Sustainable Energy Autarky
Università di Pisa
Complete self-sufficiency of Energy Communities
Residential, commercial, and industrial buildings
Use only renewable energy produced on site
Adapt the demands with the available resources
AUTENS
The AUTENS (Sustainable Energy Autarky) project aims to identify possible solutions for the complete self-sufficiency of Energy Communities. To this end, the project investigates innovative methods to optimize the synergy of electrical and thermal systems, powered only by renewable sources produced locally, also through the integration of ICT tools and artificial intelligence. The goal is to examine situations in which it is not possible, or not sustainable, to use the traditional energy grid and, therefore, an Energy Community must use only renewable energy produced on site (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, or biomass energy).
ENERGY PARADIGM
In the current energy paradigm, resources are adapted according to user requests. Instead, in the perspective of an increasing utilization of sustainable energy, it will be necessary to aggregate the consumption of groups of different buildings (e.g., residential, commercial, and industrial buildings), forming the so-called Energy Communities, and adapt the corresponding energy demands with the available resources, in terms of both overall consumption and hourly distribution.
THE NEW PARADIGM
This new paradigm requires a radical change in the current social habits and lifestyles, both in terms of citizens’ consumption and productive activities. Therefore, an integrated approach is necessary that simultaneously tackles technological, economic, and social aspects. For this reason, the project includes different expertise and takes an interdisciplinary approach. Specifically, it combines electrical, electronic, thermal, and chemical issues related to energy production with data analysis and artificial intelligence techniques, as well as with economic and management aspects. Furthermore, it also considers social and regulatory issues.
