Energy, ECOS 2007 Special Issue

This special issue of Energy - The International Journal contains selected and re-reviewed papers presented at the International Conference ECOS 2007 (Efficiency, Costs, Optimization, Simulation and Environmental Impactof Energy Systems), which was held in Padova, Italy, on June 25-28, 2007. The ECOS Conferences were born in 1987, when the first one was held in Rome, even though the name ECOS was used for the first time in the 1992 edition. So, ECOS 2007 was the 20th edition of the conference; and this is the main reason why Italy was chosen for the 20th anniversary. Padova, better known as Padua in the international environment, is a very ancient city, rich in history; and its university, established in 1222, one of the oldest in the world, has given an important contribution, along the centuries, to the human, social and scientific culture. In fact ECOS 2007 was organized by the University of Padova, c/o the Department of Mechanical Engineering, with the cooperation of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) and ICAT (International Centre for Applied Thermodynamics) and the sponsorship od Baxi SpA, Siram SpA, Pedrollo SpA, MAN Nttzfahrzeuge Vertrieb Sud AG, Adriatic LNG, Unindustria Padova, SIT Group, APS Holding, SITA SpA, ATI. After 20 years, ECOS has become a classical meeting of experts and also friends, engaged in energetic and environmental research, with interest to the economic aspects also. At the beginning of the third millennium, a close interaction between science and technology is needed in this field; and it is significant that a fair number of papers of ECOS 2007 have been presented by industry representatives, who showed advanced practical applications related to the concepts od sustainable development and rational use of energy resources. Under this frame, Energetics can be looked at as Energ-Ethics! About 190 papers (besides 3 invited lectures), coming from more than 30 countries, were presented at the conference and included in the proceedings, after a careful review process. This special issue contains some of these papers, selected by the Editorial Board and improved after further reviews. They cover some of the most important topics in the field of energy and the environment. We must warmly than professor Ozer Arnas, co-chairman of ECOS 2007, who made a very valuable contribution to the success of the conference; and many thanks also to the members of the Editorial Board and all the reviewers of both the conference and this special issue.