*Editorial* **Advances in Theoretical and Computational Energy Optimization Processes**

**Ferdinando Salata \* and Iacopo Golasi \***

Department of Astronautics, Electrical and Energetics Engineering, University of Rome "Sapienza", 00184 Rome, Italy

**\*** Correspondence: ferdinando.salata@uniroma1.it (F.S.); iacopo.golasi@uniroma1.it (I.G.)

Received: 1 June 2020; Accepted: 1 June 2020; Published: 4 June 2020

Industry, construction and transport are the three sectors that traditionally lead to the highest energy requirements. This is why, over the past few years, all the involved stakeholders have widely expressed the necessity to introduce a new approach to the analysis and management of those energy processes characterizing the aforementioned sectors. The objective is to guide production and energy processes to an approach aimed at energy savings and a decrease in environmental impact. Indeed, all of the ecosystems are stressed by obsolete production schemes deriving from an unsustainable paradigm of constant growth and related to the hypothesis of an environment able to absorb and accept all of the anthropogenic changes.

Leading the production processes of industry, construction and transport to a revision of their energy requirements is necessary and the research activity is called to carry out its natural innovative function.

The industrial sector is in full transition and transformation towards its version 4.0 and is therefore called to review its management and the supply costs of energy and raw materials to limit its environmental impact. Research activity must support best practices in energy management and encourage a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The construction sector should apply future retrofit solutions, able to increase energy efficiency and taking into account environment and climate change at the same time. The transport sector is moving towards new mobility with respect to the past, thanks to the transition from fossil fuels to the electrification and the use of artificial intelligence, thus increasing the level of automation. In the context of great attention towards the sustainable and respectful future of the planet, this study and the diffusion of the results provided by the scientific community concerning the most recent signs of progress in energy optimization are expected to play a key role.

With the aim of proposing the next generation of energy processes and leading to positive implications for the environment, climate and sustainability, this Special Issue, "Advances in Theoretical and Computational Energy Optimization Processes" has aimed to collect sophisticated contributions on all these aspects, highlighting current state-of-the-art research with respect to the results of the main research groups. Studies on energy processes, production methods and innovative mechanisms related to research based on computational optimization methods are part of this scientific collection. This Special Issue has also aimed to encourage a debate on future scenarios in each of those sectors currently characterized by significant energy requirements.

In this Special Issue, numerous articles have found a home and they have been proposed by researchers from countries belonging to geographical areas over the world. In particular, the affiliation of the authors sees nations represented according to the following percentages: China, 69%; Pakistan, 9%; Malaysia, 5%; Mexico, 3%; USA, 3%; Spain, 2%; Iran, Taiwan and Vietnam, 1.5%; Norway and UK, 1%; Chile, Denmark, Ghana, Oman and South Africa, 0.5%. The topics covered range across all energy sectors. Starting from the production of energy up to its final consumption, the authors discuss

#### *Processes* **2020**, *8*, 669

and propose ideas and opportunities to optimize processes, methods, equipment and machinery to minimize energy needs from non-renewable sources and the environmental pollution derived from it.

The authors, in presenting their scientific works, have shown that it is possible to intervene in multiple sectors to try and optimize numerous energy processes. This is proof that the scientific community is active in producing ideas that will allow a transition to a low-carbon future and apply new theories and models based on innovative algorithms.

In particular, in the field of studies concerning energy optimization in the civil construction sector, the following publications have found space in this collection of scientific works:


The application of innovative methodologies to encourage more efficient transport has led to the production of the following scientific works:


The research sector that operates in the production, transport and dispatching of energy has been enriched by the considerations contained in the following articles:

− Integrated Delphi-AHP and Fuzzy TOPSIS Approach Toward Ranking and Selection of Renewable Energy Resources in Pakistan (Keywords: Delphi; analytical hierarchy process; fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution techniques; renewable energy (RE) resources; sustainable energy planning) [12].


Research in the industrial production sector and its associated processes have found space in the following works:


These studies, and the researchers who participated in them are the cornerstone for human well-being of tomorrow, supporting economic development and reducing fuel poverty. The future will be sustainable because it can only be such. The sustainable future is closer than we can imagine.

I must congratulate the authors and reviewers for their outstanding work, and thank the editors, assistants, and all the staff of MDPI for the quality of their work.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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