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This 43rd volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management presents contemporary research within the diverse field of energy planning. The issue starts with analyses of an Indian programme targeting the replacement of fossil fuel-based stoves with induction stoves. Another electrification analysis targets maritime transportation and floating offshore charging stations. Third, analyses are presented regarding the potential impacts of household energy savings in Iran, and whether to optimally use savings for unmet demands in industry or for export – or indeed to lower production correspondingly. Two Hungarian studies focus on a comparison of using heat atlas and using measured data for heat planning and on the feasibility of using individual heat pumps as flexibility provider for the electricity system. Taking a Danish case as a starting point, the role of the heating system in the overall energy system transition is analysed and lastly, a study review the literature on city energy planning approaches.

With this volume 40 the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management can celebrate its 10 years anniversary. In this editorial we take a closer look at the journals impact over its first 10 years of existence and highlight the articles that have made the largest impacts in the scientific community from a citation perspective. The topic of the journal – sustainable energy planning and management – has not decreased in importance over the first ten years of the journal’s existence – and fortunately the results published in the journal has garnered interest and the impact of the journal has significantly increased. In terms of citation, the journals 275 published articles, has received 1484 citations as per March 2024 and nine articles have 40 or more citations in Scopus. CiteScore ranks the journal in the top 10% out of 700+ journals within the topic of Geography, Planning and Development.

This 38th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management presents some of the newest work within in the energy planning, energy systems analyses and district heating area. Articles focus on multi objective optimisarion for a community in the Alps, carbon neutrality in Estonia, the prospects of heat pumps combined with thermal energy storage in maximising self-consumpotion from a photovoltaic field and methods for assessing district heating options. Other work focus on gamification tools for assessing energy efficiency measures, country analyses of economic and environmental indicators, the adaption of alternative fuel vehicles, and the use of waste heat sources for district heating.

This 36th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management starts at the global scale with a survey of the economy of the oil industry. Limitations of single-sector analyses of Chile is the focal point of a commentary on a previously published study in the journal Energies. The authors of the commentary find that limitations in literature survey, methodology, and data result in a significant underestimation of, e.g., the potential for photo voltaics. The potential for hydro power is affected by changes in water flows as analysed by Melo, which brings some level concern as hydro power is a key element in Brazil’s renewable energy exploitation effort. Lasty, Dall-Orsoletta et al. look into system dynamic models and whether they include social aspects in the modelling. This is only found in a minority of system dynamic models.

This 35th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management includes work investigating different biomass resource utilisation scenarios for Mexico as well as scenarios for the transition of Thailand. The latter finds significant photo voltaic requirements when factoring in the transition to green hydrogen for transportation. Transportation is also the focal point in a study of Indonesia, finding that cost and emission optimisation are pushing optimum in different directions. Continuing with Indonesia, the country is seeing a rapidly growing electricity demand, and Siregar investigates social, environmental, technical, and economic criteria for the development of the system towards a more sustainable electricity supply. The scenario analyses are largely based on larger societal transitions, but Appiah makes a more concerted effort to investigate the actual investments in renewable energy sources. Lastly, an article focuses on the industrial sector and how energy efficiency may be affected by policies.

This 34th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management includes papers from the 2021 conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environmental Systems (SDEWES) held October 10-15, 2021, in Dubrovnik, Croatia as well as the 7th International Conference on Smart Energy Systems held September 21-22 in Copenhagen, Denmark and two normal papers. A focus area of this issue is district heating and district cooling systems, with articles addressing resources for district heating and cooling systems, impacts of having individual district heating metres for consumers and approaches to analysing district heating systems. Another focus area is stakeholder involvement where two groups of researchers focus on stakeholders from an energy island perspective as well as from a positive energy district perspective. Both groups note the importance of factoring in stakeholders when devising transition plans. Plans for increasing the penetration of renewable energy sources for the Estonian, Latvia and Lithuanian systems are analysed using the Backbone model, finding modest increases in system costs. Lastly, an article sets up an indicator system for assessing environmental performance of European Union member states ranking, e.g., Estonian, Latvia and Lithuanian as moderate (Estonia and Latvia) to weak (Lithuania) in terms of sustainable energy performance score, based on 2019 data.

This issue presents some of the latest findings within energy planning research and form a special issue from the 2021 5th Annual Conference of the Portuguese Association of Energy Economics as well as for the 2020 Sustainable Development of Energy, Waste and Environmental Systems conference series. The work presented probes into the effects of the European emissions’ trading system on innovation, and the development of the Chinese wind power industry. Notable is also an analysis of people at Portuguese universities revealing lesser knowledge of renewable energy technologies but a more positive attitude towards this among women – and vice versa among men. EnergyPLAN-based energy systems analyses with cases from Iran and Serbia are presented, and different indicators for energy systems analyses are deliberated in a Mexican context. Marine energy developments in Columbia, the United Kingdom, Canada and Denmark are discussed with a focus on siting and barriers. Also, barriers against solar energy exploitation in Indonesia are explored as are barriers against energy savings in Nigeria.

This editorial introduces the 31st volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. This volume reports some of the latest developments in energy systems analyses of smart energy systems and of district heating as well as in methods and analyses using multi-objective optimisation. In one of the analyses, the authors investigate the effects of decentralised storage in district heating systems, finding positive effects on grid design as the impact of peaks can be reduced. Three contributions address the more sociological factors influencing acceptance and energy system development such as ownership, awareness, and moral.

This editorial introduces the main findings from the 30th Volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. This volume probes into analyses of the technical interactions between multi-energy carrier energy hubs and the role and feasibility of cogeneration of heat and power in a Portuguese context. It moves on to analyse the framework for implementing photo voltaic technology and decision processes for implementing PV technology. Lastly, it presents work on the role of renewable energy sources in meeting carbon dioxide emission reduction goals in Iran.

This editorial introduces the main findings from the 29th Volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. The issue includes both contributions to the 2019 Sustainable Development of Energy Water and Environmental Systems conference and ordinary journal submissions. In either case, the research is centred on sustainable development using renewable energy systems – with particular attention to technology assessment, pricing & regulation and systems analyses. Case studies and model development from Austria, Cape Verde, Columbia, and Iran are presented – with varying focal points. Different drive trains for the electrification of the transportation sector are assessed. Lastly, pricing regimes for evolving district heating systems as well as consumer involvement in 4th generation district heating and social factors for implementing building energy conservation policy are considered

This special issue presents some of the latest energy planning-related research as presented at the 2019 International Conference on Energy & Environment (ICEE), University of Minho, Portugal, 2019. In this issue, work is presented which investigates policy initiatives’ effects on electricity prices. Other authors apply Modern Portfolio Theory to analyse the energy and environmental policies of the European Union member states. Solar thermal systems are analysed based on a novel costing methodology and lastly carbon dioxide emissions from a Portuguese energy system with further deployment of electric vehicles are assessed.

This editorial introduces the 27th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management, which reports some of the latest developments in energy systems analyses of smart energy systems as well as district heating. The issue looks into district heating in Estonia and Norway – as part in a renewable energy transition and flexibility-providing measure. Other analyses look into future prices of renewable energy-based power production systems and optimal design of carbon-neutral energy systems combing EnergyPLAN and EPLANOpt.

This editorial introduces the 25th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. This volume presents research on low-temperature district heating in China, prospects for energy savings in Aalborg, Denmark, and impacts on heating systems, offshore wind power and electricity interconnection in the Baltic sea, integration of electricity markets in the United States, and finally the modelling of renewable energy systems both on the remote island of Bonaire and in Chile.

This editorial introduces the 23rd volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. This volume presents research on the robustness of energy modelling, firstly through an assessment of the accuracy of heat demand estimations compared to measured data, followed by an examination of assessment of the robustness of energy modelling relative to the results’ dependency on input time series. Subsequently, challenges to the integration of renewable energy are reviewed, followed by a case from Iran investigating a 100% renewable energy system for desalination. Finally, the issues of technology prioritization for energy efficiency purposes and the development of energy indicators are tackled.

Energy planning increasingly revolves around the use of tools for energy system modelling and analysis with a view to generating scenarios to show implications and possibilities for decision makers. Municipalities engage in the transition to renewable energy systems through the formulation of strategies and goals at a local level despite often lacking appropriate tools and resources to conduct the needed complex analyses. Tools for energy system analyses have traditionally been designed either with the scope of national energy systems or detailed project-specific analysis in mind, leaving municipal planners in a state of flux. This study aims to identify important specifications and critical design principles for future energy system modelling tools designed for municipal planners. Through a qualitative case-oriented approach, this study investigates the planning practices of four municipalities. It is found that future tools for municipal planning purposes need to combine the need for systematic analyses with concrete and implementable initiatives while balancing analytical complexity with operational simplicity.