Sustainable Energy Planning and Environmental Assessment

Dear Colleagues,

Energy is utilized in a wide range of industries and is an important component of sustainable development. However, it is obvious to all that the use of fossil energy causes great damage to the environment, thus seriously threatening the future of mankind. It has become a widely recognized opinion among scholars, countries and even the general public that we need to consider not only economic and social development but also the survival of the planet. The challenges currently facing the world are clearly laid out in the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which include affordable clean energy, climate action, and responsible consumption and production. The Paris Agreement, signed by major national leaders, commits to the carbon neutrality (net zero emission) goals that have profoundly changed the direction of the energy sector. It is our duty to build a clean, zero-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, and an environmentally friendly society.

In this context, industrial activities and management processes need to embed the concept of sustainable development in their solutions and planning, so that economic and environmental benefits can be realized. At the same time, the regulatory authorities need to launch relevant standards and regulations to implement environmental regulations and promote the sustainable transformation of enterprises and industries.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore the content related to sustainable energy planning and environmental assessment, with a disciplinary focus on energy planning, environmental science, engineering management, and techno-economic optimization. Authors are welcome to submit original research articles and reviews in this Special Issue. The research areas include, but are not limited to the following:

• Economic, social, and environmental renewable energy assessment;
• Techno-economic evaluation of energy environment technologies;
• Engineering management for waste reuse;
• Assessment of innovative technologies for the energy environment sector;
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning in sustainable energy planning and environmental assessment;
• Multi-scale energy development assessment models;
• Energy and environmental policy evaluation.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Qi Zhang
Dr. Ge Wang
Dr. Siyuan Chen
Dr. Yan Li
Guest Editors

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