The main goal of this work is the evaluation of the energy saving achievable in railway drive when using the coasting technique extensively, with reference to a practical case of the Italian railway network taken as an example. This technique consists in exploiting the kinetic energy accumulated by the running train whenever possible. To implement a driving style on purpose, the only driver contribution is not enough; indeed, it is necessary to provide an embedded automatic calculation control system. In the paper, an algorithm has been developed to evaluate the energy absorption of railway locomotives during the normal service and validated on a real railway line. The proposed hardware and software system could be implemented aboard the train, allowing motion data processing in real-time. Speed, time intervals and power absorption for a given path are calculated; then, the best coasting parameters are estimated to maximize the energy savings. In particular, the case study presented in the paper showed that the fast-run strategy, always adopted by the railway company to recover an unexpected delay, can lead to a negligible time recovery with respect to the coasting strategy, while determining a significantly larger energy consumption.

An application of blockchain technology to manage electricity flows in a Microgrid (MG) is studied. The grid is considered for civil use, equipped with generation and storage systems, and interfaced with the national grid. It is composed of energy nodes such as user, generator, accumulator, and customs officer node, each characterized by its own time profile, in a limited time interval, of energy flow (consumption, generation, charge/discharge, purchase/sold). The proposed management strategy is based on the principle of free trade managed through blockchain. A simulation tool is developed to evaluate the electricity flows for different scenarios. The blockchain of energy transactions is generated by means of a dedicated software and having as reference a set of ethical/economical rules. It is demonstrated that it is possible to design energy management and exchange systems that allow in an economic way, within the delicate balance between energy availability, technology, market, safety, freedom and needs of individual users, to optimize the exchange of resources and to decrease waste. This blockchain exchange strategy can be implemented without building new plants and avoiding expensive and complex systems, by installing only bidirectional meters equipped with telecommunication, in addition to a common computer management system. The aim of this work is to demonstrate importance and technical feasibility of enforcing rules on the correct use of energy. The peer-to-peer operating mode is different from the technique currently in force in conventional energy systems, in which always a control body (energy, economic, financial) supervises and manages any transaction between users.

In this article, experimental technical results of an energy-saving project are shown. The innovation consists of controlling lighting flux for industrial shed lamps. The project replaces the traditional electromagnetic power supply with a new electronic one in each lighting body. Moreover, a control box is installed that can communicate with lamp supplies by conveyed waves on the existing electric power network. The timely flux distribution is analyzed here, following the industrial process to provide both a good service and energy saving. The system is designed to reach the best compatibility with the existing wiring and to reduce costs at maximum. A measurement system is installed on site to ensure the estimated saving and economy of investment. The efficiency of the new electronic lamp supply is checked.

At present, shipping companies are aiming to meet better energy and environmental requirements when designing large cruise ships, thus decreasing emissions, increasing efficiency and reliability and greatly reducing maintenance time and costs. This paper provides a technical–economic comparison for a real case study, including a complete feasibility study regarding the sizing of a generation system to supply base hotel loads, between two power plant architectures focused on fuel cells and diesel generators for a cruise ship. The paper describes, in detail, an innovative solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) generation system, which offers high efficiency and low emissions, assessed for its technical, economic and environmental performance. This study examines generators for hotels, requiring continuous service at constant load and a 1 MW power supply. The work relates to ships with a tonnage of more than 100,000 tons. Subsequently, considering that, in the case study, the diesel generators are powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas), there will also be a comparison with a case where both systems are simply powered by LNG. The main technical specifications required by shipbuilders for choosing the most suitable system for on-board generation (weight, volume, maintenance intervals and operations, as well as investment and operational expenses) are analyzed and described. The economic comparison is based on two extreme assumptions of the purchase and operating costs of the fuel cell system and returns a different result depending on the assumption adopted. The usefulness of the proposed solution based on fuel cells is demonstrated on the basis of an accurate technical, energetic and economic comparison with the conventional technologies based on diesel generators. The work is completed by evaluating the overall power-generating reliability improvement achievable with the new technology, in comparison with the traditional system. The comparison between the fuel cell system and the diesel system shows that the former has a higher weight (+40%), volume (+75%) and initial investment cost (3–6 times higher). However, the lower LNG consumption reduces the annual operating cost and the size and weight of the on-board tanks or, with the same tank capacity, increases the system’s range. The overall reliability of the fuel cell system is significantly higher than that of the traditional system.

Hybrid panels (HY) for joint production of thermal and electricalenergy are available on the market. The main contribution of this workis to evaluate the performance of hybrid systems and to determine thefield of application. Mathematical models of panels are used to evalu-ate thermal and electrical behaviour. Software produced by the authorscalculates the energy production of these devices in several operatingsituations; a comparison to that of photovoltaic (PV) and thermal (TH)systems is performed. Moreover, the economic validity of such an invest-ment is evaluated. Finally, a simplified criterion has been developed tocalculate the best subdivision of the available deployment surface amongTH, PV and HY panels.