sustainability-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

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 3080

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
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

E-Mail Website
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

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
  • 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

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Review

23 pages, 685 KB  
Review
Hydrogen Production from Biomass Through Conversion Pathways and Energy Efficiency Analysis—A Review
by Nevena M. Mileva, Penka Zlateva, Angel Terziev and Krastin Yordanov
Sustainability 2026, 18(9), 4470; https://doi.org/10.3390/su18094470 - 1 May 2026
Viewed by 1156
Abstract
Hydrogen is increasingly seen as a viable energy carrier in the transition to low-carbon energy systems, mainly because of its high gravimetric energy density and the absence of carbon emissions at the point of use. In this context, producing hydrogen from biomass represents [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is increasingly seen as a viable energy carrier in the transition to low-carbon energy systems, mainly because of its high gravimetric energy density and the absence of carbon emissions at the point of use. In this context, producing hydrogen from biomass represents a practical and sustainable option, as it allows the use of renewable and waste resources while supporting circular economy principles. This work examines the main pathways for hydrogen production from biomass, considering both thermochemical and biochemical routes, with a focus on their energy performance and practical limitations. The analysis shows that thermochemical processes, particularly gasification, remain the most developed and scalable solutions for converting solid biomass into hydrogen-rich gas, although their performance depends strongly on feedstock properties, reactor design, and operating conditions. By comparison, biochemical processes such as dark fermentation and photofermentation are more suitable for wet biomass but are limited by lower hydrogen yields and issues related to process stability. From a thermal engineering standpoint, system performance is influenced by heat transfer constraints, the energy demand of endothermic reactions, and the efficiency of gas cleaning, while parameters such as temperature, steam-to-biomass ratio, and equivalence ratio play a key role in optimization. Advanced approaches, including catalytic and sorption-enhanced gasification, show potential for improving performance. Overall, efficient hydrogen production requires a system-level approach, as no single technology can be considered universally optimal. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

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
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1476
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
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop