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Sustainable Development of the Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Technologies

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2026 | Viewed by 127

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Architecture, Built Environment and Construction Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Via Giuseppe Ponzio 31, 20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: energy efficiency; renewable energy; HVAC systems; low-energy technologies; energy access in least developed countries

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Guest Editor
HyStandards GmbH, 82131 Gauting, Germany
Interests: renewable energy; climate action; sustainable development; energy policy; e-mobility; sustainable aviation; hydrogen economy; multi-energy systems; water-energy nexus; energy system digitalization; critical materials

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Independent Researcher, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Interests: sustainable chemical energy; hydrogen and power-to-X systems; energy carriers; waste-to-energy; energy efficiency; CCUS

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Reaching carbon neutrality within the coming few decades is a major global challenge. At the same time, it presents an opportunity to transition to abundant, clean and sustainable energy for all. Renewable energy and hydrogen technologies will play the key roles in this transition.

To realize this vision, several key technologies require accelerated advancement; they must achieve higher levels of technological maturity and substantial cost reductions. Moreover, the current dependence on critical raw materials must be drastically minimized, and the transition towards a circular economy must be significantly accelerated. The large-scale rollout of renewable and hydrogen infrastructure must also be seamlessly integrated with advancing digitalization to ensure efficiency and grid stability.

The spectrum of specific challenges is vast and multifaceted: solar and wind energy, for instance, face major grid-integration and intermittency issues; electric vehicles, while advancing, still rely heavily on critical materials for their batteries; the aviation and shipping sectors are notably lagging in viable decarbonization pathways; and hard-to-abate industries, such as steel and cement manufacturing, face severe cost constraints in their journey to decarbonize.

The purpose of the Special Issue “Sustainable Development of the Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Technologies” is to place these challenges under magnification and discuss required solutions, measures and policies.

Dr. Rajendra Singh Adhikari
Dr. Ghassan Zubi
Dr. Pravin Kannan
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • renewable energy
  • energy efficiency
  • hydrogen economy
  • e-mobility
  • sustainable aviation
  • green shipping
  • electrolyzers and fuel cells
  • battery technologies
  • supercapacitors
  • energy sector digitalization
  • smart grids
  • multi-energy systems
  • circular economy
  • critical materials
  • power-to-X systems
  • waste-to-energy
  • energy carriers

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

35 pages, 1656 KB  
Review
Microgrid Optimization with Metaheuristic Algorithms—A Review of Technologies and Trends for Sustainable Energy Systems
by Ghassan Zubi and Sofoklis Makridis
Sustainability 2026, 18(2), 647; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18020647 - 8 Jan 2026
Abstract
Microgrids are evolving from simple hybrid systems into complex, multi-energy platforms with high-dimensional optimization challenges due to technological diversification, sector coupling, and increased data granularity. This review systematically examines the intersection of microgrid optimization and metaheuristic algorithms, focusing on the period from 2015 [...] Read more.
Microgrids are evolving from simple hybrid systems into complex, multi-energy platforms with high-dimensional optimization challenges due to technological diversification, sector coupling, and increased data granularity. This review systematically examines the intersection of microgrid optimization and metaheuristic algorithms, focusing on the period from 2015 to 2025. We first trace the technological evolution of microgrids and identify the drivers of increased optimization complexity. We then provide a structured overview of metaheuristic algorithms—including evolutionary, swarm intelligence, physics-based, and human-inspired approaches—and discuss their suitability for high-dimensional search spaces. Through a comparative analysis of case studies, we demonstrate that metaheuristics such as genetic algorithms, particle swarm optimization, and the gray wolf optimizer can reduce the computation time to under 10% of that required by an exhaustive search while effectively handling multimodal, constrained objectives. The review further highlights the growing role of hybrid algorithms and the need to incorporate uncertainty into optimization models. We conclude that future microgrid design will increasingly rely on adaptive and hybrid metaheuristics, supported by standardized benchmark problems, to navigate the growing dimensionality and ensure resilient, cost-effective, and sustainable systems. This work provides a roadmap for researchers and practitioners in selecting and developing optimization frameworks for the next generation of microgrids. Full article
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