• Energy Research
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With the fast growth of the global economy, energy supply and demand have a strong impact on social, economic, and environmental aspects. As a consequence, this has pushed the decision-makers to formulate objectives, guiding economic policies toward sustainable goals. The process is known as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have been proposed by the United Nations. This being said, the energy sector is a vital domain with a vast potential for improvments in terms of technologies and ligistalations. Solar energy is among the most efficient solutions proposed to reduce the economic and environmental footprints of energy. In this frame, the current paper aims to localize solar energy within SDGs and analyze the contribution of the solar energy towards the achievement of the SDGs. Moreover, the current work highlights the contributions of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (MBR) Solar Park in the United Arab Emirates to achieving the SDGs. Indeed, the MBR Solar Park concept offers valuable insights of environmental impacts by deploying clean and affordable energy sources in place of conventional fossil fuel power plants that are still heavily used in the region. The MBR Solar Park operation has already mitigated 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and this number will likely rise when all phases are installed and operational. Moreover, it has been shown that MBR Solar Park achieve several SDGs such SDG 8: decent work and economic growth, SDG 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure, SDG 11: sustainable cities and communities, and SDG 15: life on land.

Energy mix persistence is a defining characteristic of energy systems, for reasons including the long‐lived nature of energy infrastructure and the role of local endowments. This persistence is evident in current energy‐type use being strongly influenced by past use. Our analysis uses data for eight energy types and a large sample of countries, finding varying degrees of energy mix persistence. We also find evidence that carbon pricing appears to have played a key role in tilting energy mixes from coal towards renewable energy. Our estimates provide empirical support to policymakers seeking to implement carbon pricing to transition their energy systems in a lower‐carbon direction.

Abstract This study presents the largest-known, investigation on discomfort glare with 493 surveys collected from five green buildings in Brisbane, Australia. The study was conducted on full-time employees, working under their everyday lighting conditions, all of whom had no affiliation with the research institution. The survey consisted of a specially tailored questionnaire to assess potential factors relating to discomfort glare. Luminance maps extracted from high dynamic range (HDR) images were used to capture the luminous environment of the occupants. Occupants who experienced glare on their monitor and/or electric glare were excluded from analysis leaving 419 available surveys. Occupants were more sensitive to glare than any of the tested indices accounted for. A new index, the UGP was developed to take into account the scope of results in the investigation. The index is based on a linear transformation of the UGR to calculate a probability of disturbed persons. However all glare indices had some correlation to discomfort, and statistically there was no difference between the DGI, UGR and CGI. The UGP broadly reflects the demographics of the working population in Australia and the new index is applicable to open plan green buildings.

Wind power is an important potential source of electricity/energy generation, which also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. Turkey is one of the largest markets in the wind energy production sector across the world. With the growing energy demand and for sustainability, the production is increasingly moving towards offshore wind farms. This study briefly reviews the offshore wind farms across the world and evaluates three alternatives for selecting the best site for an offshore wind farm based on 4 main and 15 sub-criteria in the Black Sea region of Turkey. The integrated distance measures and intuitionistic fuzzy sets based on multi-criteria decision-making are employed for that purpose. The ranking for the alternatives results with Inebolu, Amasra, Karasu, repectively in that order from the best to the worst option.

A key determinant and outcome of successful environmental education is ‘pro-environmental behavior’, i.e., behavior that involves conscious action to mitigate adverse environmental impacts at personal or community level, e.g., reducing resource consumption and waste generation, avoiding toxic substances, and organizing community awareness initiatives. However, some theorists have sought to move away from rationalist models of behavioral modification, towards holistic pedagogical initiatives that seek to develop action competence. In light of the global push towards achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emerging evidence suggests that education initiatives should foster action competence so students may be equipped to contribute to sustainable development as part of their education. The UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Roadmap 2030 has also identified key priority areas to strengthen ESD in formal curricula. This article reports two informal environmental education initiatives for promoting action competence and pro-environmental behaviors in school-aged children. The authors recommend that formal education settings (e.g., schools) should incorporate self-directed, free-choice project-based learning to augment environmental education programs and promote students’ action competence for contribution to attainment of SDGs. To this end, we propose a Free-Choice Project-based Learning for Action Competence in Sustainable Development (ACiSD) Curriculum, comprising six implementation dimensions, namely: (1) project duration and teaming arrangements, (2) topic selection, (3) student support, (4) teacher support, (5) learning environments, and (6) digital access and equity. For each implementation dimension, we recommend action steps to help educators implement this curriculum in their own educational settings, with the aid of an illustrative worked example.

The present study aims to demonstrate the significance of religious tourism and its impact on both the economy and socio-culture. Religious tourism provides a sacred and spiritual environment that has the potential to shape the motivational state of individuals searching for cultural and religious landmarks and destinations to support their spiritual well-being. Hence, it is imperative to maintain close relationships between religion, culture, and tourism as they play a crucial role in promoting spirituality and human development, particularly in the context of globalization and sustainable economic development. In the latter part of the paper, research was conducted to formulate strategies aimed at the development of religious tourism in the northeast region of Romania, which is an economically underprivileged area with significant untapped tourist potential. The findings suggest that via improvements in infrastructure, the creation of a favorable business environment, enhanced promotion, development of accommodation facilities, and improvement in services, the area can achieve a higher quality of life and sustainable development.

The basins of the Indus and Ganges rivers cover 2.20 million km2 and are inhabited by more than a billion people. The region is under extreme pressures of population and poverty, unregulated utilization of the resources and low levels of productivity. The needs are: (1) development policies that are regionally differentiated to ensure resource sustainability and high productivity; (2) immediate development and implementation of policies for sound groundwater management and energy use; (3) improvement of the fragile food security and to broaden its base; and (4) policy changes to address land fragmentation and improved infrastructure. Meeting these needs will help to improve productivity, reduce rural poverty and improve overall human development.

Cloud computing and sustainability have become part of a core strategy in organizations globally and locally, since their characteristics assist both businesses and individuals to become unique and exclusive in their work and study. Businesses and individuals should integrate sustainability in their strategy and to include cloud computing technology as a tool for sustainable work, especially in the Information Technology (IT) departments to cut costs and increase efficiencies and productivity. This paper examines European organizations' awareness of cloud computing and sustainability opportunities and risks, via an online survey targeting 56 Information Technology managers in Europe. A Cloud Computing Conceptual model was developed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the survey results. The study results confirmed that cloud computing technology opportunities, including sustainability in the organization's strategy, will enhance their job performance and job satisfaction, use and awareness; however, security, privacy and risks are still a major concern.