Paula Ferreira

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University of Minho

Against the backdrop of competing interests between mining developments, energy transition minerals procurement , and local communities striving to preserve their heritage and livelihoods, this paper delves into the dynamics between mining and social acceptance. Drawing from a participatory approach, the study offers qualitative and quantitative in...

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have become pivotal in the renewable energy sector, enabling comprehensive planning and management through advanced spatial analysis and visualization capabilities. This study examines recent advancements in GIS methodologies applied to the optimal sitting of onshore renewable energy plants, identifying their st...

Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises are crucial in generating employment and income, serving as significant drivers of the Brazilian economy. Industry 4.0 and its enabling technologies have the potential to provide competitive advantages for these enterprises by reducing costs and enhancing productivity. Before implementing these technologie...

Achieving a sustainable energy future requires a clean, affordable energy supply and active consumer engagement in the energy market. This study proposes to evaluate and simulate energy consumers' willingness to participate in demand-side management programs using an agent-based modelling approach to address the social learning effect as a key fact...

Given the increasing concerns with sustainable development, this paper proposes a practical framework to streamline the process of sustainability reporting of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), based on the updated Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) of 2021. The proposed framework consists of a simplified step-by-step guide composed of ten steps d...

Brazil changed the remuneration format of supplementary energy auction contracts in 2018. As a result, electricity generation companies that win these auctions are now remunerated based on the energy they supply as specified in the contracts. As a result of this change, electricity generation companies shifted their focus towards the free energy ma...

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a computer technology that allows automating routine tasks, which are normally performed by people, automatically and simply, allowing companies to be more efficient in business processes. With technology embedded in almost every day-to-day process in a company, it's easy to see advances in computing and technolo...

Since the UN Conference on the Human Environment was held in Stockholm in 1972, higher education institutions (HEIs) have been adapting to assume their social role in supporting societies in promoting sustainable lifestyles. However, HEIs are complex institutions composed of several interdependent subsystems. Sustainable improvement requires holist...

Due to the increasing pressures on the environment derived from the intensive use of energy, policy-makers are increasingly aware of the need to design new energy policies capable of addressing those negative impacts on the environment [...]

Nowadays global population and energy consumption and resources use are increasing, which means that the current consumption levels are unsustainable and a new approach for businesses of energy companies is required. This paper aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature about sustainable business models (SBM) in the energy sector. The ma...

This work addresses the internalization of externalities in energy decision making and in generation expansion planning (GEP). Although the linkage between externalities and energy is well recognized, the issue of the internalization in GEP models and from a sustainability perspective is still far from being fully explored. A critical literature re...

The problem of techno-economic approaches to evaluating energy transition pathways has been constantly reported in the literature. Existing research recognises the critical role played by social aspects in energy systems models. System dynamics (SD) has been pointed out among modelling techniques as a suitable tool to evaluate the interdisciplinary...

Housing quality is a well-established determinant for health and its relevance has been increasing in the context of sustainable development. Prior research has emphasized the importance of adequate housing for the health and comfort of householders. However, this link is still poorly characterized and understood regarding the vulnerable segments o...

Driven by the recent trends towards a smart power system configuration, there has been a greater focus within the literature on the integration between supply and demand-side resources. The contribution of this research is multifold since it provides a timely and required study, offering valuable insights into how the integration between Demand-Sid...

Assessing the societal contributions of research is not simple, especially for research projects that produce outputs with low technology readiness level. This paper analyses the potential societal impacts of research resulting in technologies with low maturity, but with the potential to be further developed in the long-term. It uses the case of th...

Before selecting a proper hydraulic turbine for power generation, conflicting factors frequently emerge from the wide range of available technology alternatives. The preliminary selection of hydraulic turbines (PSHT) has been usually carried out by overlooking and/or overshadowing downstream and upstream processes. The development of a new conceptu...

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were established by the United Nations and represent the desire of 193 countries around the world to stimulate actions for sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. The definition of indicators that represent the SDGs in the electrical energy generation planning processes, as well as understandi...

These days, due to the emergence of Industry 4.0, it is possible to notice a growing interest among companies in automating their processes. Autonomous driving technologies are generating increasing interest in carrying out material handling operations, being clear that these technologies allow companies to have greater flexibility, higher accuracy...

Social innovation is a topic that has rapidly gained visibility during the last decades, where public organizations, private companies, and community groups are interested in developing more efficient and effective solutions to important societal challenges, such as poverty, demographic change, climate change, and unemployment. The University has b...

The impacts of low-carbon technologies are spread across countries and lifecycle stages in ways that can compromise the achievement of an inclusive and equitable energy transition. Based on an exploratory review, this paper identifies the main activities of the electric vehicles (EVs) life cycle, where they occur, and potentially associated injusti...

Recent literature on social innovation highlights its conceptual ambiguity and fragmentation. According to this context, this paper explores how social innovation can contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Using a case study approach, we apply a mixed research methodology comprising a content analysis followed by mul...

For the energy transition, Social Innovation (SI) has been defined as innovations that contribute to the low-carbon energy transition, civic empowerment, and social goals through initiatives such as new forms of governance, social configurations, supportive policies and regulations, and new business models. This work systematically reviews the lite...

This work aimed at investigating how electricity sector companies have adapted their approaches to innovation in response to calls for openness and the participation of new actors. It combined results from academic and grey literature as well as real-world initiatives to identify companies' strategies to innovation. A systematic literature review w...

The financial evaluation of renewable energy sources (RES) projects is well explored in the literature, but many different methods have been followed by different authors. Then, it is important to understand if and how these methods have been changing and what factors may have driven new approaches. Therefore, this article aims to explore the publi...

There are several works and research related to the formation of Collaborative Networks (CN). The participation of an Organization in a Collaborative Network is a theme of broad spectrum and of great interest in research, although it appears that it continues to be far from being fully explored. The objective of this work is centred on the identifi...

This paper focuses on the acceptance and motivations towards load shifting programs in the household sector. The research is based on a questionnaire addressing the Portuguese population and aiming to better understand the willingness to engage in load shifting, the main motivations for this, and the acceptance of automatic control systems to impro...

Co-optimization for power system operation and expansion planning is reviewed. The majority of short-term studies have grown up around energy and reserve markets. Co-optimization might lead to less costly solutions than traditional techniques. The need to coordinate the necessary data from multiples actors is a challenge. Integrating supply and dem...

The design, implementation and use of Wastewater Treatment Systems (WTS) are fundamental to mitigate hydrological and environmental problems, and to improve population health. Furthermore, the significant advances in treatment systems technology offer, nowadays, several alternatives and provide many combinations of WTS which must be correctly evalu...

The electricity market in Brazil is basically organized under two parts: the regulated market, where energy is traded through auctions, and the free market, where market participants freely negotiate the price and quantity of electricity. Although revenues obtained in the regulated market tend to be lower than in the free market, the auctions’ resu...

Interest in the interaction between energy and health within the built environment has been increasing in recent years, in the context of sustainable development. However, in order to promote health and wellbeing across all ages it is necessary to have a better understanding of the association between health and energy at household level. This stud...

Over recent decades, higher education institutions (HEIs) have been recognised as ideal leaders in supporting the transition to sustainable societies. Leading by example, they have been embarking upon committing themselves to sustainability by incorporating sustainable development practices (SDP) into their integrated management system. As a major...

The trend towards “clean” mobility is growing steadily, causing an exponential increase in lithium demand. Lithium reserves are therefore an important asset for the countries owning them, opening up opportunities for valuable economic activity. However, lithium mining is not free from social, environmental and health impacts and its extraction is f...

Demand-Response (DR) has emerged as a valuable resource option for balancing electricity supply and demand. However, traditional power system models have neglected to include DR within long-term expansion problems. We can summarize our scientific contributions in the following aspects: (i) design of a new integrated co-optimization planning model f...

Residential demand response has been playing an important role in the low carbon energy system transition. Although this is not a new concept, the popularity of Demand Response (DR) programs is growing, driven by the increasing opportunities that emerged with smart grid appliances as well as by their potential to support the integration of variable...

The crisis caused by COVID-19 has affected research in a variety of ways. As far as research on sustainable development is concerned, the lockdown has significantly disrupted the usual communication channels and, among other things, has led to the cancellation of meetings and long-planned events. It has also led to delay in the delivery of research...

The investment in solar thermal power technologies has become increasingly attractive, despite their still perceived high costs. Algeria presented an ambitious plan for increasing the participation of renewable energy sources (RES) in the power system, with significant investments foreseen for solar power technologies. To achieve this objective, it...

Ensuring the supply of affordable energy, improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are some of the priorities of the governments of several countries. The pursuit of these energy goals has triggered interest in the exploration and usage of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), which can be particularly appropriate for island syst...

Electricity has fascinated humans since the early days [...]

Shaping a secure and sustainable energy future may require a set of transformations in the global energy sector. Although several studies have recognized the importance of Electric Vehicles (EVs) for power systems, no large-scale studies have been performed to assess the impact of this technology in energy systems combining a diverse set of renewab...

This paper provides a review of research that addresses the relationship between indoor temperatures and health outcomes, taking into consideration studies that focus heat or cold exposure within the household context. It aims to extend previous research by considering both indoor temperatures from existing housing, and empirical studies that focus...

The flexibility in grid operations has become a valuable solution to respond to the several problems brought about by the growth of intermittent renewable generation. The use of Demand Response (DR) measures has emerged as a promising option to tackle these challenges. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the assessment of the theoretica...

Mining industry is known for requiring energy-intensive processes with significant impacts on the greenhouse gas emissions, which represents a major concern to both economic competitiveness of the sector and climate change. Low carbon sustainable technologies as renewable energy sources (RES) are emerging as key opportunities to sustainable mining...

Typically, the economic analysis of Renewable Energy Projects (REP) has been assessed considering Classical Methodologies of Investment Analysis (CMIA) in which only a few set of indicators are included, highlighting the Payback, Net Present Value and Internal Rate of Return. This excessive reliance on CMIA has been criticized because it neglects m...

This paper addresses the long-term power planning in interconnected system with high renewable share. A case close to the Portuguese electricity system was modeled to assess the relevance of the interconnection with Spain in future scenarios. The results show that the increase on the renewable energy share will lead to a higher total cost of the sy...

Brazil is one of the world key players in the mining industry. This sector has also a remarkable role on the Brazilian economic and social development. Nonetheless, the economic, social and environmental impacts of the sector have not yet been fully documented, debated or understood in reports presented by companies and public organizations in the...

Although several studies have recognized the challenges brought about the high integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES), research has yet to systematically investigate the effects of different Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) on power systems with a high share of RES. The primary aim of this paper is to quantitatively evaluate the economic im...

The prospects for a smart power system have been widely discussed in the global electricity sector. Decarbonization, Digitalization and Decentralization are considered the main key drivers for this power system transition and Brazil is no exception to this universal trend. A search of the literature revealed few studies which attempt to address the...

Mining industry is known for requiring energy-intensive processes with significant impacts on the greenhouse gas emissions, which represents a major concern to both economic competitiveness of the sector and climate change. Low carbon sustainable technologies as renewable energies sources (RES) are emerging as key opportunities to sustainable minin...

Currently, the electricity system of Algeria is principally based on gas to produce electricity. Moreover, the energy consumption is increasing significantly due to the rapid growth of the population in the last decade. The country ambition is to decrease the dependency on fossil energy, diversify the energy mix and reduce the CO2 emissions. The Al...

The implementation of wind power projects can have significant impacts on local communities. If on one hand the project can bring important economic benefits, on the other hand it can represent a source of conflicts and discontentment. This paper aims to revisit this topic, addressing impacts and their perceptions from the local community point of...

The inefficiency of Wastewater Treatment Systems (WTS) might be a source of hydrological and environmental pollution, and it also causes problems to public health. The advances of technology have contributed to the development of a diversity of new WTS, but it generates a gap for decision-making regards to the correct use of these treatment systems...

Demand Response (DR) is a well-known concept which has been recognized as an increasingly valuable tool to provide flexibility to the power system, to support the integration of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) resources and to manage the grid more efficiently. In recent years, there have been a growing number of publications focusing on the estimat...

Mining Co-operatives wield significant influence over the mining sector. These organizations have been getting increasing importance to support diggers through initiatives and policies to improve small-scale mining activities. In spite of the importance of cooperatives to the local communities, studies on their role and contribution towards sustain...

The distribution of goods in urban areas is a major challenge for managers in the public and private sectors, due to population growth, high density in large urban centers and, in many cases, lack of planning in urban cargo transport systems. In this context, the objective of this paper is to propose a novel collaborative urban cargo distribution s...

Demand Response (DR) mechanisms have been developed to reshape consumption patterns in face of price signals, enabling to deal with the increasing penetration of intermittent renewable resources and balance electricity demand and supply. Although DR mechanisms have been in place for some time, it is still unclear to what extent end-users are ready,...

This work aims to contribute to the proposal of a multi-criteria based methodology for sustainability evaluation of impacts from high voltage transmission lines integrating indicators reflecting environmental and socio-economic criteria. The proposed methodology was applied to a transmission grid project in Manaus/Amazonas, Brazil, evaluating its s...

The electric sector is still largely dependent on non-renewable energy sources. The importance of using renewable energies is increasingly recognized all across the world yet they are not fully ready to compete with the mature and ancient technologies that use non-renewable energies. The economic characteristics of different energy technologies can...

Mining and minerals industries are fast-growing, but at the same time, they have gained more attention due to their impacts over the environment and society. This research aims to provide new insights into the topic of perception and awareness toward sustainability in industrial mining in Brazil. The work included in-depth interviews with a set of...

Carbon capture and geological storage (CCS) is a key technology for the World deep decarbonization. However, several challenges remain, such as the optimization of the carbon transportation infrastructures. This study proposes a methodology that applies the Kernel Density function in a geographic information system software and uses as input, CO2 e...

The Brazilian electricity system is an important example of a large country relying on a high renewable energy matrix with a major focus on hydro power, which has historically allowed for low carbon electricity production. However, the increase in the demand and climate change impacts on the availability of these renewable resources represent impor...

The population and the internal energy consumption in Algeria has been increasing significantly over the last years; and this growth rate should stay high for the near future given the expectations of socio-economic development of the country. Recognizing this trend, the government established a plan for the energy sector aiming to promote renewabl...

This editorial introduces the 15th volume of the International Journal of Sustainable Energy Planning and Management. The volume is a special issue from the 2017 International Conference on Energy & Environment, Porto, Portugal and it presents work on energy markets, energy financing and accounting of energy projects.

This study develops, tests and applies an optimization model to evaluate on-site renewable energy technologies with storage in buildings and assess optimal configurations for zero or nearly zero energy buildings. The proposed model is a single-objective hourly-basis mixed integer linear programing model developed in GAMS and solved by CPLEX. The mo...

While renewable energy technologies (RET) increase their share in power generation systems worldwide, some questions remain open, namely those concerning the opinion of the populations on new projects of these technologies. Given the long period of planning and large capital sums required by RET and, in some cases, the fact of being subsidized, it...

The forestry sector presents itself as an undervalued sector but full of challenges. In most developed countries, it is a highly-internationalized sector, concerned with its sustainability, diversity and increasing complexity, requiring accredited people to respond to the growing competition. In Portugal, the forestry sector is a strongly exporting...

In the current literature, cooperatives are commonly linked to a network of contracts or coalition. This is particularly the case of producer owned cooperatives that operate in small business scale such as farmers or diggers which are members of the cooperative. Mining cooperatives wield significant influence over the mining sector. These organizat...

The mining sector in Brazil has grown in the last decades contributing in an expressive form to the economic growth of the country. However, this progress has also contributed to the increase of environmental impacts brought by the mining industries include puts in evidence the need to define strategies well suited to deal with the particularities...

Energy consumption in Algeria has been increasing significantly over the last years and this growth rate should stay high for the next years given the expectations of socio-economic development. Recently, the government released the energy efficiency program which focused on three main sectors, the transport, building and industry. The program aims...

This study presents a new generation expansion planning (GEP) incorporating the effects of renewables variable generation on thermal power plants efficiency. An hourly unit commitment problem was integrated in the GEP problem with the overall goal of supporting the selection of future mixes of power plants through long term planning. The problem re...

The Brazilian power generation sector faces a paradigm change driven by, on one hand, a shift from a hydropower dominated mix and, on the other hand, international goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of this work is to evaluate five scenarios for the Brazilian power sector until 2050 using a multi-criteria decision analysis t...

Currently, the Algerian energy system relies almost exclusively on fossil resources, but a new paradigm is emerging in the country. The Algeria program on renewable energy and energy efficiency established the ambitious goal of deriving 40% of electricity production from renewable energy sources (RES) by 2030. This study addresses the sustainabilit...

Currently, many companies are implementing Lean Production, therefore they must rethink the production system configuration. This study aim was to evaluate different production systems configurations for a Lean environment. This evaluation used the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Different production system configurations were characterize...

The production of electricity from hydropower results in several environmental impacts that, in only some instances, have been analysed from an economic valuation approach. Moreover, as environmental impacts largely depend on the specific characteristics of the case study, benefit transfer techniques are inadequate for valuation. The present paper...

Renewable energy is often associated with the production of clean electricity and free of significant adverse impacts. However, several studies have been highlighting the importance of the assessment of social impacts of these technologies, including not only the benefits but also the potential negative aspects most frequently affecting local popul...

The use of electric vehicles (EV) has long been proposed as a viable alternative to conventional cars and as a means of tackling transportation challenges related to the increasing reliance on fossil fuel and resulting greenhouse gas emissions. However, considerable barriers to its effective market uptake still persist. One of the most important on...