Energy and Sustainability 2025
11th International Conference on Energy and Sustainability
15-17 September 2025
Ancona, Italy
Overview
The 11th International Conference on Energy and Sustainability took place in Ancona, Italy, from 15th to 17th September 2025. The Conference was organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology (WIT), UK, represented by its Academic Director, Dr Stavros Syngellakis, and the Universitá Politecnica delle Marche, Italy, represented by Professor Giorgio Passerini.
The conference series, which started in New Forest, UK in 2007, is well-established and always attracts a wide international spread of delegates. The diverse topics covered by the conference often require the collaboration between different disciplines in order to arrive at optimum outcomes; they include studies of energy networks, new energy resources, materials, storage solutions, waste to energy processes, smart grids and many others.
Opening of the Conference
The meeting was opened by Stavros who welcomed the delegates, then gave a brief overview of the present WIT activities. He pointed out its origins in the pioneering work on a new numerical technique, the boundary element method (BEM), pointing out the prominent role of Professor Carlos Brebbia, the founder and embodiment of the institute until his death in 2018, in the development of BEM as a powerful analytical tool. BEM is today applied by itself or in combination with other analytical techniques to provide solutions against engineering failures such as, for instance, sea or atmospheric corrosion and fatigue fracture.
The scope of the institute was subsequently broadened to provide knowledge transfer opportunities in other science and engineering areas as well on the ecology and the environment. Conferences remain WIT’s main instrument for knowledge transfer; they provide opportunities for social interaction, establishing contacts, direct exchange of views, information and advice plus some enjoyable moments during social events such as the dinner and other organised activities.
The Institute also continues to organise short courses in a wide variety of topics. It welcomes proposals from academics and engineers, experts in almost any field who wish to disseminate their knowledge. Another way in which WIT achieves dissemination of knowledge is by the publication of papers from conferences through its publishing arm, WIT Press.
The institute, in partnership with other academic institutions, awards annually two medals to prominent scientists in their fields. The Green medal jointly awarded with the University of Mississippi and supported by Elsevier, to a person having made significant contributions to the development of the boundary element method. The Prigogine medal was instituted with the University of Siena in 2004 to the memory of Ilya Prigogine, Nobel winner in Chemistry, pioneer in linking thermodynamics to ecological processes. Prigogine’s ideas established the basis of ecological systems research. The Prigogine medal is awarded annually to a leading scientist in the field of ecological systems. All recipients have been deeply influenced by Prigogine’s work.
“Energy and Sustainability” is one of the more successful conference series organised by the Institute. This is probably due to the broad realisation that technological and economic development, which is driven by energy, cannot anymore rely exclusively on fossil fuels. New policies, methods, procedures and technology need to be researched, tested and introduced to provide solutions that could reverse the current trends towards an uncertain future for our planet.
A number of themes were pursued by the contributors to this conference. These include:
- Increasing the efficiency and reducing the environmental impact of energy use which significantly contribute to meeting societal goals and mitigating the consequences of climate change.
- Energy consumption in buildings which constitutes a substantial proportion of the energy consumed globally. Various ways of addressing this problem were suggested at the conference.
- The energy consumption and the environmental impact of the transport sector.
- The conversion of waste into other useful products which contributes greatly to a sustainable economy.
- Achieving sustainability by incorporating advances in management practices in energy production.
- Energy production from various forms or renewable resources as a consequence of the drive towards sustainability.
- The potential of addressing energy poverty by reaching remote or isolated areas of the world using renewable energy technology.
- Various cases of environmental impact arising from energy use or production including greenhouse gas emissions.
Invited Speakers
There were a series of invited lectures on advanced topics of research and applications, as follows:
- “Modelling and analysis of RT-42-based thermal energy storage integration with chilled water systems for building energy efficiency enhancement in hot climates”, by Professor Mahmoud Haggag, UAE University, United Arab Emirates
- “Agrivoltaics for regional energy transition: a case study within Marche Region”, by Professor Giorgio Passerini, Universitá Politecnica delle Marche, Italy
- “Resilience of anaerobic digesters for discarded biomass.”, by Dr Elena Cristina Rada
- Insubria University of Varese, Italy
- “Combined heating, cooling, and power driven by renewable thermal energy”, by Dr Yongjian Gu, U S Merchant Marine Academy, United States
- “Sustainable growth, renewable energy, and carbon emissions: evidence from a TVP-VAR approach” by Professor Niyazi Berk, Bahcesehir University, Turkey
- “The darker side of electric cars: How to source the lithium to produce the EV batteries in a less unsustainable way?”, by Dr Jaap Vleugel, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands
There were numerous occasions for holding informal discussions during the coffee breaks and the complimentary lunches provided.
Conference Publication
Papers presented at this conference will appear in Vol. 265 of the WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (ISSN 1743-3541). Papers presented at the meeting will be available Open Access in the eLibrary of the Wessex Institute (https://www.witpress.com/elibrary) from where they can be freely downloaded by any interested parties.
Prigogine Award Ceremony
The 2025 Prigogine Medal was presented to Professor Ichiro Aoki of Shizuoka University, Japan by Professor Nadia Marchettini from the University of Siena during a joint session of the “Energy and Sustainability” and “Sustainable City” conferences. Professor Marchettini referred extensively to Professor Aoki’s work pointing out his exceptional achievements. Following the award presentation, Professor Aoki delivered a special lecture entitled "Ecological Thoughts Based on Thermodynamics". The ceremony took place on 16th September 2025 at 11:30 am at the Faculty of Economics, Università Politecnica delle Marche.
ISAC Dinner
The meeting of the International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) was held over dinner at Wine Not, a restaurant renowned for its regional cuisine thoughtfully paired with local wines. Situated on the edge of Ancona’s historic city centre, the venue offers beautiful views of the port. During the meeting, committee members were invited to provide guidance to WIT on the future development of the conference, including suggestions for new topics, ISAC membership and potential venues.
Conference Dinner
The Conference dinner was held at Restaurant Il Giardino, where participants enjoyed exquisite seafood cuisine served across more than five courses. The restaurant provided a beautiful and welcoming setting, offering the perfect space for participants to socialize and discuss the conference topics.
Closing of the Conference
The conference was closed by Dr Stavros Syngellakis, who thanked the delegates for attending and hoped that they would consider attending the next conference in the series which is planned to be reconvened in 2027.
Wessex Institute