Introduction One of the major societal challenges of the coming years is related to the rise in global energy demands: the latest International Energy Outlook 2017 of U.S. Energy Information Administration (available from: https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/ieo) projects that the world energy consumption will grow by 28% between 2015 and 2040, going from 19.2 to 24.6 TWy. The fast depletion of fossil fuels reserves, together with the severe environmental impact associated with their combustion,...
