Small Scale Renewable Energy Technologies (SSRET) provide sustainable solutions for the increasing energy demand around the world. In addition to their positive socio-economic and environmental impacts, such applications can minimize the power consumption or convert a power-consuming unit – residential and commercial buildings, farms … etc. – into a stand alone or power generating one. Economics and management of SSRET projects are crucial as much as engineering.

Air-condition systems are responsible of the most of electrical power consumption in buildings. The building’s envelops are the barrier that separates the indoor controlled environment from outdoor unstable environment, and therefore the envelop design has a significant impact on the building’s comfort and energy consumption in general. The newly developed materials used for building’s envelops, innovative techniques for reducing heat gain, indoor air quality, and new firm regulations regarding low energy buildings are all led to high energy efficient buildings.

Worldwide the share of electricity supply by photovoltaic units is increasing rapidly. The more severe failure of these solar power generators will become for power supply reliability. As a new technology photovoltaics still experience a “trial and failure” period. This includes solar cell technology as well as energy harvesting by solar fields and grid integration. New standards ensuring a high quality product are in elaboration. The purpose of this issue is to give an overview of the progress that has been achieved to improve the reliability of photovoltaic electricity generation. What should be done next?

Academic, industrial and institutional research groups are invited to contribute to this special issue of the International Journal of Energy Engineering. It shall stimulate a vital and fruitful discussion of the theme.

The original work of permanent interest in all areas of energy conversion, conservation and renewable energy as well as discussions of policy and regulatory issues that affect renewable energy technologies and their implementation are invited in this special issue. It is evident that Energy engineers audit the use of energy in various processes and suggest ways to improve the systems. The issue welcomes articles about most efficient and sustainable ways to operate buildings and manufacturing processes in fulfilling the objective of energy conservation. This means suggesting advanced lighting, better insulation, more efficient heating and cooling properties of buildings is also area of interest. Although an energy engineer is concerned about obtaining and using energy in the most environmentally friendly ways, their field is not limited to strictly renewable energy like hydro, solar, biomass, or geothermal. Energy engineers are also employed by the fields of oil and natural gas extraction.

International journal of Energy Engineering is an open access, peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Scientific & Academic Publishing (http://www.sapub.org/), USA. International journal of Energy Engineering providing a platform for the researchers, academicians, professional, practitioners and students to impart and share knowledge in the form of high quality empirical and theoretical research papers, case studies, literature reviews and book reviews. International journal of Energy Engineering welcomes and acknowledges high quality theoretical and empirical original research papers, case studies, review papers, literature reviews, book reviews, conceptual framework, research notes, debate and short reports analytical and simulation models, technical note from researchers, academicians, professional, practitioners and students from all over the world in all areas of energy engineering.

This special session will attempt to bring together researchers, practitioners and experts specialized in power system protection, planning and control to a common platform and will create a forum to discuss the latest development in optimal coordination of multi type of relay in power system considering the effect of FACTS technology and fault current limiter. Contributions related, but not limited, to the applications of metaheuristic algorithms like genetic algorithm, particle swarm optimization, differential evolution, etc to solving the optimization problem related to relay coordination considering the impact of integration of multi type of FACTS devices, renewable energy and current limiter.

Aims of this journal to promote rapid communication and dialogue among researchers, scientists, and engineers working in the areas of green energy and environmental science. The journal provides a focus for activities concerning the development, assessment and management of energy and environmental engineering related programs. It is hoped that this journal will prove to be an important factor in raising the standards of discussion, analyses, and evaluations relating to energy and environment programs.

The need for this special issue is driven by the increasing needs for safety of nuclear fuel rods, better understanding of thermal hydraulic mechanisms controlling the phenomena in various conditions, better thermal management technologies, and research and development of new cooling technologies capable to cope with a nuclear accident.

Drying is used in most industries. This process is considered an intensive operation due to its lengthy application or high energy needed to accomplish the process. In order to face this problem, Science and Research and Development aim at developing new non-expensive techniques including studies dealing with energy efficiency, economic aspects and environmental issues. Accordingly, this special issue is focusing on the following: “Drying: Technological Trends, Energy Efficiency and Environmental Issues”. Contributions on the wide range of topics related to the drying process are solicited from academic, industrial and institutional researchers from around the world.

In recent years, the use of alternative locomotion is considered to represent the Best Available Techniques (BAT) for various applications. One of still interesting application is engines with alternative locomotion. Consequently, this special issue is focused on “Alternative drives, locomotion and fuel technologies” in general. Contributions are invited from academic, industrial or institutional researchers across the globe on a wide range of topics in the field, from biogas to fuel gas mixture, from modeling and simulation to control aspect, from economical consideration to performance optimization, from Electric and Hybrid Vehicles to Vehicle to Grid interface Systems, from theoretical to industrial applications.

Contributions are invited from academic, industrial or institutional researchers across the globe on a wide range of topics, from Clean Coal Technology to Renewable Energy, from Greenhouse Cultivation to Green Building and Architecture, from Climate Change to Sustainable Development.

Nuclear technology play a number of significant roles in improving the quality of our environment while at the same time has the potential to generate virtually limitless energy with no greenhouse gas emissions during operations. New generations of power plants, safer than the old ones, are in various stages of design and construction. In addition, basic research and nuclear technology applications in chemistry, physics, biology, agriculture, health and engineering have been showing their importance in the innovation of nuclear technology applications with sustainability.

The aim of this special issue is to foster state-of-the-art research in the area of nuclear energy and its applications. This special issue focuses on technological improvements and advances in the beneficial uses of this kind of energy, including the application of radioisotopes and radiation to medical diagnosis, treatment, and research.

It will also serve as a landmark source to the nuclear community, non-nuclear scientists, politicians, journalists, decision makers and students (our hope for the future) as a basis for them to critically assess the potential of nuclear techniques to benefit human development, to contribute to the needs of our society, and to help in solving some particular questions that might otherwise be difficult to attack.