Introduction

The Conference aims to discuss the future of energy production and management in a changing world.

Developed societies require an ever increasing amount of energy resources, which creates complex technological challenges.

The idea is to compare conventional energy sources, particularly hydrocarbons, with a number of other ways of producing energy, emphasising new technological developments. The challenge in many cases is the conversion of new sources of energy into useful forms, while finding efficient ways of storing and distributing energy.

Energy policies and management are of primary importance to achieving sustainability, and need to be consistent with recent advances made in energy production and distribution. The Conference will also discuss the energy use of industrial processes, including the imbedded energy contents of materials, particularly those in the built environment.

Energy production, distribution and usage, result in environmental risks which need to be better understood. They are part of the energy economics and relate to human environmental health as well as ecosystems behaviour.