Distributed Generation is driving a paradigm shift in traditional power systems, allowing the production of renewable electricity and thermal energy close to the main energy consumption nodes (e.g., buildings). In this sense, thermal networks and electrical grids for Smart districts /cities have a key role, allowing the interconnections of distributed energy resources (renewables, combined heat and power generators, etc storage systems, and loads (electrical and thermal), locally dispatching supply and demand. In the present work, a multi-energy system for a new nearly zero energy and low carbon district near Milan (Italy) is proposed and analysed. After the evaluation of thermal and electrical energy needs of the district, an innovative thermal and electrical multi-energy system is designed with the specific aim to integrate multiple renewable energy sources (i.e., photovoltaics and groundwater energy) and energy storage technologies (i.e., sensible thermal storages), obtaining the best matching with thermal and electrical loads. Final results demonstrate the achievable benefits of the proposed solution, which can be successfully applied in several contexts.@en

Around 2.7 billion people rely on biomass fuelled inefficient devices for cooking and heating. Improved Cooking Stoves are promoted as a means to mitigate the economic, environmental and social implications of this practice. However, their diffusion is hindered by a number of factors, including in particular the lack of agreement on performance evaluation methodologies. Laboratory protocols are designed to give useful indications to cookstoves developers, in order to improve their performance under controlled conditions, while field protocols provide the assessment of real performance of a cookstove in a given context. However, due to high time and finance requirements of the latter, lab results are often used also for stoves selection, also because of a general misunderstanding regarding their correct utilisation. In this work, we provide a review of all lab protocols officially published to date, comparing conceptual and technical aspects. We find that no protocol takes into account all the relevant factors at once. As a result, lab tests carry little information about real field performance, and can be misleading regarding stoves optimisation. Therefore, the analysis reveals the need to define better standards, regarding: (i) repeatability, metrics and statistical analysis of results; (ii) burn sequences calibrated from time to time according to the specific user.@en