Shaping Sustainable Futures: Public Policies and Renewable Energy Insights Based on Global Bibliometric Analysis

Abstract

The paradigm of sustainable energy is gaining ground at the historical juncture of the present worldwide push for sustainable development. This is being driven by the latest technological advancements and by a maturing process of public policy evolution toward support for a sustainable energy transition. This paper analyzes, with the support of bibliometric analysis, the specialized literature in order to capture the main themes of interest, as well as their evolution, thus offering a panoramic view of research trends and the significance of implementing correct environmental measures and policies. Covering the period from 1991 to 2024, our exploration filters 2990 articles from the Web of Science database using a query that intersects “sustainable energy”, “renewable energy”, and “sustainable development”, with a nuanced consideration of the political landscape that shapes these domains. Using the advanced capabilities of the R program, the methodology employed facilitates a nuanced workflow of extraction and analysis, allowing for a detailed examination of the proliferation of research over the decades. This paper provides significant results, demonstrating the increasing impact of research through international collaborations, the importance of high-impact journals on sustainability policies, and the growing focus on “renewable energy” and “CO2 emissions”. The analysis of the relevance of term groups in environmental policy development and the correlation between economic growth and CO2 emissions confirms emerging trends. Furthermore, critical directions for future research and the necessity for formulating and implementing coherent sustainability policies are highlighted.