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Advanced Renewable Energy Supply and Sustainability Transitions: System Performance, Industrial Integration, and Risk-Aware Assessment

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 1377

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Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Branze, 38, I-25123 Brescia, Italy
Interests: sustainable logistics and supply chain management; energy efficiency and energy management systems; sustainability assessment and LCA; techno-economic evaluation; industrial symbiosis and circular economy; renewable energy systems and energy storage technologies; design and management of production and industrial plants; operations and maintenance management; modeling and simulation of production, logistics, and energy systems; low-carbon transition
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The shift to renewable energy systems is fundamental to sustainable development and the mitigation of climate change. Despite the rapid advancement of technological innovation in renewable energy, there is an increasing necessity to assess system-level performance, sustainability, and integration, rather than concentrating exclusively on the design of new technologies. This Special Issue examines the necessity of renewable energy supply and transition strategies, focusing on efficiency, system assessment, industrial applications, and risk-aware decision-making.

This Special Issue aims to examine the effective deployment and assessment of renewable energy systems, energy storage technologies, and energy efficiency measures in facilitating sustainable transitions. The scope encompasses methodologies and applications related to sustainability assessment, life cycle thinking, techno-economic feasibility analysis, sustainable logistics and supply chain management, industrial symbiosis, and circular economy strategies. Risk and uncertainty are critical factors that must be considered for effective system evaluation, investment planning, and the development of long-term sustainability strategies. This initiative aims to create an interdisciplinary platform that combines energy systems research with industrial engineering, operations management, and sustainability science.

This Special Issue enhances current research, by shifting focus from technology design to highlight systemic evaluation, integration, and risk-informed assessment methodologies. This study provides insights into the performance, scalability, and sustainability trade-offs associated with renewable energy transitions, while also addressing the uncertainties involved in their implementation.

Dr. Beatrice Marchi
Guest Editor

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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • renewable energy systems
  • energy storage
  • system performance assessment
  • sustainability assessment
  • life cycle thinking
  • energy efficiency and management
  • industrial symbiosis
  • circular economy
  • risk and uncertainty

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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43 pages, 3048 KB  
Systematic Review
Life Cycle Assessment of Power Plants: A Systematic Review of Environmental Impacts Across Electricity Generation Technologies
by Beatrice Marchi, Enrico Bertagna and Lucio E. Zavanella
Sustainability 2026, 18(4), 1994; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18041994 - 14 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1083
Abstract
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate the environmental impact of power generation systems and inform energy and climate policy decisions. In recent years, numerous LCA studies have examined the life-cycle implications of power plants utilizing renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel [...] Read more.
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is widely used to evaluate the environmental impact of power generation systems and inform energy and climate policy decisions. In recent years, numerous LCA studies have examined the life-cycle implications of power plants utilizing renewable, nuclear, and fossil fuel technologies. Nevertheless, the resultant data is fragmented, exhibiting significant diversity among investigations attributable to disparities in system boundaries, technical assumptions, and methodological selections. This document offers a systematic overview of peer-reviewed LCA studies and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) evaluating the environmental implications of predominant power production technologies, such as solar photovoltaic, wind, hydropower, nuclear, and natural gas power plants. Various environmental effect categories are evaluated, with a specific focus on Global Warming Potential as the most frequently reported and policy-relevant metric. The review consolidates documented impact ranges, assesses the effects of plant size and technological design, and evaluates the contribution of several life cycle stages to overall environmental performance. The findings emphasize prevalent tendencies and significant variability among technologies and studies, illustrating the susceptibility of LCA results to modeling assumptions and data sources. Although current LCAs offer relevant insights into the environmental impact of electricity generation, the review highlights enduring methodological deficiencies, particularly the inadequate handling of uncertainty, the static portrayal of long-lasting infrastructures, and the lack of explicit attention to technological risk. This study consolidates and critically evaluates existing literature, providing a thorough reference on the life-cycle environmental consequences of power plants and facilitating a more educated interpretation of LCA results within energy system planning and policy analysis. Full article
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