The paper presents recent and future trends of the world energy market, as highlighted by medium- and long-term projections. Energy demand and energy consumptions projected by IEA (International Energy Agency) are examined, in comparison with projections provided by other international agencies and companies in the energy sector. In particular, energy resources, energy consumption and economic growth both in developing and developed countries are presented, with a particular attention to the role of energy efficiency, nuclear power, unconventional fossil resources and renewable energies. Sustainable development issues, according to the global climate agreement signed at COP21, are also presented. The outlook period extends up to 2040. The results confirm a worldwide interest in renewable and unconventional resources for the forthcoming decades, as well as efforts to increase the energy efficiency potential in all end-use sectors to reduce the overall environmental impact of energy production.

The electrical system is experiencing many challenges, including the increasing use of renewable energy sources characterized by high variability, the need to take action to mitigate climate change, the need to restructure the aged infrastructure, and then the development of smart grids. New ways of interplay between consumers and producers have emerged, but their implications have not been fully analyzed. This article analyzes the most relevant barriers that are perceived by consumers as obstacles to the development of smart grids, using a literature review. Our findings indicate that there are four relevant barriers: costs, privacy, cyber security, and regulatory aspects. Consumers must be informed in a transparent and convincing way. Indeed, electricity consumers play a key role in the development of smart grid technologies, since they will play the crucial role in the future electricity market.

The electrical world system is experiencing many challenges, including the increasing presence of renewable energy sources characterized by high variability, the call for actions to mitigate climate change, the need to restructure the infrastructure already aged and then the development of smart grids. Smart grid projects have been launched in various countries around the world. The transition to the smart grid is affecting primarily the European Union and the United States, but also emerging markets such as China and India are strongly investing in the smart grids. In this paper we analyze the socio-economic aspects that are among the key variables towards the feasibility of smart grid projects. Construction of new infrastructures generally rises acceptance problems. Social acceptance of consumers is important for the adoption of new technologies. We advocate that multidisciplinary cooperation is needed to develop scientific research on smart grids.

The new framework involving Society 5.0 and Industry 5.0 highlights the need to shift societies and economies toward innovative solutions related to human and social dimensions. Society 5.0 assumes that the way people provide for their livelihoods is related to the way they build their society. Technologies must therefore be at the service of society, improving people’s lives, and thus ensuring sustainable development. Industry 5.0 aims at supporting and extending the Industry 4.0 paradigm to go beyond its techno-economic dimension, promoting a vision based on a human-centric, sustainable, and resilient industry, in which growth can produce widespread well-being. The worker is the central subject of Industry 5.0, and technologies within firms must act only as a support, so that they do not interfere with the fundamental rights of workers. The circularity of the economy is the heart of sustainable development, while resilience represents the basis of industrial development more robust toward external shocks. Analyzing top-cited papers selected, we present an analysis that highlights both advantages and disadvantages of Industry 5.0 based on resilience and sustainability. We find that the advantages for the industry are several, ranging from a better attraction of talents, to energy savings, to an increase in general resilience to future shocks. This means that, in the long run, the sustainability, profitability, and productivity can be reached by the industry. This chapter shows also an analysis in terms of disadvantages that emerge, especially in the short run, from issues of efficiency within companies to aspects that concern workers.