Emerging renewable energy sources, such as advanced solar technology, marine energy, and innovative bioenergy solutions, play a crucial role in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Particularly related to SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy), these sources contribute significantly to ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Simultaneously, they support SDG 13 (Climate Action) by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, curbing global warming, and mitigating the impacts of climate change. Further, the development and implementation of these clean energy technologies also foster innovation and infrastructure advancements (SDG 9), create employment opportunities (SDG 8), and have the potential to reduce inequalities (SDG 10) by enabling energy access in remote and underserved regions. Thus, the proliferation of emerging renewable energy sources is intrinsically linked to the realization of sustainable development worldwide.
Mahfuz Kabir, Zobaidul Kabir, Nigar Sultana, Chapter 14 - Climate change, sustainability, and renewable energy in developing economies, Editor(s): Imran Khan, Renewable Energy and Sustainability, Elsevier, 2022, Pages 377-415, ISBN 9780323886680, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-323-88668-0.00001-2.
Wolf-Peter Schill is Deputy Head of the Energy, Transportation, Environment Department at the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW Berlin), where he leads the research area Transformation of the Energy Economy. He engages in open-source power sector modeling, which he applies to economic analyses of renewable energy integration, energy storage, and sector coupling. He holds a diploma in environmental engineering and a doctoral degree in economics from Technische Universität Berlin.
This literature review identifies the impacts of different renewable energy pathways on ecosystems and biodiversity, and the implications of these impacts for transitioning to a Green Economy. While the higher penetration of renewable energy is currently the backbone of Green Economy efforts, an emerging body of literature demonstrates that the renewable energy sector can affect ecosystems and biodiversity.
In this paper, five most emerging renewable energy sources are analyzed. These emerging renewables are either special or advanced forms of the mainstream energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, biofuels, biomass, and hydro) or brand new technologies. The five emerging renewable technologies discussed in this paper include marine energy, concentrated solar photovoltaics (CSP), enhanced geothermal energy (EGE), cellulosic ethanol, and artificial photosynthesis.
