Carlos Silva

Abstract
The electrification of the transport sector is a critical element in the transition to a low-emissions economy, driven by the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and the integration of renewable energy sources (RES). However, managing the increasing demand for EV charging infrastructure while meeting carbon emission reduction targets is a significant challenge for charging station operators. This work introduces a novel carbon-aware dynamic pricing framework for EV charging, formulated as a chance-constrained optimization problem to consider forecast uncertainties in RES generation, load, and grid carbon intensity. The model generates day-ahead dynamic tariffs for EV drivers with a certain elastic behavior while optimizing costs and complying with a carbon emissions budget. Different types of budgets for Scope 2 emissions (indirect emissions of purchased electricity consumed by a company) are conceptualized and demonstrate the advantages of a stochastic approach over deterministic models in managing emissions under forecast uncertainty, improving the reduction rate of emissions per feasible day of optimization by 24 %. Additionally, a surrogate machine learning model is proposed to approximate the outcomes of stochastic optimization, enabling the application of state-of-the-art explainability techniques to enhance understanding and communication of dynamic pricing decisions under forecast uncertainty. It was found that lower tariffs are explained, for instance, by periods of higher renewable energy availability and lower market prices and that the most important feature was the hour of the day.

Abstract
The electrification of transportation, driven by the widespread adoption of electric vehicles and increased integration of renewable energy, is critical to decarbonizing mobility and society. Demand response strategies, such as dynamic pricing, enable indirect control of charging processes, but their success relies on accurately estimating consumer responses to tariff changes. Observational data can provide insights into consumer behavior, but the presence of confounding variables motivates the use of causal inference techniques for a reliable elasticity estimation. This study proposes a data-driven framework for optimizing dayahead charging tariffs, leveraging causal discovery and inference algorithms validated on a synthetically generated dataset. A sensitivity analysis explores the impact of data availability on elasticity estimation and the performance of the resulting demand response strategy. The findings highlight the potential of causal machine learning to characterize consumers and, ultimately, the need for regular characterization to improve the efficiency of demand-side management.

Abstract
High-performance computing relies on performance-oriented infrastructures with access to powerful computing resources to complete tasks that contribute to solve complex problems in society. The intensive use of resources and the increase in service demand due to emerging fields of science, combined with the exascale paradigm, climate change concerns, and rising energy costs, ultimately means that the decarbonization of these centers is key to improve their environmental and financial performance. Therefore, a review on the main opportunities and challenges for the decarbonization of high-performance computing centers is essential to help decision-makers, operators and users contribute to a more sustainable computing ecosystem. It was found that state-of-the-art supercomputers are growing in computing power, but are combining different measures to meet sustainability concerns, namely going beyond energy efficiency measures and evolving simultaneously in terms of energy and information technology infrastructure. It was also shown that policy and multiple entities are now targeting specifically HPC, and that identifying synergies with the energy sector can reveal new revenue streams, but also enable a smoother integration of these centers in energy systems. Computing-intensive users can continue to pursue their scientific research, but participating more actively in the decarbonization process, in cooperation with computing service providers. Overall, many opportunities, but also challenges, were identified, to decrease carbon emissions in a sector mostly concerned with improving hardware performance.

Abstract
The integration of electric vehicles is paramount to the electrification of the transport sector, supporting the energy transition. The charging process of electric vehicles can be perceived as a controllable load and targeted with price or incentive-based programs. Demand-side management can optimize charging station performance and integrate renewable energy generation through electrical energy storage. Data flowing through charging stations can be used in computational approaches to solve open challenges and create new services, such as a dynamic pricing strategy, where the charging tariff depends on operating conditions. This work presents a data-driven service that optimizes day-ahead charging tariffs with a bilevel optimization problem and develops a case study around a large-scale pilot. The impact of photovoltaics and battery storage on the dynamic pricing scheme was assessed. A dynamic pricing strategy was found to benefit self-consumption and self-sufficiency of the charging station, increasing over 4 percentage points in some cases.

Abstract
Climate change, geopolitical tensions, and decarbonization targets are bringing the resilience of the European electric power system to the forefront of discussion. Among various regulatory and technological solutions, voluntary demand response can help balance generation and demand during periods of energy scarcity or renewable energy generation surplus. This work presents an open data service called Interoperable Recommender that leverages publicly accessible data to calculate a country-specific operational balancing risk, providing actionable recommendations to empower citizens toward adaptive energy consumption, considering interconnections and local grid constraints. Using semantic interoperability, it enables third- party services to enhance energy management and customize applications to consumers. Real-world pilots in Portugal, Greece, and Croatia with over 300 consumers demonstrated the effectiveness of providing signals across diverse contexts. For instance, in Portugal, 7% of the hours included actionable recommendations, and metering data revealed a consumption decrease of 4% during periods when consumers were requested to lower consumption.