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Educational competencies represent learning objectives and are used to plan educational programs, develop curricula, and assess existing programs, among other functions. After reviewing the literature and offerings at more than 20 universities, the existence of a comprehensive set of educational competencies in the area of energy and sustainability was not identified. This paper motivates and presents model competencies for graduate education programs in the energy and sustainability area, which is called Energy for Sustainability (EfS). Energy for Sustainability follows from the perspective that the provision of energy is a key element in promoting the goals of sustainability. The nature and use of competencies in education planning and assessment is reviewed, and recommendations for model competencies for two EfS specialties, 'Buildings and Urban Environments' and 'Energy Systems and Policy,' are presented. Competencies are prioritized, and their use in developing new multidisciplinary master's and doctoral programs at the University of Coimbra is discussed. The competencies promote a wide range of understanding and capabilities aimed at the technical, economical, social, and institutional factors needed to manage and transition current energy systems towards the goals of sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optimization of an economic indicator has traditionally been the sole objective function of mathematical programming models for power generation expansion planning. Recently, however, other evaluation aspects, such as environmental concerns, were also given an explicit role as objective functions in mathematical models. Models become thus more realistic so that decision makers are able to grasp the inherent conflicts and trade-offs among the distinct objectives in selecting a best compromise plan. A significant change in the planning processes has also occurred concerning new planning methodologies integrating demand-side management (DSM) techniques, in an attempt to change the levels and forms of electricity use by the consumers. This paper presents a multiple objective linear programming model for power generation expansion planning incorporating DSM. The objective functions are the total expansion cost, the environmental impact associated with the installed power capacity and the environmental impact associated with the energy output. DSM is included by modelling it as a new generating group along with the generating alternatives from the supply side. Five categories of constraints are considered related to the reliability of the supply system, the availability of the generating units, the capacity of the DSM-equivalent generating group, the total capacity installed throughout the planning period, the pollutant emissions. Some results are presented derived by using an interactive method, aimed at assisting decision makers in a progressive and selective search of good compromise solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Portuguese Electricity Demand-Side Efficiency Promotion Plan (PPEC) is a voluntary financial mechanism, under which several entities, among them electric utilities, may submit proposals of measures aiming at the reduction of electricity consumption or load management. It is one of the alternative options followed by the Portuguese government to the Energy Efficiency Obligations (EEO) stated in Article 7 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive. A brief review is presented of the state of the implementation of Article 7 in EU. PPEC is one of the schemes that provide financial support to the implementation of measures whose results contribute to the commitments made under the Portuguese National Energy Efficiency Action Plan (NEEAP), the framework under which the alternatives to the EEO were designed. In the first edition of the PPEC, only three energy services were addressed, while, in the most recent PPEC edition, the sixth, measures addressed nine energy services. In addition, the co-funding by participating consumers and other agents has increased, raising the investment in energy efficiency from actors other than the program administrator. PPEC, although a voluntary mechanism, has proven to be a very competitive one, involving an increasing number of economic agents, measures and addressed energy services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]