tomé Saraiva (FEUP), Ana Paula Rocha (FEUP)
filipa.amorim@tecnico.ulisboa.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2014
Research topic/ area: electricity markets, energy planning, costs assessment, regulation, renewables integration
Thesis title: Planning generation in liberalising and decarbonising electricity systems: The Portuguese case.
Supervisors: Victor Martins (ISEG-UL), Patrícia Pereira da Silva (FEUC), Jorge Vasconcelos (NEWES)
Publications:
pds07004@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
PhD Supervisor: Eduardo Guimarães Oliveira Fernandes; PhD Co-supervisor: Maria do Rosário Sintra de Almeida Partidário
Research topic/ area: Towards a Methodology for Ranking Natural Energy Resources based on Environmental Criteria
PhD Thesis (2014): Prioritizing Renewable Energy Resources based on Environmental and Energy Quality Criteria
The discussion of the thesis Prioritizing Renewable Energy Resources based on Environmental and Energy Quality Criteria took place with the following members of the Jury:
filipa.n.c.reis@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Current position: Patent Examiner at INPI
PhD Supervisor: Miguel Centeno Brito (FCUL) ;Gianfranco Sorasio
PhD Thesis (2013): Development of photovoltaic systems with concentration
Thesis abstract: The concept of Concentration Photovoltaic (CPV) systems appeared as an attempt to reduce the cost of Photovoltaic (PV) technology. In these systems, savings are achieved by the reduction of the area of the expensive PV cell which is compensated by the increase in the light intensity on the device through less expensive optical elements. This thesis focus on two main CPV systems: i) the DoubleSun® technology, a low CPV system, already commercialized; and ii) a new medium CPV system, the HSun technology. Regarding the DoubleSun®, the on-field performance and ageing tests are addressed, highlighting the main challenges that a CPV system has to face under outdoor exposure. Such results were relevant for the development of a new CPV system concept, the HSun, whose main target is to achieve grid parity. A Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCoE) analysis was performed showing that this objective can only be achieved with a concentration factor between 15-20 suns and integrating high efficiency silicon solar cells.Within the HSun project, this thesis focuses on the CPV receiver whose design, development, assembly, validation and optimization are discussed in detail. The analysis of its thermal behaviour is addressed through CFD-FEA in a model implemented in SolidWorks which determines the temperature profile across the solar cells showing that its integration on the HSun could be optimized to decrease the average temperature of the cell by about 60°C. Since both illumination and temperature profiles are spatially inhomogeneous, a distributed solar cell electric model is developed in order to understand and fully describe the behaviour of solar cells under such operating conditions. The model was experimentally validated and then applied to the optimization of the front grid of the solar cells on the HSun showing the efficiency may be increased by 1.5% if front grid design integrates more 21 fingers. K: Photovoltaic, Concentration photovoltaic systems, Silicon solar cell model, Inhomogeneous irradiation, Inhomogeneous temperature
Full thesis available at Universidade de Lisboa’s Repositorium.
Publications:
F. Reis , M. Centeno Brito, V. Corregidor, J. Wemans and G. Sorasio, “Modeling the performance of low concentration photovoltaic systems”, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells Volume 94, Issue 7, July 2010, Pages 1222–1226
F. Reis, J. Wemans, G. Sorasio, M.C. Brito, “Validation of a Model to Study CPV Silicon Solar Cells Behaviour under Inhomogeneous Irradiation”, EU PVSEC Proceedings, 2012,228 – 231, doi: 10.4229/27thEUPVSEC2012-1AV.3.19
F. Reis, L. Pina, J. Wemans, G. Sorasio, M.C. Brito, “LCoE Analysis as a Decision Tool for Design of Concentrated Photovoltaics Systems”, EU PVSEC Proceedings, 2011, 4581 – 4583, doi: 10.4229/26thEUPVSEC2011-6CV.1.28
F. Reis, J. Wemans, G. Sorasio, P. Fialho, M.C. Brito , “Photovoltaic Potential in Terceira Island (Azores)” EU PVSEC Proceedings, 2011, 4317 – 4319, doi: 10.4229/26thEUPVSEC2011-5BV.2.41
F. Reis , M. Centeno Brito, V. Corregidor, J. Wemans and G. Sorasio,”Ageing of Standard PV Module when Integrated in a V-trough Concentration System” MRS Proceedings / Volume 1210 / 2009, Materials Research Society 2010 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1557/PROC-1210-Q08-05
fjnsoares@gmail.com | FEUP
Research topic/area: Impact of V2G systems in grid operation and expansion
Thesis Title (2012): Impact of the deployment of electric vehicles in grid operation and expansion
Supervisor: João Abel Peças Lopes (FEUP) ; James Kirtley (MIT)
filipemrodrigues@netcabo.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
fcsimsim@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
francisc_ribeiro@hotmail.com | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
go1nar@yahoo.com; pds11002@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011
Research topic/area: A multi-objective decision-support methodology for Planning of National or Regional Energy Supply (Temporary thesis’ title)
email@goncalocardoso.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2013
Current Position: Senior Scientific Engineering Associate at Berkeley Lab
Research topic/area: Sustainable Urban Energy Systems (SUES)
Thesis Title: Distributed Energy Resources for a Sustainable Built Environment
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL), Ana Póvoa (IST-UL)
goncalo.duarte.pereira@tecnico.ulisboa.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Post-Doc Researcher at the Trancik Laboratory, Institute for Data, Systems, and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Previous Position: Data scientist at WATT-IS
Research Topic/Area: Residential energy consumption; Energy storage; Distributed production
Thesis Title (2016): Promoting a cleaner and more efficient energy use in the residential sector through a better understanding of energy consumption patterns
Supervisor: Carlos Silva (IST), Susana Vieira (IST)
Thesis Abstract: This thesis contributes to increasing the knowledge in the Portuguese residential energy consumption. The insight into consumption is provided by measurements from a smart meter project, the Portuguese survey to residential energy consumption and the Portuguese database of energy performance certificates in residential buildings.
The analysis of consumption patterns showed the importance of thermal comfort-related consumption and the influence of external factors like temperature and day length. Furthermore, it was observed a performance gap, i.e., the households active energy consumption was not sufficient to meet the estimated thermal needs. The results suggest thermal comfort as a target for efficiency measures but, in a scenario of possible domestic energy poverty, it is difficult to propose actions when the majority of Portuguese households might not be able to meet thermal comfort needs.
The estimation and classification of residential energy consumption patterns are possible due to the deployment of smart meters. The pattern analysis contributed to the reduction of energy consumption through feedback of performance indicators to households. A shift to cleaner energy consumption could be achieved with distributed production, using on-site renewable energy production and storage. The achieved results suggest that current solar storage technologies and Portuguese legislation would be financially profitable making it an attractive option for households.
Energy efficiency measures (e.g. consumption feedback) and a shift to renewable energy use can increase sustainability in the residential sector.
Publications:
goncalo.p.mendes@ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008 | Graduation year: 2016
Research topic/ area: the research, in cooperation with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from the University of California, Berkeley, addresses the economic optimization of community-scale microgrids Distributed Energy Resources (DER) generation mix in case-studies of Portugal, the U.S. and Japan. The approach is customer-centered and intents to provide valuable insights to political decision makers, legislators and urban planners, on which directions to take in the design of modern cities, accommodating the new distributed energy paradigm.
Thesis Title: Microgrids as Key for Energy Efficiency: A Multi-Country Investigation of Community-scale Power Systems’ Adoption Patterns Under Different Demand, Climate and Regulatory Characteristics
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL), Chris Marnay (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory), Christos Ioakimidis (Deusto Institute of Technology)
Communications / Conference presentations (first author):
gpereira@student.dem.uc.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2014
LinkedIn; Research Gate; De Góis; websiteResearch topic/ area: Electricity sector transition
PhD supervisors: Patrícia Pereira da Silva, University of Coimbra – Faculty of Economics, Energy for Sustainability Initiative and INESC Coimbra
Thesis title: The role of Electricity Distribution System Operators in the promotion of energy efficiency – Analyzing regulatory, stakeholders and firm level dimensions
gustavo.souza@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Energy efficiency in energy planning: Assessment and planning methodologies
Thesis Title: A multi-objective decision support methodology for developing national energy efficiency plans
Supervisors: Vitor Manuel Silva Leal (FEUP) ; Luís Miguel Cândido Dias (FEUC)
gerbelova@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
PhD Supervisor: Paulo Ferrão; Co-Supervisors: Edward Stephen Rubin and Christos Ioakimidis
PhD Thesis (2013) : Feasibility Assessment of Carbon Capture and Storage Technology in the Portuguese Energy System
Thesis Abstract: Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is one alternative in the portfolio of options for reducing greenhouse gas emissions that allows significantly to reduce anthropogenic emissions of CO2 from industrial fossil fuel-based combustion plants. Fossil fuels have a dominant share in the Portuguese energy sector and, at the same time, there is a specific focus on the energy sector to maintain national levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Therefore, CCS has been lately receiving increasing interest. The work presented in this thesis improves the understanding of the techno-economics of CCS in the electricity sector and its contribution to the CO2 mitigation within a portfolio of other mitigation options applied to the Portuguese reality. In addition to this, the assessed case studies demonstrate the technical and economic feasibility of using an amine-based post-combustion CO2 capture at particular Portuguese power plants and cement manufacturing plant. The established framework quantifies the contributions of CCS within the Portuguese energy system and as a result provides the most up-to-date and realistic estimates of the environmental and economic impacts that would result if CCS is implemented on large point sources of CO2 in Portugal. Keywords: CO2 emissions; carbon capture and storage; energy systems modeling; fossil fuel power plant; cement plant; CCS retrofitting; cost estimates; electricity generation; CO2 taxes; MEA post-combustion captu
HanaGerbelova successfully discussed her thesis on December, 23rd, 2013 with the following members of the jury:
Publications:
Papers in conference proceedings:
helenamonte@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009 | Graduation year: 2017
Thesis Title: Integrating life cycle assessment and energy building simulation to improve residential buildings’ performance
Supervisors: Fausto Freire (DEM-UC) and Adélio Gaspar (DEM-UC)
henrique.pombeiro@tecnico.ulisboa.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems Advanced Studies | Entering year: 2012
http://pt.linkedin.com/pub/henrique-pombeiro
Publications:
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, Modeling energy consumption in an educational building: comparative study between linear regression, fuzzy set theory and neural networks Studies. Chapter in Computational Intelligence, Vol. 591, Kohei Arai et al: Intelligent Systems in Science and Information 2014, doi: 978-3-319-14653-9.
Maria Machado, Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, “Aplicação de um algoritmo de otimização genético multiobjectivo no controlo de um sistema de ar condicionado e iluminação”. Energy at IST Conference 2014, September 12, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Carlos Gomes, Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, “Um Algoritmo de Aprendizagem como Controlador Térmico”, Energy at IST Conference 2014, September 12, Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, “Linear, Fuzzy and Neural Networks models for definition of baseline consumption: Early findings from two test beds in a University Campus in Portugal “. Park Inn by Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre, August 27-29, London, UK. ISBN 978-0-9893193-1-7.
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, “Novel multivariate adaptive self-learning methodology for efficient energy systems in buildings”. Poster presented in the 4th MIT Portugal Conference, June 27th 2014, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, “Novel multivariate adaptive self-learning methodology for efficient energy systems in buildings”. Poster presented in the LARSys 2014 Annual Meeting Conference, July 4th 2014, Ciência Viva Pavilion, Lisbon, Portugal
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, Poster, “Towards conscious electricity consumption in households: Early findings from a living lab and recommendations”, 2014, June 20th, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon, Portugal.
Henrique Pombeiro, Carlos Silva, Poster, “Intelligent management of energy systems in buildings – early results”, 2014, IN+ Annual Meeting, May 28-30, Técnico Lisboa – University of Lisbon, Portugal
hermano.bernardo@estg.ipleiria.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
hkeko@inescporto.pthrvoje.keko@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Generation Coordination in Complex Systems with Stochastic Reservoirs
Links to personal webpages: http://paginas.fe.up.pt/~ee03149/
hugo.campanico@hotmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2017
Thesis Title: Passive cooling for buildings
Supervisors: Pedro Soares (FCUL), Pierre Hollmuller (FCUL)
pds09007@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
jmargaridaa@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Sustainable Energy Urban System (SUES)
Thesis Title (2012): Routines and feedback: a study about electricity consumption in household
Supervisors: António Jorge Viegas de Vasconcelos (IST), David Hunter Marks (MIT), Francisco Câmara Pereira (FCUC).
jmfbastos@gmail.com | U Coimbra | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011
Supervisors: Fausto Freire (FCTUC), Stuart Batterman (MIT)
Research topic/area
Publications:
Communications/conferences presentations:
joao.pr.ferreira@gmail.com | FCTUC | SES PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Current position: Lecturer/Researcher at Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra
Research Summary: Urban population has been growing consistently worldwide, with large metropolitan areas experiencing persistent expansion phenomena. Unsurprisingly these processes are not occurring homogeneously throughout the territories. Over the last decade, population in suburbs has largely increased while the population living in Central Business Districts has shrunk in many large European and American cities. Portugal is not an exception. The main aim of this work is to establish a modelling framework suitable for the regional and national assessment of economic, social and environmental impacts of changes in urban forms and commuting patterns. Accordingly, this research proposes the construction of a commuting satellite account embedded in a Multi-Regional Input-Output framework.
Thesis Title: Socio-Economic-Environmental Assessment of Commuting
Supervisors: Pedro Ramos (FEUC), Luis Cruz (FEUC)
jfra.barreiros@gmail.com | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011
Research summary: The recent development of new drilling technics, namely the combination of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) with horizontal drilling technologies, in order to get much more oil and gas from a single hole, has opened up the perspective of accessing vast reserves of fossil energy trapped in shale rock formations. Recovery of unconventional oil and gas, however, involves injecting huge amounts of water at high pressures, mixed with sand and chemicals, to break up deep rock formations, and considerable concern has been arising on how this extraction technics might affect surface and groundwater water resources. Furthermore, there’s a growing consensus among major private companies and institutions that water is a strategic issue, as its scarcity, or difficulty to guarantee access at an acceptable cost, will affect industries and increase their business risk over the next 10 to 20 years. In this context, my research aims to determine how water scarcity/cost variability may determine, in a life-cycle perspective, the way different energy sources (with a particular emphasis on unconventional oil and gas) compete between each other
jlagarto@deea.isel.ipl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2014
Research topic/ area: Electricity markets
Thesis Title: Market power evaluation in electricity markets
Supervisors: Álvaro Martins (ISEG-UL), Jorge Sousa (ISEL-IPL), Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL)
joaomirandasantos@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
jorge.g.borges@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
jagoncalves@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Researcher at INESC Coimbra
Research topic/area: Feasibility Study of a Stationary Urban Distributed Energy Storage System
Research Summary: The proposed research will focus on providing a methodology to assess the feasibility of a distributed urban electric energy storage solution, enabling the definition of an optimum configuration of a Urban Distributed Energy Storage System, given specific energy services, technology limitations, and an existing infrastructure, namely with long idle or low charged periods. The main goal is to optimize the distribution network management, given the operational infrastructure control requirements, also in order to simultaneously maximize the use of renewable energy injected in the grid
Thesis Title: Methodology for real impact assessment of the best location of distributed electric energy storage systems
Supervisors: António Gomes Martins (FCTUC), Luís Neves (IPL)
Book chapters
Gonçalves, J., Neves, L., & Martins, A. G. (2015a). Multiobjective Methodology for Assessing the Location of Distributed Electric Energy Storage. In C. Di Chio, A. Brabazon, G. A. Di Caro, M. Ebner, M. Farooq, A. Fink, J. Grahl, G. Greenfield, P. Machado, M. O’Neill, E. Tarantino, & N. Urquhart (Eds.), “Applications of Evolutionary Computation” (Vol. 6025, pp. 227–238). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-16549-3_19
Publications
Gonçalves, J., Neves, L. P., & Martins, A. G. (2015b). Multiobjective assessment of distributed energy storage location in electricity networks. International Journal of Sustainable Energy, (July), 1–15, 2015, doi:10.1080/14786451.2015.1066787
Conference proceedings and abstracts
Gonçalves, José António Ribeiro; Martins, António Gomes; Neves, Luís. Potential Role of Stationary Urban Distributed Storage on the Management of Power Systems. In: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT: BRINGING TOGETHER ECONOMICS AND ENGINEERING (ICEE2013), 2013. Porto. International Conference on Energy & Environment: bringing together Economics and Engineering. 2013.
Gonçalves, José António Ribeiro; M. Vitorino, Romeu; Neves, Luís; Martins, António Gomes. Assessment of best location of distributed storage using improved genetic algorithms’. In: ENERGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY 2013, SUSTAINABLE CITIES: DESIGNING FOR PEOPLE AND THE PLANET, 2013. Coimbra. Energy for Sustainability 2013, Sustainable Cities: Designing for People and the Planet. 2013.
Gonçalves, José António Ribeiro; Miguel, Pedro C; Barata, Eduardo; Cruz, Luís. Eficiência Energética na Iluminação Pública. In: PORTUGAL EM CONFERÊNCIA PARA UMA ECONOMIA ENERGÉTICAMENTE EFICIENTE (PCEEE 2012), 2012. Coimbra. Portugal em Conferência para uma Economia Energéticamente Eficiente. 2012.
Ruffa, Dario; Maia, Eduardo; Gonçalves, José António Ribeiro; Coelho, Marco; Abadi, Mohsen B; Figueiredo, Nuno; Miguel, Pedro C; Miguel, Rodrigo; Martins, António M. O. G. Energy efficiency and market transformation policies: an appraisal based on case-studies. In: INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD, 2012. Ponta Delgada. Proc. of the Int. Workshop on Energy Efficiency for a More Sustainable World. 2012.
Gonçalves, José António Ribeiro; Neves, Luís; Martins, António Gomes. Multiobjective methodology for impact assessment of the best location of distributed electric energy storage. In: WORKSHOP ON ASSESSMENT METHODOLOGIES – ENERGY, MOBILITY AND OTHER REAL WORLD APPLICATIONS, 2015. Coimbra. Workshop on Assessment Methodologies – energy, mobility and other real world applications. 2015.
pds07011@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2012
Current Position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at European Commission, Joint Research Centre
Research topic/area: Evaluation of Technical, Economic and Environmental Impacts resulting from large scale integration of Microgrids, including Responsive Demand, in Electrical Grids
Thesis Title: Evaluation of Technical, Economic and Environmental Impacts Resulting From Large Scale Integration of Microgrids
Supervisors: João Abel Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel António Cerqueira da Costa Matos (FEUP)
kiti.suomalainen@dem.ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2011
Current position: Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Otago, New Zealand
Thesis Title: Wind Dynamics – Daily Patterns in Energy Systems Planning
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL), Carlos Silva (IST-UL), Stephen Connors (MIT)
Publications:
lauroribeiro@terra.com.br | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009 | Graduation year: 2015
Current position: Adjunt Faculty at Faculdade Meridional – IMED
Thesis Title: Microalgae as Feedstock for Advanced Biofuels: Sustainability and Policy Assessment
Supervisor: Patrícia Pereira da Silva (UC)
leonardo.bremerman@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
PhD Supervisor: Manuel Matos
Co- Supervisor: João Peças Lopes
PhD Thesis (2014): Impact evaluation of the large scale integration of electric vehicles in the security of suply
The discussion of the thesis Impact evaluation of the large scale integration of electric vehicles in the security of suply took placewith the following members of the Jury:
Leonardo Elizeire Bremermann’s research was supervised Vladimiro Henrique Barrosa Pinto de Miranda.
ltr@dem.ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/ area: Sustainable Energy Urban System Project (SUES)
Thesis Title (2012): A Standard Model for Urban Metabolism – Accounting Material Flows in Metropolitan Areas
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST) , Samuel Niza (IST), John Fernandez (MIT)
carvalho.leonel@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Optimization of large scale power system problems with new tools
PhD Thesis (2013): Advances on the Sequential Monte Carlo Reliability Assessment of Generation-Transmission Systems using Cross-Entropy and Population-based Methods
Leonel Carvalho’s research was supervised by Vladimiro Henrique Barrosa Pinto de Miranda (FEUP) and co-supervised by Mauro Augusto da Rosa (INESC TEC).
lu_salles@hotmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2012
PhD Supervisores: Paulo Ferrão (Técnico Lisboa) and Artur Rodrigues (Universidade do Minho)
Research topic/area
Publications:
Communications/conferences presentations:
L.Salles Barbosa, M. Tarsalewska, A. Sardinha. An equilibrium analysis of feed-in tariff remuneration: market-dependent and market independent models. Conference on Corporate Sustainability and Eco-innovations, Warsaw, Poland, Nov. 2013.
luis.de.andrade@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
PhD Supervisor: Maria Teresa Costa Pereira da Silva Ponce de Leão; PhD co-Supervisors:Helder Leite, Paulo De Oliveira
PhD Thesis: Time-Domain Impedance-based fault location for HVDC Transmission lines
Thesis Abstract:
“In the last decades, High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) systems have had extensive growth due to the great development that has occurred in AC-DC-AC conversion technology based on power electronics, and also for being strongly promoted as a great solution for the connection of renewable energy sources through long distances, both offshore and onshore. However, there are still problems in the operation and maintenance of HVDC systems that can be reviewed and updated. Such is the case of automated methods of fault location. All currently available commercial methods are based on traveling wave technologies. These methods can have good accuracy, but they also have some disadvantages, such as the need for expensive measuring equipment dedicated exclusively to this purpose, and problems for detecting high impedance faults or faults close to the line terminals. This thesis develops a method for fault location on HVDC lines based on line impedance estimation, as a proposal to complement the current methods in cases where commercial methods are not capable to give a satisfactory result. The reason to develop this method based on a different technology than traveling wave, is because it’s intended to prevent the problems that affect these type of technologies. The proposed method uses a mathematical model of the transmission line as a basis for estimating the line’s impedance. This model was specifically attained to use in this project, and it was deducted from the transmission line differential equations in the time-domain. For this deduction is not required any approximation, so it was obtained a model that brings high accuracy to the fault location method. The method’s behavior is evaluated from the technical point of view, using both actual fault records and simulated fault records. The results are compared with results obtained by traditional methods in order to verify the performance of the different methods. The proposed method aims to assist in the operation process of HVDC systems, providing a robust fault locator, with high accuracy, and low cost. This method is intended to replace the current traveling wave-based methods, or at least complement them in cases where traditional methods have not performed well.”
Publications
The discussion of the thesis Time-Domain Impedance-based fault location for HVDC Transmission lines, took place with the following members of the Jury:
luisa.pereira@uc.pt | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Science and Technology Manager (Fellowship) at University of Coimbra Institute for legal Research (Fellowship)
Research topic/ area: Renewed Portuguese Schools – From IAQ and Thermal Comfort towards Energy Efficiency Plans; Modernised Portuguese Schools – From IAQ and Thermal Comfort towards Energy Efficiency Plans (energetic consumption evaluation, CO2 measurements, air temperature and RH)
Research summary: The overall purpose of my research is to develop an energy efficiency (EE) plan for renewed schools. The Plan is to be adopted after the analysis of monitored indoor environment quality (IEQ) parameters from renewed schools (geographical and climatically distributed) and the adaptation of operation and maintenance (O&M) measures.Starting with an energy consumption assessment in the school buildings between the pre and post–intervention phases, this study, focusing on the relationships between energy performance and occupant feedback, also intends to explore whether energy use and associated CO2 emissions are correlated to occupant satisfaction and comfort. It aims to enlarge the actual EE plans based only on cost/energy control attending also to an equilibrium between IEQ evaluation and students performance/productivity.
Thesis Title: Modernised Portuguese Schools: from IAQ and Thermal Comfort towards Energy Efficiency Plans
Supervisor: Manuel Gameiro da Silva (FCTUC).
Research topic/ area: Renewed Portuguese Schools – From IAQ and Thermal Comfort towards Energy Efficiency Plans; Modernised Portuguese Schools – From IAQ and Thermal Comfort towards Energy Efficiency Plans (energetic consumption evaluation, CO2 measurements, air temperature and RH)
Research summary: The overall purpose of my research is to develop an energy efficiency (EE) plan for renewed schools. The Plan is to be adopted after the analysis of monitored indoor environment quality (IEQ) parameters from renewed schools (geographical and climatically distributed) and the adaptation of operation and maintenance (O&M) measures.Starting with an energy consumption assessment in the school buildings between the pre and post–intervention phases, this study, focusing on the relationships between energy performance and occupant feedback, also intends to explore whether energy use and associated CO2 emissions are correlated to occupant satisfaction and comfort. It aims to enlarge the actual EE plans based only on cost/energy control attending also to an equilibrium between IEQ evaluation and students performance/productivity.
Publications:
Communications and conference presentations
Competitions
2012, Green Campus GREEN CAMPUS – Desafio Eficiência Energética no Ensino Superior- Finalist Selection Project – Watt, we could save!, team Eco2green
pds07001@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research Topic Area: Transmission Expansion Planning, a multiyear approach considering uncertainties
Thesis Title: Transmission Expansion Planning, a multiyear approach considering uncertainties
Supervisors: João Tomé Saraiva (FEUP) ; Stephen Connors
eae08006@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Long-term energy management of buildings based on a vintage stock-model
carreiras_xan@hotmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
maestrela@netcabo.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research interests: Greenhouse gas emissions reduction; Emissions trading schemes
pds07005@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Economic-efficient design of residential net zero energy buildings with respect to local context
Theiss Title (2012): Economic-efficient design of residential net zero energy buildings with respect to local context
PhD Thesis is avaliable for online consultation at Univerisidade do Porto.
Supervisors: Vítor Leal (FEUP), Matheos Santamouris (Universidade de Atenas), Leon Glicksman (MIT)
Publications:
A methodology for economic efficient design of Net Zero Energy Buildings, M.Kapsalaki, V.Leal, M.Santamouris (2012) , Energy and Buildings, Volume 55, December 2012,p.765-778;
Recent Progress on Net Zero Energy Buildings, M.Kapsalaki & V.Leal, Advances in Building Energy Research, Volume 5, Issue 1 (2011).
pds10001@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2015
Current position: Architect, teacher and researcher at NGO – M_EIA – Instituto Universitário de Arte, Tecnologia e Cultura, Supervisor – Leão Lopes
Research topic/area: Urban Sustainability, Morphology and Energy in Architecture
Research Summary: Cities have a specific role on the energy management regarding its impact on the global environment. Buildings are seen as part of the energy problem but can also be part of the solution by responding to the sustainability challenge through Architecture and Construction. The expected outcome of this thesis is a methodology based on an order of merit encompassing the parameters that influence the thermal behavior assuming both comfortable and healthy residential buildings for Portugal. A friendly roadmap for architects not versed in Physics will allow for a major step towards low-energy buildings just at the earlier architectural design stages.
Thesis Title: Critical early inputs towards thermal performance in Architectural Design of Residential Buildings in Temperate Climates – the Portuguese case
Supervisors: Eduardo Fernandes and Manuel Guedes.
mlopes@esac.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Current position: Researcher at INESC Coimbra
Research topic/area: Modelling Energy Behaviors in Buildings Towards Energy Efficiency
Research Summary: Energy behaviours represent a significant untapped potential for end-use energy efficiency in buildings and are deemed to play an increasingly relevant role during the ongoing transformation of electric grids into smart(er) grids. This PhD research aims to develop a behavioral modelling approach that will enable to quantify behavioral energy savings and foresee behavioral changes when transitioning to smart(er) grids. This research is expected to be most valuable for energy policy making and of utmost interest for energy efficiency stakeholders such as governments, regulators, utilities, or energy service companies.
Thesis Title: Energy behaviours as promoters of energy efficiency: An integrative modelling approach
Supervisors: Carlos Henggeler Antunes (FCTUC), Nelson Martins (Universidade Aveiro)
Publications:
M. Lopes, C. Henggeler Antunes, N. Martins. Energy behaviours as promoters of energy efficiency: a 21st century review, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews 16, 4095-4104, 2012
marta.maria@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Corporate Reporting Towards Sustainability – Development and application of an assessment method on the search of comprehensive and universal core for sustainability reporting.
Thesis Title (2013) : On Corporate Sustainability Reporting – Case of Electric Utilities.
Corporate Reporting Towards Sustainability – Development and Application of an Assessment Method on the Search of Comprehensive and Universal Core for Sustainability Reporting
Marta Mota’s research was supervised by Eduardo Guimarães Oliveira Fernandesa (FEUP) and co-supervised by Maria Isabel Rebelo Teixeira Soares (FEP).
mgr@eneop.pt | IST/ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
mmonit@gmail.com | IST/ISEG | SES PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Research Summary: This thesis studies global material extraction, trade and consumption patterns at country level using regression and visualization techniques. The conducted analyses are rooted in material flow analysis (MFA) and utilize non-proprietary global data on: domestic extraction (DE) and international trade, both 1980-2010, and material footprint (MF), 1990-2008. Log-linear regression methods are used to determine the key drivers of domestic material consumption (DMC). Evolution of equitability and patterns of domestic extraction (DE) is studied using Lorenz curves. The impact of GDP/cap on DMC/cap (total) and MF/cap constituents is studied with respect to time and GDP/cap range using elasticies. Finally, the presented research is placed in a larger context of proposed data- and visualization-enabled opportunities. An applied example with rice flows is published at: ricestudyvis.weebly.com
Thesis Title: Patterns and determinants of material consumption of economies
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL), André Pina (IST-UL)
miguel-a-covas@telecom.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Sustainable Energy Urban System Project (SUES) – Building Technology – Energy Efficiency In Buildings with Data Centers
PhD Supervisor: Carlos Santos Silva ; PhD Co-supervisor Luís Dias.
PhD Thesis (2013): Multi-criteria decision analysis for the development of sustainable data centers
Thesis Abstract: Data Centers (DCs) are complex organizational and technical infrastructures that contribute to the performance and reliability of modern information and communication systems. The high installation and operations costs of DCs and the stringent requirements regarding reliability and safety require a close attention to the location of this type of facility. Only if all these aspects are taken into account, it is possible to guarantee the design, construction and operation of a DC that is environmentally as friendly as possible, with the lowest cost possible and the highest social and economic benefits, i.e. a Sustainable DC. This thesis proposes a methodology to analyze and support the decision process for identifying regions for the development of a Sustainable DC, by using Geographic Information Systems and Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), taking into account technical, social, economic and environmental dimensions. The evaluation was formulated as a fourfold multi-criteria sorting problem and was analyzed using the outranking MCDA method ELECTRE TRI. Using this method this thesis also introduces a framework to assess the environmental sustainability performance of a DC. Other contributions in this thesis are the proposal of a new metric to evaluate the DC efficiency considering the climate region of the DC location and a characterization of the current landscape of DCs in Portugal. Key-words: Data Center; Sustainability; Site Selection; Multi Criteria Decision Analysis; ELECTRE TRI; Geographic Information Systems; Energy Efficiency; Information and Communication Technologies; Metrics; Criteria
Miguel Covas successfully discussed his thesis on December, 12th, 2013 with the following members of the jury:
Publications:
pds10003@fe.up.pt, mdheleno@inescporto.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Postdoctoral Fellow at Berkeley Lab
Thesis Title: Provision of Advanced Ancillary Services through Demand Side Integration
Thesis Abstract: In the context of Smart Grids, the intermittence of renewable sources requires new ancillary services. This thesis aims at developing a technical framework on the provision of electricity reserve services through Demand Response (DR) strategies. Methods to quantify the potential of the domestic appliances to provide upward and downward reserve to the system are developed and the market and regulation aspects of DR are discussed.In the context of Smart Grids, the intermittence of renewable sources requires new ancillary services. This thesis aims at developing a technical framework on the provision of electricity reserve services through Demand Response (DR) strategies. Methods to quantify the potential of the domestic appliances to provide upward and downward reserve to the system are developed and the market and regulation aspects of DR are discussed.
Supervisors: Manuel Matos (FEUP), João Peças Lopes (FEUP)
pds07003@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2013
Current position: Head of Asset Management at REN & Visiting Professor at IST
Research topic/area: Strategies for energy storage and sustainable mobility in an isolated power system
Thesis Title: Energy Planning with Electricity Storage and Sustainable Mobility: The Case of Isolated Systems
Supervisors: João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Manuel Matos (FEUP)
nathancoenenlee@gmail.com | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Research Summary:Energy is a crucial input to almost all economic activities, in addition to supporting human development efforts. The energy planning (EP) activity is a principal step in the development of an energy strategy. EP objectives which are specific to the local context may aid in ensuring the implementability and sustainability of energy plans and policies. The purpose of this research was to identify EP objectives specific to the local context of developing countries, together with their respective operational attributes, and to structure these within a transparent multi-objective decision making methodology at the national level. A national energy system model was constructed to support the EP methodology. The Economic Community of Western African States, and Ghana specifically, served as a representative area of study. The results may support successful energy strategy formulation.
Thesis Title: Decision support methodology for national energy planning in developing countries: An implementation focused approach
Supervisors: Vítor Leal (FEUP), Luís Dias (FEUC)
nelsonsilvabrito@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Retrofitting opportunities for buildings in historical centers: balancing energy efficiency, sustainability and comfort
nelson.soares@dem.uc.pt | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Research summary: My research is focused on the study of renewable energy based applications of PCMs in construction solutions towards the improvement of buildings’ energy efficiency. His research interests include sustainability, light steel framing, thermal behavior and energy efficiency of buildings, passive thermal energy storage systems, numerical modeling of heat transfer with phase change and dynamic simulation of energy in buildings. The problems to be studied lie in the mainstream area of the passive thermal heat storage in buildings considering latent heat loads from PCMs phase change processes. It is believed that the proposed work will give new and relevant contributions to the present knowledge in this field.
Thesis Title: Passive latent heat thermal energy storage systems with phase change materials for the improvement of lightweight buildings’ energy efficiency
Supervisors: José Costa (FCTUC), Adélio Gaspar (FCTUC), Paulo Santos (FCTUC)
Selected publications:
nilton_janicas@hotmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
nuno.figueiredo@portugen.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2017
Current Position: Operations Manager at Elecgas SA
Thesis Title: Evaluation Of Key Determinants Of Electricity Market Integration In A Context Of High Penetration Of Renewable: The European Internal Electricity Market
Supervisor: Patrícia Pereira da Silva (FEUC)
nuno.climaco@yahoo.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Sustainable Energy Urban System (SUES) – Sustainable Built Environment/Integrated Building Design – Energy-Efficient Retrofit of Residential Buildings in Lisbon
Thesis Title (2012): Energy-Efficient retrofit of residential buildings – Lisbon 1960’s-70’s case-study
Supervisors: Maria Luísa Caldas (Fac. Architecture, UTL), Manuel de Arriaga Correia Guedes (IST), Leon Glicksman (MIT)
nuno.rolo@hotmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems | SES PhD
Research topic/area: Sustainable Energy Urban System (SUES)
FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2012
PhD Supervisor: Guilherme Carrilho da Graça (SESUL, FCUL).
Research topic/area: sustainable built environment, energy and buildings, net zero and low energy analysis, energy efficiency
Publications:
Communications/conference presentations:
nmg_santos@yahoo.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
onesimo.silva@ist.utl.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
patricia.baptista@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2011
Thesis Title: Evaluation of the impact of new vehicle and fuel technologies in the Portuguese road transportation sector
Thesis abstract:
The road transportation sector faces increasing energy, emissions and congestion challenges. This research work performed an integrated analysis on the energy and environmental impacts of different choices for the road transportation sector, in order to assess the possible evolution pathways for the future.
A methodology was developed in order to estimate yearly evolution of the road transportation sector and the impacts in terms of energy consumption and local and global emissions. Additionally, decision support scooping maps were also developed in order to understand the minimum and maximum energy and emissions bounds for the road transportation and to identify the main drivers influencing this sector.
In a full life-cycle approach, the BAU presented a 30% increase in energy consumption and 18% increase in CO2 emissions in 2050 compared to the 1990 value. The minimum limit was obtained considering a low population and fleet profiles, with mobility reductions happening, in an hydrogen or electricity powered vision and a high shift to alternative vehicle technologies and allowed a 52% reduction in 2050 compared to the BAU for energy consumption and 64% for CO2 emissions. If an option of high population, high vehicle density fleet profile, without mobility reduction, in a vision that does not shifts to alternative vehicle technologies was considered a maximum 32% increase in 2050 compared to the BAU both for energy and CO2 was observed.
Supervisors: Tiago Farias (IST), Carlos Silva (IST), John Heywood (MIT)
Research topic/ area: Green Islands Project
pedro.cabral.vicente@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems Phd | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Thesis Title: Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Nonlinear Dynamics of Arrays of Floating Point – Absorbers Wave Energy Converters
Supervisors: António Falcão (IST-UL), Luis Gato (IST-UL)
pcmiguel@gmail.com | FCUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Research topic/area: Simulation of Large Scale Application of Residential Energy Management Systems in the Electricity Grid
Research Summary: The outcome of this research consists in the development of a methodology and a tool to evaluate the energy and power resources that can be made available by the large deployment of a Residential Energy Management System (REMS) based on the Energy Box.
The Energy Box was proposed, by Livengood and Larson in the Service Science Journal in 2009, as a 24/7 background processor operating on a local computer, managing a dwelling electrical energy usage taking into consideration the homeowners preferences and desired comfort level.
This research is inserted in the development of a PhD Thesis at the University of Coimbra and also in the collaborative scope of the Energy Box Group comprising researchers of the Institute for Systems Engineering and Computers at Coimbra, the Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Vocational and Social Development and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Research Interest: The Energy Box concept will be studied, as an instrument to assess the attractiveness to the distribution system operator, among other agents, to promote the installation or use of REMS.
The study will evolve to provide simulation scenarios in order to determine the Energy Box value under different conditions of, e.g., penetration, resource use, load controllability, type of consumers, season of the year and electricity price.
Thesis Title: Methodology to simulate the impact of a large deployment of a residential energy management system in the electricity grid
Supervisors: Professor António Gomes Martins (FCTUC); Professor Luís Miguel Pires Neves (IPLeiria)
Publications:
Miguel, Pedro; Neves, Luís; Martins, A. G. 2014. “Methodology to simulate the impact of a large deployment of a residential energy management system in the electricity grid”, Electric Power Systems Research 116, EPSR116: 399 – 407;doi: 0.1016/j.epsr.2014.07.012
Communications and conference presentations:
Miguel, Pedro C; Neves, Luís M. P; Martins, António M. O. G; Sousa, João M. C.. 2013. “Review of load research studies applied to the Portuguese household sector”, Trabalho apresentado em 7th International Conference on Energy Efficiency in Domestic Appliances and Lighting (EEDAL2013), In 7b – Demand Response, Coimbra; doi: 10.2790/2313 .
pfazenda@cedet.isel.ipl.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009 | Graduation year: 2016
Thesis Title: Energy Efficiency Monitoring and Management to Promote Sustainable Behaviors
Thesis Abstract: Smart buildings are expected to extend beyond just simple automation to include advanced automatic management systems capable of interacting in real-time. This research focuses on of enhancing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Considering that tenants tend to forget to adjust the operation of this system appropriately and that, in many spaces, the conditioning requirements are not adjusted to the context of those spaces, the result is unnecessary energy waste. An optimal supervisory control for such a system should consider the cost of energy, activity schedules, occupancy patterns, the individual preference of each user, and any other information that might contribute to increase performance. The result will be an adaptive controller that learns the statistical regularities of the environment and operates to meet comfort requirements, while optimizing energy costs.Smart buildings are expected to extend beyond just simple automation to include advanced automatic management systems capable of interacting in real-time. This research focuses on of enhancing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. Considering that tenants tend to forget to adjust the operation of this system appropriately and that, in many spaces, the conditioning requirements are not adjusted to the context of those spaces, the result is unnecessary energy waste. An optimal supervisory control for such a system should consider the cost of energy, activity schedules, occupancy patterns, the individual preference of each user, and any other information that might contribute to increase performance. The result will be an adaptive controller that learns the statistical regularities of the environment and operates to meet comfort requirements, while optimizing energy costs.
Supervisors: Pedro Urbano de Almeida Lima (IST-UL), Una-May O’Reilly (MIT)
pfonte@deea.isel.ipl.pt | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007| Graduation year: 2015
Current position: Auxiliar professor at Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa, Portugal
Research topic/area: Electric grids, Wind power forecast, Hydrogen storage
Thesis Title: Advanced forecast and scheduling of power systems with highly variable sources
Links: www.cipromec.isel.ipl.pt | www.distres.eu
pgoncalves.pt@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Energy Systems Analysis for High Performance Buildings
Pedro Gonçalves’ research was supervised by Manuel Carlos Gameiro da Silva & Adélio Manuel Rodrigues Gaspar (UCoimbra).
Thesis Title (2013): Energy and exergy assessments for an enhanced use of energy in buildings
Thesis abstract: Exergy analysis has been found to be a useful method for improving the conversion efficiency of energy resources, since it helps to identify locations, types and true magnitudes of wastes and losses. It has also been applied for other purposes, such as distinguishing high- from low-quality energy sources or defining the engineering technological limits in designing more energy-efficient systems. In this doctoral thesis, the exergy analysis is widely applied in order to highlight and demonstrate it as a significant method of performing energy assessments of buildings and related energy supply systems. It aims to make the concept more familiar and accessible for building professionals and to encourage its wider use in engineering practice. This thesis is divided into five main cases studies, which have different scopes and follow slightly different approaches but all with the same common objective. Case study I aims to show the importance of exergy analysis in the energy performance assessment of eight space heating building options evaluated under different outdoor environmental conditions. This study is concerned with the so-called “reference state”, which in this study is calculated using the average outdoor temperature for a given period of analysis. Primary energy and related exergy ratios are assessed and compared. Higher primary exergy ratios are obtained for low outdoor temperatures, while the primary energy ratios are assumed as constant for the same scenarios. The outcomes of this study demonstrate the significance of exergy analysis in comparison with energy analysis when different reference states are compared. Case study II and Case study III present two energy and exergy assessment studies applied to a hotel and a student accommodation building, respectively. Case study II compares the energy and exergy performance of the main end uses of a hotel building located in Coimbra in central Portugal, using data derived from an energy audit. The results show that the most energy-efficient hotel end use does not necessarily correspond to the most exergy-efficient one. A diagram including information related to primary energy demand and energy and exergy efficiencies is proposed, revealing to be a very useful tool for including in future legislation on energy performance of buildings. Case study III uses data collected from energy utilities bills to estimate the energy and exergy performance associated to each building end use. Furthermore, the building end uses are ranked by inefficiencies or exergy destruction levels, using the concept of “Exergy Destruction Ratio”. Additionally, a set of energy supply options are proposed and assessed as primary energy demand and exergy efficiency, showing it as a possible benchmarking method for future legislative frameworks regarding the energy performance assessment of buildings. Case study IV proposes a set of complementary indicators for comparing cogeneration and separate heat and electricity production systems. It aims to identify the advantages of exergy analysis relative to energy analysis, giving particular examples where these advantages are significant. The results demonstrate that exergy analysis can reveal meaningful information that might not be accessible using a conventional energy analysis approach, which is particularly evident when cogeneration and separated systems provide heat at very different temperatures. Case study V follows the exergy analysis method to evaluate the energy and exergy performance of a desiccant cooling system, aiming to assess and locate irreversibilities sources. The results reveal that natural gas boiler is the most inefficient component of the plant in question, followed by the chiller and heating coil. A set of alternative heating supply options for desiccant wheel regeneration is proposed, showing that, while some renewables may effectively reduce the primary energy demand of the plant, although this may not correspond to the optimum level of exergy efficiency. The thermal and chemical exergy components of moist air are also evaluated, as well as, the influence of outdoor environmental conditions on the energy/exergy performance of the plant. This research provides knowledge that is essential for the future development of complementary energy- and exergy-based indicators, helping to improve the current methodologies on performance assessments of buildings, cogeneration and desiccant cooling systems. The significance of exergy analysis is demonstrated for different types of buildings, which may be located in different climates (reference states) and be supplied by different types of energy sources.
Full Thesis is available for download at Universty of Coimbra.
pedroneto@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD
pmnunes@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2015
Current Position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Universidade de Lisboa
Thesis Title: Enabling solar electricity with electric vehicles in future energy systems
Supervisors: João Peças Lopes (FEUP), Ignacio Pérez-Arríaga (UPComillas)
Supervisors: Miguel Brito (FCUL)
pedro.almeida@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Impact of Vehicle to Grid in the Power System Dynamic Behaviour
Thesis Title (2012) : Impact of Vehicle to Grid in the Power System Dynamic Behaviour
Supervisors: João Peças Lopes (FEUP) , James Kirtley (MIT)
pds07008@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Selection of glazing and shading devices for office buildings: criteria and integrated optimization
Thesis Title (2012): Influence of control patterns for lighting and shading systems on the predicted energy performance of buildings
Supervisors: Vitor Manuel Silva Leal (FEUP) and Co-supervised by Marilyne Anderson (MIT)
pedro.cabral.vicente@gmail.com | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009>
raquelsegurado@hotmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2015
Research topic/area: Green Islands Project – Energy planning, sustainable development, renewable energies
Thesis title: Integrated Planning of Energy and Water supply in Islands
Supervisors: Maria da Graça Silva Carvalho and Mário Gonçalves da Costa both from Instituto Superior Tecnico, University of Lisbon
Communications/Conference presentations:
pds08003@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/area: Design of pathways for sustainable road transportation accounting for uncertainty
Thesis discussion A combined multi-criteria and system dynamics methodology for mid-term planning of light duty vehicle fleets on March, 20th, 2013.
ric_abrantes@hotmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
ricardobvicente@ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering Year 2012
Research topic/ area: Atmospheric water vapour processing (AWVP) technologies and their contribution to the mitigation of the hydrological risk.
pds09004@fe.up.pt | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
PhD Thesis (2013): Methodologies for the Participation of an Electric Vehicles’ Aggregator in the Electricity Markets
Ricardo Bessa’s research was supervised by Manuel Matos (FEUP).
ritapinheirogarcia@gmail.com | FCTUC | SES PhD | Entering year: 2010 | Graduation year: 2016
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Coimbra
Research Summary: Electric vehicles (EVs) have been promoted as an alternative to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil fuel dependence, and urban pollution caused by the transportation sector; however, a large scale adoption of EVs faces significant challenges. This research aims to develop a dynamic fleet-based life-cycle framework to assess the effects on environmental impacts of the introduction of EVs in a fleet, focusing on GHG emissions. The framework combines fleet analysis and dynamic life-cycle modelling of vehicles to investigate the displacement of conventional vehicles over time, and consequential life-cycle assessment of electricity to assess the changes induced in the electricity system due to EV charging. The analysis focuses on the case of introducing battery electric vehicles in the Portuguese light-duty fleet.
Thesis Title: Dynamic fleet-based life-cycle assessment: addressing environmental consequences of the introduction of electric vehicles in Portugal
Supervisor: Fausto Freire (FCTUC)
rhalmeida@fc.ul.pt | rita.hogan@ies-def.upm.es | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2015
PhD Supervisors: Miguel Centeno Brito (Instituto Dom Luiz, Faculdadede Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa) and Luis Narvarte (Instituto de Energia Solar, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid)
Thesis Title: Large power hybrid PV pumping for irrigation
Research summary: Agricultural irrigation is a highly consuming activity of electricity and water. Accordingly, the world of irrigation requires innovative solutions, less water and energy dependent, to face up this problem. This work aims to show the technical and economical viability of efficient and variable-free large scale PV pumping systems for irrigation allowing up to 100% renewable energy; to reduce the water consumption, using automatisms, ICT and Precision-Agriculture-based solutions; and to market uptake and market replication of a new green product consisting of PV pumping systems consuming up to 100% renewable electricity and 30% less water. To show the long-term viability of the innovation, real scale irrigation systems will be studied: a hybrid PV-diesel motor pumps for constant pressure irrigation (in Portugal) and a hybrid PV-grid connected motor pumps (in Morocco).
Publications:
R. H. Almeida, M. C. Brito. A review of technical options for solar charging stations in Asia and Africa. AIMS Energy, 2015, 3(3): 428-449. DOI: 10.3934/energy.2015.3.428
Communications/ conference presentations:
R. H. Almeida, I. B. Carrêlo, J. Maia Alves, Intelligent stand alone solar street light. 4th Symposium on Small PV Applications, 9-10 June 2015, Munich, Germany
Conference posters:
Rita Hogan Almeida, Miguel Centeno Brito, Solar energy kiosks. 2015 MIT Portugal Annual Conference – Light: Designed by Nature, Transformed by Science, 19 June 2015, Lisbon, Portugal, and 1st Joint Conference and Exhibition of the International Partnerships – Fostering Science and Innovation Ecosystems, Portugal-USA Partnerships, 28-29 May 2015, Lisbon, Portugal
rita.paleta@ist.utl.pt | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Learning Modules and MOOC operations
Research topic/area: Sustainable energy development and rural electrification
Research Summary: Rita’s PhD thesis is focused on rural electrification methodologies, more specifically, from the demand point of view. I expect to achieve not only an efficient electrification methodology by defining sustainable pathways to accomplish it, but also to work on its business model, since I am working directly with an energy services company in their remote electrification projects’ market approach. My goal is to develop a modeling tool able to estimate current and future energy demand of developing countries’ isolated communities, based on development indicators. This tool will be important for electrification projects as it helps to customize solutions for each location depending on the development status and energy resources availability. The aim is to develop a business activity of this area and this tool will give a competitive advantage, when compared to the currently available solutions.
Thesis Title: Remote Autonomous Energy Systems Design for Developing Countries
Supervisors: Carlos Augusto Santos Silva (IST-UL), André Pina (IST-UL)
Publications:
Rita Paleta, André Pina, Carlos A. Silva, Remote Autonomous Energy Systems Project: Towards sustainability in developing countries, Energy, 10.1016/j.energy.2012.06.004.
R. Paleta, C.A. Silva. RAES Project: Towards sustainability in developing countries, 6th Dubrovnik Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, Croatia, 2011
R. Paleta, C.A. Silva. RAES Project: Towards sustainability in developing countries, accepted in World Engineers’ Convention 2011
bernardo.rui@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Green Islands Project
rgomes@hidro1.ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
Research topic/area: Development of an Offshore Wave Energy Conversion System
Thesis Title (2013): Wave Energy Extraction from oscillating Systems: Numerical modelling and Experimental Testing
Rui Gomes has successfully discussed his thesis with the following members of the Jury:
Rui Gomes’ research was supervised by Luís Gato and co-supervised by António Oliveira Falcão.
sandrinapereira@ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007 | Graduation year: 2016
Supervisors: Maria da Graça Carvalho and Mário Costa.
Thesis Title: Poplar Short Rotation Coppice For Bioenergy: From Biomass Characterization to Establishment
saramagalha@gmail.com | FEUP | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2011 | Graduation year: 2016
Current Position: Doctoral Researcher/engineer | Data Scientist Sustainable Energy Systems at MIT Portugal Program
Thesis Title: Development of a methodology for large-scale assessment of fuel poverty and heating gap
Supervisor: Vítor Leal (FEUP)
sequeiragomes@hotmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2007
smac81@gmail.com | IST/ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008 | Graduation year: 2015
Current Position: Principal Investigator at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), Center for Complex Engineering Systems (CCES), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Research topic/ area: Green Islands Project
Thesis Title: Concentrating Solar Power + Desalination Plants (CSP+D): Models and Performance Analysis
Supervisors: Paulo Ferrão (IST-UL), Christos Ioakimidis (Deustos Institute of Technology)
shiva.saadatian@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2013
Publications:
sophiezhadeev@hotmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
tduarte@hidro1.ist.utl.pt | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010
Research topic/area: Floating Wind Turbine Modeling and Assessment
Research Summary: The current worldwide energy consumption growth requires that new sources of energy become readily available. Floating platforms for the installation of offshore wind turbines applications will enable to explore a larger range of depths and locations. The power potential of this technology is significant, as it can be installed virtually anywhere in the ocean. The wind resource is always more reliable and higher on offshore locations. However, the technology is stills the demonstration phase, relying on the knowledge from offshore oil and gas platforms and onshore wind energy. The outcome of this work should be an integrated analysis tool for the different floating offshore wind turbine concepts, with special focus on the WindFloat prototype. These kind of tools are required in order to optimize the design and operation of this future energy system.
pds09005@fe.up.pt | FEUP Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
vanessamtavares@gmail.com | FCTUC | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
vascogranadeiro@gmail.com | IST | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2008
Research topic/ area: Sustainable Energy Urban System Project (SUES)
PhD Thesis (2013): Early design and optimization of the building envelope: integrating architectural generative design systems and energy performance calculation
Vasco Granadeiro’s research was supervised by José Manuel Pinto Duarte (UTL) and co-supervised by João Pedro Ramoa Ribeiro Correia (IST) and Vitor Manuel Silva Leal (FEUP).
me@vascoportugal.com | IST/ ISEG | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2009
zshrzmgv@gmail.com | FCUL | Sustainable Energy Systems PhD | Entering year: 2010| Graduation year: 2015
Current position: Postdoctoral Researcher at Institute of Economic Research UNAM
Thesis Title: Three-level energy decoupling
Supervisors: Tiago Morais Delgado Domingos (IST) and João Manuel de Almeida Serra (FCUL)
Research topic/area: Modeling of economic development of renewable energy projects in small scale economies
Research Summary:The purpose of this research is to build models to determine the real / potential effect on economic development of renewable energy for development projects, based on growth theory and development economics. In order to accomplish so, effects of energy consumption on social and environmental dimensions of economic development –along with its productive dimension– should be evaluated, as well as synergies between them. The outcome models may help increase the predictability of project results. So these results support decisions on energy policy and help justify investment in these projects before government and international development organizations