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Abstract Modern society is aware of the importance of energy, as a fundamental resource for evolution, quality of life and sustainability. It thus dedicates important efforts to take advantage of existing energy sources. Countries have different and unique energy performances depending on the combination of resources, policies, and structures created to exploit them. Some are successful in their attempt to optimize their energy resources while others are not. This is the case of Venezuela, which faces a contradictory energy performance. Despite its substantial available renewable and non-renewable energy resources, it presents a severe energy crisis. This crisis manifests itself in frequent and extended energy blackouts and electricity services alterations, which affect all society. With the aim to propose some solutions, the authors make an attempt to identify the origin of the Venezuelan energy crisis, unexplainable in a country which two decades ago was an indisputable world energy leader. The authors evaluate the relationship among energy and sustainability, the renewable potential existing in Venezuela, as well as some new data and key insights regarding its energy framework. Special reference is made to infrastructure energy projects in Venezuela. The discussion leads to the identification of the structural problems that cause such a crisis and include some recommendations. The authors propose a thorough study of this case in order to consider it as an international reference and to avoid the repetition of similar cases in the future. Finally, an entirely new orientation of the Venezuelan energy framework and the strategies that include the revision of the current energy policies and the management of this sector are proposed. Such proposals are presented to help Venezuela in its transition to a new energy stage in which renewable energy, knowledge and sustainable criteria become the fundamental resources to address the country on its path to sustainability. Highlights • The energy imbalance in Venezuela and the effects on the population. • Lack of energy policy programs to introduce renewable energies. • Recommendations to implement renewable energy projects. • Need for an energy transition towards sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the development of biomass for electricity generation in Chile within the country's complex energy framework which is still unable to strengthen and encourage renewable energy development and relies heavily on fossil fuels, increasing the latent risk of suffering an energy crisis in the medium term, due to the slow incorporation of new energy power plants to meet the growing energy demand forecast. This article provides a background of the power generation status in Chile, along with an analysis of the country's electricity market and its regulations, focusing on non-conventional renewable energy (NCRE), ending with the description of the current development status of biomass for electricity generation in its three physical states, its features, applications, conversion processes, advantages and disadvantages. Chile presents a low proportion of renewable energy technologies within its energy mix, in which solid and gaseous biofuels are mainly used for low power energy generation, through cogeneration and biogas extraction and use, while liquid biofuels are under research through the development of pilot plants managed by several entities for industrial production and the transportation industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The recognition of the relevance of energy, especially of the renewable energies generated by the sun, water, wind, tides, modern biomass or thermal is growing significantly in the global society based on the possibility it has to improve societies′ quality of life, to support poverty reduction and sustainable development. Renewable energy, and mainly the energy generated by large hydropower generation projects that supply most of the renewable energy consumed by developing countries, requires many technical, legal, financial and social complex processes sustained by innovations and valuable knowledge. Besides these efforts, renewable energy requires a solid infrastructure to generate and distribute the energy resources needed to solve the basic needs of society. This demands a proper construction performance to deliver the energy projects planned according to specifications and respecting environmental and social concerns, which implies the observance of sustainable construction guidelines. But construction projects are complex and demanding and frequently face time and cost overruns that may cause negative impacts on the initial planning and thus on society. The renewable energy issue and the large renewable energy power generation and distribution projects are particularly significant for developing countries and for Latin America in particular, as this region concentrates an important hydropower potential and installed capacity. Using as references the performance of Venezuelan large hydropower generation projects and the Guri dam construction, this research evaluates the tight relationship existing between sustainable construction and knowledge management and their impact to achieve sustainability goals. The knowledge management processes are proposed as a basic strategy to allow learning from successes and failures obtained in previous projects and transform the enhancement opportunites into actions to improve the performance of the renewable energy power generation and distribution projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article has been developed to assess the economic feasibility of a rooftop photovoltaic installation of industrial self-consumption. Numerical models that enable an interested person to obtain the main expected parameters will be generated, with those models being the article's main contribution to the field. To do this, a calculation methodology will be developed through which the reader, knowing the location of the facility and dimensions of the roof, will be able to calculate the maximum installable power, the main parameters related to production, the cost of the installation, and the LCOE of the plant. The use of actual costs will be facilitated in case they are known. Still, it will remain possible to apply the major equipment costs (modules, inverter, and structure) considered throughout the article. This developed calculation methodology will also allow a quick comparison of the forecasts of production, CAPEX, and LCOE of plants designed with different inclinations and different types of modules. Consequently, it will be especially useful in decision-making before developing the plant's basic engineering. Moreover, the calculations used for modeling the LCOE will be analyzed in depth. This analysis will allow evaluating how the different technical variables affect the profitability of a photovoltaic installation, such as the selected tilt, the location, the module's technology, or the available area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is currently a phenomenon of global urbanization, where in Europe intermediary cities play a major role by concentrating more than 40% of the European urban population. These types of cities have specific challenges regarding their sustainability and are key to meeting the objectives set out in the UN 2030 Agenda (United Nations, UN), due to their local character and proximity to the citizen. The intermediary cities of Andalusia in Spain, its urban sustainable development and its relationship with water are the object of analysis in this article. They are analyzed through the winning plans in the first call of the Spanish "Integrated Sustainable Urban Development Strategy " (ISUDS). In this process, the citizens are the main actors through their participation in the elaboration of the ISUDS, in which they express the scope of the "hydrosocial contract " of citizenship. The research presented in this article analyzes the latter through a methodological framework applied to the ISUDS, which shows the unequal interest of Andalusian intermediary cities when integrating water into their sustainable development. The article ends with a series of recommendations that make it possible to bring these cities closer to the "water sensitive cities " stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]