ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT, cilt.347, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
The world has reached 1.24 degrees C of global warming above pre-industrial levels when averaged over the last decade, necessitating time-saving options for the mitigation of climate change. Within a long-term scientific pursuit for integrating solutions, the 19th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems was organised in Rome, Italy, in 2024 alongside the regional 4th Latin American and 2nd Asia Pacific Conferences in Chile and Australia, respectively. The thematic coverage of this review-style editorial represents the key findings of the 22 original articles in this special issue, synthesized into six themes. Demand flexibility within decarbonisation processes includes end-use electrification scenarios in renewable energy communities, probabilistic load coordination, and optimising district heating and/or cooling systems. Securing cross-sectoral benefits with renewable energy extends to locating data centres based on community infrastructure needs for clean energy access and clean drinking water, better interconnector capacity, solutions for maritime transport, and tackling environmental pollution and electronic waste. Advances in green hydrogen supply and value chains span a co-simulation framework with solar energy and repurposing for green hydrogen stations, among others. For improving energy storage and waste heat utilisation, new battery energy storage systems, an energy targeting approach linking industry and buildings, and the utilisation of waste heat from water electrolysis are explored. Technological advances and enhanced heat transfer are then supported by findings for parabolic trough solar collectors with nanofluids, building thermal energy load prediction, and optimising heat exchanger design. These advances take place alongside those for marine energy by optimising large-scale, multi-gigawatt offshore wind farms, also considering aspects of public acceptance and options for energy system restructuring. The integrated solutions that are represented within these advances and their broader synthesis provide ample opportunities for mitigating climate change, providing benefits for improving livelihoods, and securing a safer climate future on this shared planet.