Energy

Energy is a central component of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), explicitly reflected in SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy. However, the theme of energy cuts across multiple SDGs, demonstrating the interconnectivity of these global goals.

SDG 7's objective is to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Energy, in its various forms, is a vital driver of economic growth and is pivotal to nearly all aspects of development. Without a steady and reliable supply of energy, societies can hardly progress. However, millions of people around the world still lack access to modern and clean energy services. The emphasis on "affordable and clean" energy within this goal shows the need to transition from traditional energy sources, often characterized by high environmental costs, to more sustainable ones like wind, solar, and hydropower.

Energy's role is also significant in achieving other SDGs. For example, SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, emphasizes the need for sustainable and resilient infrastructure with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean technologies. It is almost impossible to achieve this without a sustainable energy framework. Similarly, SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, calls for making cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable, and one of its targets (11.6) directly refers to the environmental impact of cities, for which energy is a key factor.

Furthermore, energy is a crucial player in SDG 13: Climate Action. The energy sector represents the largest single source of global greenhouse gas emissions. Transitioning to a sustainable energy future, therefore, is critical for tackling climate change. Efforts to reduce emissions and promote clean energy sources are crucial to mitigate climate change and its impacts.

This article aims to present and discuss the energy and environmental reality in the building sector and critically investigate the future pathways towards its decarbonisation.
The drive to curb carbon emissions — and remove carbon from the atmosphere to the point where society is making a “net zero” contribution to CO2 levels — is essentially a scramble to secure our future on this planet. A new report from Elsevier aims to advance the understanding of research and innovation in net zero and how it supports the drive toward a clean-energy future.
Elsevier,

Advances in Thermal Energy Storage Systems, Second Edition, Methods and Applications, Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy, 2021, Pages 673-697

This chapter advances SDG 7 by explaining how the fundamentals of thermal energy storage in solar thermal power plants, in order to produce solar energy on demand and thus increase the feasibility of solar power as an energy source.
Background: Africa is undergoing both an environmental and an epidemiological transition. Household air pollution is the predominant form of air pollution, but it is declining, whereas ambient air pollution is increasing. We aimed to quantify how air pollution is affecting health, human capital, and the economy across Africa, with a particular focus on Ethiopia, Ghana, and Rwanda. Methods: Data on household and ambient air pollution were from WHO Global Health Observatory, and data on morbidity and mortality were from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease Study.

COP26 is the 2021 United Nations annual climate change conference. COP stands for Conference of the Parties. Parties are the signatories of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - a treaty agreed in 1994 which has 197 Parties (196 countries and the EU). The 2021 conference, hosted by the UK, together with our partners Italy, in Glasgow, will be the 26th meeting of the Parties, which is why it's called COP26.

Elsevier, Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, Volume 31, October 2021
Hydrogen as a clean, reliable and potentially sustainable energy vector has attracted growing interest for promoting the sustainable development of both industry and society worldwide. Hydrogen is a rising enabler for a multisectorial transition toward a low-carbon economy based on renewable energy sources. Nevertheless, there is a lack of literature scientifically scrutinizing the relationships between a hydrogen economy and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Transitioning the energy sector to zero or net-zero emission of greenhouse gasses (GHG) and substantially reducing other pollutants is a massive, costly, and long-term effort. The typical starting point and centerpiece of energy decarbonization is the electric power sector. The sector is a large direct GHG emitter. It already has many technological, non-carbon emitting alternatives that are rapidly declining in capital and operating costs and improving in performance, making electricity the least expensive and accessible energy carrier to decarbonize.
In the run up to COP26, the United Nations Climate Change conference, RELX’s Global Head of Corporate Responsibility, Dr Márcia Balisciano, talks to Prof Trevor Letcher, Prof Carolina Arlota & Prof Hirdan Costa about the energy transition required to meet the Paris Agreement.
Renewable energies have been discussed as the main efficient solution for solving many issues regarding climate change. Statistics said that the share of the building sector is very high in excessive use of fossil fuels. This study aimed to utilize the natural wind to create optimal natural ventilation to achieve thermal comfort of the indoor environment through the best layout and placement of residential blocks, creating proper distance between blocks and orienting blocks properly inside a residential complex site in a summery humid climate.
Urban areas are critical in accomplishing the clean energy transition and meeting the climate goals in the Paris Agreement. The first part of this paper presents a systematic review of scientific publications on zero emission neighbourhoods, positive energy districts and similar concepts of climate friendly neighbourhoods (CFN). The second lists a selection of CFN definitions of public initiatives and research projects. The aim is to identify focus areas, research gaps and future research possibilities.

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