Track: Pathways to Resilient Sustainable Energy Systems​​

INTRODUCTION TO THE TRACK

This track explores feasible pathways to a resilient and sustainable energy system. This is a complex task that involves balancing environmental goals with the need for reliable and robust infrastructure. Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are essential for decarbonization but introduce variability that challenges grid stability. As such, solutions such as storage, flexible demand, and digital control systems (i.e. smart grids) that are crucial and demand significant investments in infrastructure are explored. Existing infrastructure and market systems were designed for fossil fuels and must be transformed to support decentralization, electrification, and cross-sector integration. At the same time, the transition must be fair and inclusive, ensuring affordability and public support. It also raises new geopolitical risks through increased reliance on critical raw materials. Meeting this challenge requires integrated, adaptive strategies that align technology, policy, and societal values to build an energy system that is both sustainable and resilient. This track explores different pathways in different political and geographical markets, taking into account realistic implementation plans.

TRACK TOPICS

1. Balancing Sustainability and Resilience

• Sustainability demands low-carbon, environmentally friendly energy production, while

• Resilience requires systems that can withstand and quickly recover from disruptions (e.g., extreme weather, cyberattacks, geopolitical crises).

• These two goals can conflict: highly efficient or decarbonized systems may be less robust, while more resilient systems may temporarily rely on fossil backups.

2. Managing Variable Renewable Energy

• Wind and solar are key to decarbonization, but their variability challenges grid stability.

• Solutions like storage, demand-side flexibility, grid interconnections, and digital control systems are essential but still evolving or costly at scale.

3. Infrastructure Transformation

• Existing infrastructure (power plants, grids, pipelines) was built for centralized, fossil-based energy.

• Transitioning to a decentralized, electrified, and digital energy system requires major investments, upgrades, and new planning approaches.

4. Market and Policy Design

• Current energy markets often do not value resilience, flexibility, or long-term sustainability adequately.

• New policy instruments are needed to align incentives, manage risks, and support innovation while ensuring affordability and security of supply.

5. Equity and Social Acceptance

• Energy transitions must be socially just, avoiding increased costs or burdens for vulnerable populations.

• Public acceptance is crucial for deploying infrastructure like wind farms, solar plants, or new transmission lines.

6. Cross-Sector Integration

• Deep decarbonization requires integrating power, heating, transport, and industry sectors (sector coupling).

• This involves new coordination challenges, technology development, and rethinking how energy services are provided and consumed.

7. Geopolitical and Supply Chain Risks

• The energy transition increases reliance on critical raw materials (e.g., lithium, rare earths), exposing new vulnerabilities.

• Resilience includes ensuring secure, diversified, and ethical supply chains.

TYPE OF CONTRIBUTIONS:

This track will accept research papers and case studies showcasing pathways, policy recommendations, and modelling approaches for a future resilient and sustainable energy system. The session will feature interactive formats, including presentations, and a panel discussion aimed at reflecting on key insights from the presentations.

To encourage new ideas and fresh perspectives, speakers will primarily be selected based on conference submissions, with a broad call for participation advertised widely through our networks. In the event of low submissions, we will extend invitations to known experts, supported by our reviewer board, to ensure a high-quality discussion and robust attendance. This approach balances inclusivity and innovation while fostering engaging discussions on the future of resilient energy and transport systems.

1. Call for Extended Abstracts (1.000 words) - see website for the template.

   Including the possibility of submitting a Case Study - in this same template

2. Call for Posters & Demonstrations - see website for the template

3. Call for Pitches (500 words) - see website for the template

   The pitches (5 min.) will serve as the starting point for round table discussions among stakeholders, policy makers, and researchers."

TRACK CHAIR AND CO-CHAIR

Both chair and co-chair will attend the conference and will actively promote the conference track through various channels.

Christian Schaffner, Executive Director, Energy Science Center, ETH Zurich,

schaffner@esc.ethz.ch

Since September 2013, Christian Schaffner is the Executive Director of the Energy Science Center (ESC) of ETH Zurich in Switzerland. The ESC is an inter-disciplinary competence centre to promote energy research and teaching at ETH. It aims to facilitate the deployment of an environmentally friendly, reliable, low risk, economically viable and socially compatible sustainable energy system. Linking over fifty professors from eleven ETH Zurich departments, the ESC enhances cooperation between ETH Zurich, industry, government and society on energy related issues.

Giovanni Sansavini, Associate Professor at the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich

sansavig@ethz.ch

Prof. Giovanni Sansavini is Associate Professor at ETH Zurich’s Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, where he leads the Reliability and Risk Engineering Lab. His research focuses on the resilience, reliability, and risk analysis of critical infrastructures, particularly energy systems and smart grids. He has published extensively on topics such as hydrogen integration, power system stability, and cyber-physical resilience. At ETH, he teaches courses on energy conversion and sustainable energy systems.