Silvio Viglia

Multi-method and Multi-scale Analysis of Energy and Resource Conversion and Use

Optimizing the performance of a given process requires that many different aspects are taken into account. Some of them, mostly of technical nature, relate to the local scale at which the process occurs. Other technological, economic and environmental aspects are likely to affect the dynamics of the larger space and time scales in which the process is embedded. These spatial and time scale effects require that a careful evaluation of the relation between the process and its ‘surroundings’ is performed, so that hidden consequences and possible sources of inefficiency and impact are clearly identified. In this work the authors summarise a number of studies in which they applied a multi-method and multi-scale approach in order to generate a comprehensive picture of the investigated systems/processes. The benefits of such an integrated investigation approach are discussed.

Assessing the Environmental Performance and Sustainability of National Agricultural Systems

Agricultural systems are a crucial interface between human societies and nature, in that they “amplify” the human-controlled investments by concentrating natural energies of sun, rain, and nutrients and make them converge to food production. Even if gross economic value, labor and energy expenditures associated to agriculture are unlikely to ever represent a large fraction of the total performance of a national developed economy, yet the role of such a sector goes much beyond the actual food production and calls for higher attention by concerned policy makers. The evaluation of the dynamics and performance of agricultural systems must be carefully investigated from different sustainability points of view (energy, material, economic, environmental, social) to point out how the system and its main driving forces are evolving over time and how can they support a national economy. In this study we compare the agricultural systems of Scotland and Italy over time, by means of an integrated analysis model, SUMMA (SUstainability Multimethod Multiscale Assessment) capable to take into account different dimensions of the investigated systems. The final goal is to understand what are the steps of the investigated processes that are characterized by the lowest performances as well as how the system can be made more robust and resilient in spite of the existing problems (among which increasing energy and resource prices, decreasing land quality, and decreasing marginal productivity).

Editorial: Indicators of Energy Use in Urban Systems

From 1998 onwards the Biennial International Workshop “Advances in Energy Studies” (BIWAES) has gathered a community of scientists, industry and business energy experts, administrators and policy-makers, social and environmental stakeholders, converging in different locations of the world to present and discuss advances, innovations and visions in energy and energy-related environmental and socioeconomic issues and models. Renowned energy experts and ecologists have discussed the importance of energy in our society and ecosystems and the ways to better analyze and model their complex relationships. This interdisciplinary effort stems from the awareness that scientific and technological achievements, economic processes, art and creativity, policy-making and governance, information networks, even religions and worldwide social movements, may all contribute to different extents to appropriate resource and environmental management and fruition, and promote access to development means, better quality of life and environmental protection. This series of Advances in Energy Studies Workshops aims at sharpening scientific focus and building a critical level of collaborative networking among scientists that deal with energy issues. The work toward this goal has been gaining momentum in recent years, as societal attention once again is shifting toward policy debates concerning the sustainable use of energy and resources and their relationship to the economies of the world.