Papers by Alberto Biancardi
Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 5, 2021
The impact of Horizon 2020 funding on Italian firms: a focus on the energy sector V Italian firms... more The impact of Horizon 2020 funding on Italian firms: a focus on the energy sector V Italian firms played a key role in achieving these results. 45% of the financed projects involved at least one firm established in Italy against 36% of projects that involved at least one research center or university. The importance of the participation of firms is even more evident if we look at the share of financial resources obtained, that is, 65% of the total amount of grants received under the energy calls of H2020 in the period 2014-2020 by Italy in the case of firms, and 32% for research centers and universities. Furthermore, an Italian firm is the first amongst all European enterprises for financial resources obtained in the energy calls of H2020, while six national firms are amongst the top 20 performers in Europe. As well, Italian universities and research centers performed well, as 5 of them are amongst the top 23 performers in Europe. Italian entities have demonstrated to be active in many energy research areas and technology sectors, such as energy efficiency (Graph IIa), generation from renewable energies (Graph IIb), grid and storage, demandside management.
Scientific Reports, Jan 18, 2023
While sustainability is at the centre of many government agendas, there is a great risk of entrus... more While sustainability is at the centre of many government agendas, there is a great risk of entrusting strategic decisions to those lacking in sustainability expertise. It is therefore necessary to ensure that universities are the green engines of sustainable communities. The present study administered a questionnaire to students enrolled in a Management Engineering programme at an Italian university, to collect their perceptions of and opinions on sustainability and energy issues. Students completed the questionnaire twice: once prior to beginning and once at the end of term. The results showed that students held more sustainable attitudes at the end of term, and perceived sustainable education and youth confidence as the building blocks of future society. They also observed that decarbonisation of the Italian energy system and national energy independence would require the significant development of renewable systems and interventions to promote energy efficiency. In addition, they recognised subsidies for green production, energy communities, differentiated waste collection and professional skills training as crucial. The sustainable university should support younger generations by encouraging student engagement in real-world projects and the development of long-term, structured teacher-student relationships. Amidst ongoing unsettling events, including a global pandemic and a war in Ukraine, the challenge of sustainability remains central 1,2. In addition, there are many problems related to health, human rights and the environment, including malnutrition and food insecurity 3 , as well as water shortage 4,5. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a pathway to reconciling economic growth with environmental concerns, through a highly interconnected framework of analysis 6. All countries must develop policies and trackable objectives to support the achievement of these goals 7. The dilemma of intergenerational sustainability refers to the challenge of determining whether one will sacrifice in the present for the sake of future generations 8. On World Youth Day in 2000, Pope John Paul II defined sustainability as the pursuit of the unselfish 7 , with the following call to action: 'You will defend life at every moment of its earthly development, you will strive with all your energy to make this earth more and more habitable for all'. Around the world, universities and research centres have taken up this call; and while much progress has been made, more must be done to support young sustainability scholars, whose work is often teambased and outreach-oriented 9. While sustainability is not a new topic in the literature 10,11 , a framework is still needed to comprehensively cover all 17 SDGs and their multiple areas of analysis 12. Some authors have proposed a tetrahedron framework with students positioned at the centre, and student competence, teaching methodology, professors and alliances placed at the vertices 13. Generally, institutional initiatives and campus operations are the two main channels through which higher education institutions (HEIs) promote sustainability 14. Previous research has attempted to develop methodologies to assess sustainability learning practices in HEIs 15. In particular, scholars have emphasised the 'living lab' model, which involves both top-down and bottom-up strategies 16. This implies that the implementation of SDGs at the university level should be driven by institutional, thematic, structural and personal/individual forces 17. Additionally, some studies have underlined that the online presence of universities, the internationalisation of universities, and financial resources for research and infrastructure from regional governments are relevant internal/external factors for achieving the SDGs 18. Students' collaborative problem-solving competency may also play an important role 19 .
International Conference on European …, 2006
In the paper we study the relationship between electricity market structures and energy policies ... more In the paper we study the relationship between electricity market structures and energy policies in a liberalized market-oriented institutional setting. We analyze a theoretical liberalized electricity market distinguishing between four models that represent different levels of liberalization, ...
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Papers by Alberto Biancardi