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 paper attempts to investigate the impact of economic growth and CO2 emissions on energy consumption for a global panel of 58 countries using dynamic panel data model estimated by means of the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) for the period 1990-2012. We also estimate this relationship for three regional panels; namely, from Europe and North Asia, Latin America and Caribbean, and Sub-Saharan, North African and Middle Eastern. The empirical evidence indicates significant positive impact of CO2 emissions on energy consumption for four global panels.
It is well known that there is a need to develop technologies to achieve thermal comfort in buildings lowering the cooling and heating demand. Research has shown that thermal energy storage (TES) is a way to do so, but also other purposes can be pursued when using TES in buildings, such as peak shaving or increase of energy efficiency in HVAC systems. This paper reviews TES in buildings using sensible, latent heat and thermochemical energy storage.
This paper defines the concept of 4th Generation District Heating (4GDH) including the relations to District Cooling and the concepts of smart energy and smart thermal grids. The motive is to identify the future challenges of reaching a future renewable non-fossil heat supply as part of the implementation of overall sustainable energy systems.
What is the best strategy to encourage research and development on new energy technologies in a market economy? What steps can ensure a rapid and efficient transition to an economy that has much lower net carbon emissions? This paper shows that, under limited conditions, a necessary and sufficient condition for an appropriate innovational environment is a universal, credible, and durable price on carbon emissions.
