Clean Energy Solutions and Sustainable Development

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Clean Energy Solutions and Sustainable Development Felix Kwabena Donkor1 and Kevin Mearns1,2 1 College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa (UNISA), UNISA Science Campus, Johannesburg, South Africa 2 Department of Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Definition Clean energy denotes the array of fuel options obtained from mostly renewable, low emissions sources such as bioenergy, direct solar energy, geothermal energy, hydropower, ocean energy, and wind energy with minimal impact on the environment or environmentally friendly (IPCC 2011). There are several ways to deﬁning energy efﬁciency. There is the ecosystem-related approach whereby energy efﬁciency refers to the capacity to safeguard the integrity of the ecosystem while providing optimum energy services (Omar 2008). Other explanations denote energy efﬁciency, as the use of minimum energy to supply the same level of energy. It is hence one approach to limit human greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Furthermore, energy efﬁciency quantiﬁes the conversion of energy from one form to another, with no regard for impacts outside the process.

Moreover, efﬁcient energy use is attained chieﬂy through the use of more efﬁcient technology or process (Moynihan and Barringer 2017). Green transformation refers to the fostering of an inclusive prosperity while simultaneously conserving nature, linking green transformation demands across economic progress, resulting in an essential shift in the individual lifestyle and facilitating collective social ideas (CCICED 2015).

Sustainable Development and Sustainability In recent times, the environmental impacts of energy supply have progressively gained policy focus on the sustainable development agenda. The United Nations and other international organizations have encouraged governments to signiﬁcantly expand the share of renewable energy, while greener technologies are being promoted especially in resource-rich nations. Moreover, countries are at diverse levels of development and thus confronted with unique energy challenges (San Miguel and Cerrato 2020). It is therefore necessary to introduce tailored measures to successfully transition to a low-carbon economy (Rana et al. 2020). The shift toward a low-carbon society represents a signiﬁcant paradigm shift in the energy sphere toward sustainable development. Sustainable development denotes a development paradigm that seeks to enhance human

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Affordable and Clean Energy, Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71057-0_123-1

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development goals and concurrently safeguard the capacity of ecological systems to supply the natural resources and ecosystem services which support the socioeconomy (Ozturk and Acaravci 2011; Shaker 2015). A more widespread deﬁnition traced to the Brundtland Report of 1987 refers to sustainable development as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising th

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