Sustainable Development and Circular Economy for Energy Transition
A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "C: Energy Economics and Policy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 May 2026 | Viewed by 321
Special Issue Editors
Interests: sustainable development; environmental management; sustainable business models; environmental protection
Interests: environmental management; energy management; technology systems; technology and innovation management; business plans and feasibility studies; public economics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The global energy landscape is undergoing a profound transformation driven by the urgent need to mitigate climate change, reduce resource dependency, and foster sustainable development. The global shift toward a low-carbon and resource efficient economy requires systemic approaches that integrate sustainable development principles with circular economy models.
This Special Issue aims to advance the scientific and practical understanding of how circularity can drive the decarbonization, resilience, and inclusiveness of energy systems. By fostering cross-disciplinary insights, it seeks to highlight innovative approaches that minimize resource use, extend product lifecycles, and reduce emissions across the entire energy value chain.
Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Circular Strategies for Renewable Energy Technologies: Innovative approaches for the design; reuse; repowering; and recycling of solar, wind, hydrogen, and bioenergy systems.
- Energy Efficiency and Demand Management: Smart systems and behavioral strategies to reduce energy use and optimize circular consumption.
- Resource Recovery and Critical Materials: Techniques for recovering, reusing, and substituting scarce or valuable materials in energy technologies.
- Industrial Symbiosis and Waste-to-Energy Systems: Synergistic processes for valorizing waste streams and improving energy recovery.
- Business Models and Financial Mechanisms: The development of circular business strategies, investment models, and risk assessment tools for energy transition.
- Circular Value Chains and Supply Chain Management: Frameworks for resource-efficient, low-carbon, and traceable energy supply chains.
- Circular Design and Manufacturing: Methods for minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency in energy technology production.
- Urban and Regional Circular Energy Systems: The integration of renewable energy and circularity principles in cities, industrial parks, and territorial planning.
- Environmental and Technoeconomic Assessment: Applications of LCA, LCC, and MFA for evaluating circular and sustainable energy systems.
- Governance and Policy Frameworks: Regulatory, institutional, and policy instruments supporting circular and sustainable energy systems.
- Just and Inclusive Energy Transition: Ensuring social equity, job creation, and the fair distribution of benefits in the shift toward circular energy economies.
Dr. Alexandra Alexandropoulou
Dr. Andreas Fousteris
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- circular economy
- sustainable development
- energy transition
- renewable energy
- resource efficiency
- life cycle assessment (LCA)
- circular business model
- energy efficiency
- decarbonization
- energy policy
- energy systems
- sustainable energy
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