Distributed generation technologies for energy sustainability

This paper analyzes some important aspects toward changing energy paradigma in urban area.To that aim it is important to act synergically on three sides of the energy system:- Demand side: by reducing energy demand;- Supply side: by optimizing generation system and transmission of energy and by integrating local renewable energy sources also by distributed (co)generation, where it is possible;- Management side: by implementing advanced management control systems able to reduce energy waste and to combine energy demand and generation in the best way.Actions aiming demand containment can affect individual buildings or built systems, from the neighborhood to the metropolitan scale.This paper includes a short survey of the currently available technologies for optimization of energysupply, focusing on the progress achieved by the technology in integrating renewable sources, (micro) cogeneration/trigeneration, distributed generation.The work intends to demonstrate how the potential of these technologies is actually very high, but also to highlight the obstacles, not only technical, which are slowing down their diffusion.