Sustainable Energy Development—A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The main aim of this study is to present a systematic literature review (SLR) of the sustainable energy development (SED) and emphasize important activities relevant to this concept. The following set of research tasks was adopted to achieve the main aim: (1) presentation of the distribution of articles by year (both journal and conference papers) on the SED concept; (2) identification of the most frequently cited articles on the SED concept; (3) identification of the countries that have contributed most to the development of the SED concept through publication activities; (4) demonstration of the subject areas most frequently associated with the SED concept; (5) presentation of the various definitions of the SED; (6) identification of the most important activities carried out under the SED; and (7) presentation of future research directions for the SED. It is worth noting that the research tasks undertaken will be both quantitative and qualitative. The data search was conducted on 31 August 2022, and the selected peer-reviewed database was Scopus. The exclusion process resulted in a total of 607 journal and conference papers. The most important conclusion to be derived from this study is that there is no one unified definition of the SED. Moreover, three activities must be undertaken to realize the SED concept: (1) increasing the use of renewable energy sources in the energy mix, (2) enhancing energy efficiency, and (3) reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. The article also presents the authors’ conceptual model that can serve as a starting point for further analyses in this area.