The goal of decarbonization has driven the adoption of several intervention strategies across Europe, including the promotion of Renewable Energy Communities (RECs). This study analyses an electric REC in Italy to explore the performance of different potential energy mixes combining a biogas-based cogeneration (CHP) system and photovoltaic (PV) plants. The analysis is based on a real REC composed of 53 members (mainly companies) with a Self-Sufficiency Rate (SSR) of 92% and a Self-Consumption Rate (SCR) of 60%. Adding 550 residential consumers (apartments) to the REC, the total production matches total consumption, and both SSR and SCR converge to 84%. Compared to RECs that rely solely on PV systems, this case study shows that biogas integration leads to an increase of around 40 percentage points in both SSR and SCR—equivalent to an average gain of 0.4 to 0.6 percentage points for each percentage point increase in the CHP share of the CHP-PV production mix. The analysis quantifies how SSR and SCR vary not only with different biogas/PV production ratios but, more importantly, with variations in the total annual production-to-consumption ratio of the RECs. These results can guide the design of RECs tailored to the specific characteristics of local contexts.

Mobile network data represent one of the most powerful emerging sources for large-scale mobility analysis. This paper proposes a complete data-driven pipeline to understand, detect, and predict population movement patterns within a region using anonymized origin–destination data provided by mobile phone operators. The dataset, covering 60 consecutive days in 2019, reports millions of daily flows between census areas together with demographic information. We conduct extensive exploratory analysis, develop a Z-score anomaly detection method capable of capturing event-driven disruptions, and design a regression model achieving a regional-scale MAPE around 10% in inbound-flow forecasting. Finally, we develop a decision-support application for a tourist municipality in the region enabling local authorities to gain insights into movement flows and make informed decisions for planning, management, and response to mobility-related events.