The experience of operating an energy-related Living Lab (LL) in mountainous Greece is presented in this paper in an attempt to explore the dynamics of such initiatives to address energy vulnerability. The LL is situated in Metsovo, which is a typical mountainous town of Greece with increased vulnerability issues identified in previous studies. Since Greek mountainous societies have proved to be particularly exposed to energy poverty, the LL aimed to function as an exemplary case on how to tackle energy poverty issues in mountainous regions, mainly through reducing energy consumption and improving energy efficiency. The methodological context was based on a holistic LL approach consisting of various activities, such as conduction of energy cafés, questionnaire surveys, home visits from Energy Advisors, installation of monitoring equipment, ICT tools and processing, etc. In particular, the LL consisted of three independent rounds, each of which involved 50 households, with 30 of them being equipped with monitoring tools. Energy advisors repeatedly visited households to collect information (on heating expenses, behavioral aspects, etc.) and offer household-specific advice on potential energy savings measures. Overall, the LL operation proved to have benefited most participants (76%), especially households with monitoring equipment, as 85.5% of the last ones already applied energy-efficiency measures and 80% made further plans for future investments. Through the particular LL example, apart from the benefits delivered to the local society, useful information can be provided to policy-makers toward addressing more effectively energy vulnerability in mountainous societies.

Bitcoin has introduced a new concept that could feasibly revolutionise the entire Internet as it exists, and positively impact on many types of industries including, but not limited to, banking, public sector and supply chain. This innovation is grounded on pseudo-anonymity and strives on its innovative decentralised architecture based on the blockchain technology. Blockchain is pushing forward a race of transaction-based applications with trust establishment without the need for a centralised authority, promoting accountability and transparency within the business process. However, a blockchain ledger (e.g., Bitcoin) tend to become very complex and specialised tools, collectively called "Blockchain Analytics", are required to allow individuals, law enforcement agencies and service providers to search, explore and visualise it. Over the last years, several analytical tools have been developed with capabilities that allow, e.g., to map relationships, examine flow of transactions and filter crime instances as a way to enhance forensic investigations. This paper discusses the current state of blockchain analytical tools and presents a thematic taxonomy model based on their applications. It also examines open challenges for future development and research.

Here we explore the structural properties and damage sensing of cementitious mortars after a freeze-thaw process (F-T) as a function of nano-modification. For this purpose, carbon nanotubes were added at 0.2–0.8 wt.% cement using two different dispersive agents. F-T resulted in reduced fracture energy in nano-modified specimens prepared using superplasticizer as a dispersant while the opposite held true for the surfactant-containing ones. All nano-modified mortars possessed significantly higher fracture energy compared to the plain specimens after F-T (up to 73% improvement). The acoustic emission activity was lower after F-T, while acoustic emission indicators revealed a more tensile mode of fracture in both plain and nano-modified mortars.

Energy poverty is a multidimensional and continuously growing societal problem, with political roots. In pursuit of mitigating the problem, the European Commission has adopted a bundle of policies, such as consumer protection measures, short-term financial interventions, motivations for energy efficiency (e.g., energy retrofits and replacement of old household appliance) and information campaigns, among others. There is no doubt, however, that increasing the income of vulnerable households would be the most preferred and effective option. Focusing on energy efficiency, a measure typically incorporated in the National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) of many Member States as a means to fight energy poverty, this paper aims to shed light on the need to gradually move towards more localized—not to say personalized—actions. In this direction, a labeled choice-based experiment is used, which involves a hypothetical selection between three alternative energy interventions, i.e., house retrofit, upgrading of heating system and upgrading of household electrical appliances. The research aims to integrate the preferences of households from the choice experiment with indicators of energy poverty and establish a connection between energy poverty and energy efficiency investment decisions. The results demonstrate that households’ preferences are affected by qualitative and quantitative aspects of energy vulnerability and sociodemographic characteristics. Furthermore, vulnerable households seem to be more prone to the so-called “discounting gap”, as previous studies also suggest. These findings are worrisome because, without tailor-made support, these households may never escape the vicious circle of energy poverty. To this end, the survey could provide useful information to policy-makers towards developing more robust policies of energy poverty alleviation.