Abstract
The editorial team of Renewable Energies is excited to welcome authors, academics, scientists, technicians, and readers to this new journal. Renewable Energies is an interdisciplinary, international, peer-reviewed journal for the publication of original research on renewable energies. This editorial introduces the aims, context, and scope of the journal. The editorial team also welcome responses to the call for submissions for different types of articles and also for special issues of the journal, to propel this exciting new venture.
Humanity has always depended on technological developments, but in recent decades, this development is compromising the environment and the sustainability of the applied technologies. For this reason, renewable energies are the main focus to preserve a healthy environment and achieve sustainable technology, without undermining its efficiency. Moreover, climate change is a reality, and the negative effect of climate change can be alleviated to some extent through technological development based on renewable energies.
Progress in renewable technologies has evolved greatly in recent decades. Several renewable technologies have been proposed; among the most promising are wind technology, solar photovoltaic technology, solar thermal technology, hydro power technology, marine technology, biomass technology, geothermal technology. These renewable technologies are increasingly in demand, and therefore, their technological development and research potential are in growing evolution.
Wind technology has undergone an overwhelming progression in the last 20 years. The current installations of modern wind farms is significantly different to the installation of the first wind farms is 1980. In addition, offshore wind farms are highly interesting in recent years. At a technological level, the evolution of the wind generators is vertiginous, for both the unit power and for other components of the system.
A similar situation arise for solar technology. On the one hand, high-concentration solar thermal plants are being installed all over the planet, while medium and low-power thermal solar plants continue their technological evolution. On the other hand, photovoltaic solar plants have emerged in recent years as the renewable plants of the future, allowing a technological evolution of all the components of the system. In addition, and like wind technology, floating photovoltaic plants are starting to be installed on a massive scale, taking advantage of existing reservoirs and artificial water reservoirs, but they also been integrated into marine floating. Finally, hybrid modules have recently appeared, as elements that integrate photovoltaic solar and thermal solar, which is a technologically elegant solution and with a very high overall performance of the plant.
Hydro power technology is a mature sector, but new technologies and digitization can make plants even more efficient, flexible, long-lasting, and sustainable. Therefore, investments in research and development continue to grow, especially in Europe but to the same extent throughout the world. Among the innovative technologies recently introduced, and created to increase the flexibility of existing parks, remarkable contributions are the mechanisms to control the flows in the turbines when they are operating at lower efficiency, the variable rotation speed, and the new management systems of the turbine that even allow the turbine to function as a pumping system.
The ocean offers great potential as a clean and green energy source. Whereas the technologies to harness ocean energy have yet to fully mature, they should not be lost sight of. Marine energies present a high regularity and resource predictability, but also versatility, modularity and scalability to provide electricity to a variety of end-use sectors such as ports and desalination plants. It is a small sector that is taking small steps, but it is evolving to make the leap from the pre-commercial stage to the commercial stage, increasing the technological and market scale. This sector has enormous strategic potential in horizons beyond 2030, with its own differential values compared to other renewable energies. Wave energy is still a promise, but, without a doubt, it is a very exciting project: the force of the sea and the waves is an immense energy resource, whose theoretical potential would be enough to cover current world electricity consumption.
Biomass technology is highly interesting, since all countries in the world, to a lesser or greater extent, can make use of it. From large district power plants to small boilers for domestic use, all of them require technological development that pursues climate change mitigation and economic and environmental sustainability.
Geothermal energy is not only produced in hot climates, considering that that the Earth's crust is warmer than the surface. For this reason, electricity can be generated interchangeably in hot and cold climates. In some location it is difficult or even not possible to achieve an energy balance using conventional energy sources; however, geothermal energy would increase availability in various regions, improving access and purchase prices. Mixed energy generation is a possibility to be used when a technology is in the development phase and geothermal energy is one of the paradigmatic examples. In recent years, researchers have given importance to this option to better balance the energy supply. For example, the combination of geothermal and solar energy is a worth idea, because the former is able to reach where the latter does not, providing support for both day and night.
Renewable energy cannot be separated from storage, which is a fundamental concept for the field. Storage is interesting from two different perspectives, electrical and thermal. Electrical or thermal storage integrated with renewable technologies is critical in the development of energy systems around the world. The technological development of storage supports the progress of renewable technologies, so its scientific and technological evolution will be fundamental in this century.
Renewable energies are part of other larger systems and processes and play a major role in said systems and processes. Relevant examples of these systems are desalination, microgrids, climatology and meteorology, hydrogen production technology and fuel cells, hybrid systems. In addition, it is very important developing a clear, efficient, and sustainable way the topics related to renewable energies, including those related to sensing and the development of autonomous systems, the application of innovative paradigms for management and operation, the use of artificial intelligent and big data analysis, and also the socio-economic implications and the policy issues.
The journal will focus on all aspects of renewable energies and it is open to all researchers in the world interested in renewable energies. The journal welcomes submissions related to different renewable technologies, and to the different fields of application, including components, systems, integration, trends, applied computing technologies, computational intelligence and machine learning, sensors, Internet of Things, etc., applied in the field of renewable technologies.
The main goal of the editorial team is that Renewable Energies can contribute clearly, quickly, and with high quality to the evolution of the different renewable technologies around the world. The great concern around the planet about climate change and energy sustainability makes this journal highly interesting.
Renewable Energies aims to provide an unlimited academic discussion platform, accepting a wide variety of articles to publish. Please do not hesitate to submit your articles in the following types:
Research article: Advances existing knowledge and debates significantly through theoretical elaboration or empirical analysis related to renewable energies. Review article: Summarizes existing knowledge, identifies key insights, and controversies and outlines directions for future research and/or practice in renewable energies. Perspective article: Stimulates discussion by providing fresh, out-of-the-box, and forward-looking perspectives on existing debates and topics related to renewable energies. Practical case: practical cases of the technological evolution and/or application of different renewable energy technologies.
In short, Renewable Energies aspires to be a pioneering magazine for researchers and practitioners interested in different renewable energy technologies, as well as their possible applications, innovative trends and advanced developments. Together, let us face the global challenge of integrating renewable energy technologies and their innovative developments.
