What we see in the picture is the famous Saturn V rocket that made possible the Moonshot with Apollo Program in early 60ies.
From a scientific and technical point of view, Saturn V was a masterpiece that was synthesizing the knowledge and technology of that time to concentrate as much energy as possible to win Gravity. In that era, the main priority was to assure unconstrained access to cheap, unlimited, energy resources. The consumption of energy resources of a country was an indicator of a growing economy.
In the 70ies it has been initiated the debate about the “Limits of Growth” and it has been discovered that the connection between energy and economy is not only about costs but also about a fair distribution of welfare and about degradation of the habitat. The increasing concerns in the society led to the concept of sustainable development that was coined by the Report of the Brundtland Committee in 1987.
Decades after decades, the science and technology about producing, making available and using energy has been extended covering topics as energy efficiency, internalization of externalities, mitigation of emissions and many other topics centered on efficient use of energy resources and minimizing the impact on the environment.
Overlapping also an unprecedented development of technologies, the accumulation of knowledge made possible to understand how to optimize the use of energy in a large variety of systems from nanoscale to large macro systems by using geo-engineering. At the same time, the complexity of the energy systems increased by covering very different phenomena like in the case of a microbial fuel cell where the biological processes are influenced by heat transfer and light colour, to interact with electrochemical systems and generate electricity.
Today, in a World where it is estimated that to every piece of physical economy there are related up to 14 -16 units of virtual economy, the science and technology of producing, distribution and use of energy is very sophisticated.
And the relation between energy and economy is also very complex: we have energy production companies that are rewarded if they consume more energy and fined if increase their production or clean energy systems that are not accepted to supply energy to the GRID in certain moments of operation.
In the next picture there is presented the functioning principle of a quantum heat engine working based on the excitation and de-excitation of electrons using LASER beams.
Quantum engineering is generating a growing plethora of unique devices as sensors, measuring gauges or navigation tools.
And much more fascinating examples may continue like microchips with complex electronics that are integrating various types of materials and cooling systems.
In the current context of unprecedented development of digital technologies and their pervasive penetration in the society, the irruption of cognitive sciences leading also to new paths of understanding the relation between energy and wellbeing or energy poverty, with energy security and cyber security on top level agendas, the selection of the topics for the ECOS 2026 was a big challenge.
Finally, after a large consultation process with the members of the International Scientific Committee we are launching the call for abstracts on the following topics:
- Fundamental and applied thermodynamics,
- Entropy Generation Minimization
- Heat and mass transfer, Multiscale transport phenomena, Computational Thermo-Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
- Energy conversion technologies for power production, cogeneration, polygeneration, refrigeration and heat upgrading
- Multi-objective optimization in energy systems
- Multiscale & multiphysics modelling , analysis & optimization of complex energy systems
- Exergy-based modelling, analysis & optimization
- Fuel and chemical conversion processes (incl. combustion, gasification, hydrogen and biofuels production and use)
- Power-to-X
- Refrigeration and heat pumps
- Fuel cells, batteries and electrochemical reactors
- ORC and Supercritical CO2 systems
- Hydrogen Energy (utilization, storage, production)
- Renewable energy utilization, integration and energy storage
- District Heating Systems, Polygeneration and Waste Heat Recovery
- Thermal hydraulics in nuclear reactors
- Sustainable energy policy and planning
- Environmental impact of energy systems & energy-water nexus
- Digitalization, AI, Digital Twins, Extended Reality, smart grids, distributed generation
- Quantum technologies applied to complex energy systems
- Life Cycle Analysis,
- Thermoeconomics (Exergoeconomics),
- Socioeconomic, Health and Human security analysis of Energy systems
- Energy, materials, waste and water: Resources and footprints.
- Climate Change and Energy conversion
- Sustainable energy solutions in urban environments, mobility, marine and coastal areas
- Energy management in buildings
The Calendar of the paper preparation is as followings:
- Abstract submission deadline: December 22nd 2025
- Abstract acceptance: January 18th 2026
- Full-paper submission for review: March 1st 2026
- Notification of review results: April 5th 2026
- Final paper submission: May 24th 2026
The submission of abstracts shall be done on the Conference website: https://ecos2026.insae.ro/
Thank you for all your kindness and interest in joining us at the ECOS 2026 Conference!
Best regards,
Prof. Eden Mamut,
Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania