Energy Transition and Critical Raw Materials Supply: Environmental, Economic and Social Sustainability—(Transitioning Towards a Clean Economy: From Raw Materials to Final Technology)

Dear Colleagues,

At this historical moment, when most countries have committed to fighting climate change through a series of decisions adopted at various Conferences of the Parties (COPs) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, it is crucial to not only assess the strategies proposed to achieve the objectives set but also identify and address the main difficulties that are emerging. In any strategy proposed for this purpose, the concept of sustainability plays a central role. This concept extends to the daily decisions taken by society and consists of ensuring the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. Above all, it is about ensuring three pillars: environmental protection (environmental sustainability), economic growth (economic sustainability) and social development (social sustainability).

In this Special Issue, we invite contributions that explore the ultimate goal of the current energy transition process from the multifaceted perspective of sustainability. The aim is to raise questions that open new avenues of thought at a crucial moment for society and to present the research that has been carried out in this direction. The vast majority of researchers accept that energy transitions take many years to consolidate globally. Moreover, they are not usually immediate, as there are a number of geopolitical factors that determine their rate of progression. Furthermore, the costs of change in the energy mix are technological, social and economic, as was seen in the past with the transition from energy sources such as wood to coal during the First Industrial Revolution, or from coal to oil and gas. These changes require technical advances, public awareness and significant investment. Therefore, research on renewable energy sources and their role in the energy transition that we are currently experiencing, as well as the importance of critical raw materials in this process, will be appreciated. They may be presented through descriptions of specific cases, whether theoretical or practical, that are integrated into the global decarbonization process already underway. Research linking geopolitical aspects to the progress of the energy transition process will also be welcome, highlighting the points of conflict that may arise.

The aim of this Special Issue, therefore, is to explore the existing relationships between the implementation of renewable energy sources, the potential dependence on critical raw materials that may occur and geopolitical influence on the correct development of energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables. The following research objectives are thus proposed:

• The development of new renewable energy technologies and their contribution to sustainability.
• Existing relationships between geopolitics, the supply of critical raw materials and energy transition.
• Sustainability and energy security.
• Prospective studies on energy.
• Assessing of the influence of geopolitical and geographical concentration risks on the supply of critical raw materials.
• The impact of dependence on the supply and supply chains of critical raw materials on the economic balance of the energy transition process.
• Research on critical raw materials and new fuels.
• Analyses and studies on the impact of the need and supply of critical raw materials on social sustainability in the context of the energy transition process.

Original research and review articles on theoretical, methodological or practical approaches are welcome. Areas of research may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Sustainability and energy security.
• Critical raw materials.
• Green energy.
• Energy transition.
• Energy prospective studies (LEAP ® and others).
• Oil and gas in the energy transition process.
• Natural stocks and resource depletion perspective.
• Technological and economic perspectives.
• Environmental perspective.
• Socio-economic and geopolitical perspectives.

We look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Luis F. Mazadiego
Dr. Luis De La Torre De Palacios
Prof. Dr. Ramón Rodríguez Pons-Esparver
Guest Editors

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• sustainability
• energy transition
• critical raw materials
• geopolitics and sustainability
• energy storage, hydrogen
• renewable energy