News Date:
2nd International Conference Berlin, Germany (February 27th - March 1st, 2013)
In 2011 the International Conference "Micro Perspectives for Decentralized Energy Supply" was established as an international forum to discuss the micro perspective of technical, economic, social and ecologic as-pects of microenergy systems. The 2013 conference will continue this exchange process and we invite you as scientists from social science, economics, natural science and engineering to discuss your research results concerning decentralized energy supply. We also want to explicitly encourage practitioners (e.g. project de-velopers and implementers, entrepreneurs) in this field to share their experiences.
A micro perspective on energy systems focuses on the end user for whom the energy system is ultimately de-signed and constructed. This perspective is of growing significance in the context of the required global tran-sition from fossil-fuel-based to renewable energy systems.
Microenergy systems provide solutions for single households or micro enterprises (e.g. solar home systems, improved cooking stoves, biogas plants) as well as technologies for several households or communities. For a long time they have been regarded as transitional solutions towards a centralized energy supply in develop-ing countries or as a negligible niche market in developed countries. In recent years there have been growing expectations that decentralized energy systems can play an important role in shifting energy policy as well as contributing to poverty reduction, improved health, education services and quality of life. The conference aims to discuss the technical, social and economic factors and context conditions which facilitate meeting these expectations.
Within this framework the central conference themes are:
Technology and Services
- State of the art and experiences in different geographical, economic and cultural contexts
- Innovations and potential for fur-ther advancement and extension
- Product-Service Systems
- Quality assurance, certification and standards
User Experience & Acceptance
- Users‟ needs and experiences
- Social representation of energy in different cultural contexts
- Participative approaches
- Significance for quality of life and income generation
Planning and Governance
- Local, national and interna-tional governance processes fostering decentralized energy supply
- Role of Carbon Finance Mechanisms
- Contribution to adaptation to climate change
- Contribution to the Millennium Goals
Implementation & Business Models
- Innovative approaches for im-plementing microenergy sys-tems
- Business, delivery and (micro) financing models
- Significance of microenergy systems for added value chains and the "green economy"
- Productive use of microenergy systems
Evaluation and Assessment
- Methods and tools for the assessment and evaluation of microenergy systems
- Role of case studies and best practice
- Challenge of interdisciplinary microenergy research
In addition to the papers, proposals for organizing workshops during the conference can be submitted. Papers for these workshops also have to be handed in parallel. We welcome additional ideas and sug-gestions for our conference programme.
