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Topic · Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Global Energy and Sustainability Research

Global Energy and Sustainability Research is a research topic within Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment. Science Explorer counts 33k research works in it since 1950. 10.4% of them reached the world's top 10% most cited for their field and year.

This cluster of papers explores the global energy transition, fossil fuel depletion, and the implications for society. It covers topics such as EROI, peak oil, renewable energy potential, and the role of energy in economic growth. The papers also discuss the challenges and opportunities associated with transitioning to sustainable energy sources amidst concerns about climate change and resource constraints.

  • EROI
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Renewable Energy
  • Peak Oil
  • Sustainability
  • Energy Return on Investment
  • Global Energy
  • Oil Production
  • Climate Change
  • Energy Transition
Research works
33k
fractional, since 1950
In the world top 10%
3.5k
per year above
Top-10% rate
10.4%
share of its works in the world top 10%
Growth, 2018-21 → 2022-25
+35%
the tick is no change
Largest producer
United States
28% of the 10 largest, 2022-now
Global Energy and Sustainability Research

Which countries lead Global Energy and Sustainability Research research?

By volume, the United States and China publish the most (1.3k and 661 works in 2022-now).

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 United States 1.3k works
  2. 2 China 661 works
  3. 3 United Kingdom 523 works
  4. 4 India 394 works
  5. 5 France 358 works
  6. 6 Russia 325 works
  7. 7 Australia 315 works
  8. 8 Germany 297 works
  9. 9 Canada 226 works
  10. 10 Italy 182 works

How concentrated that is

The same countries as shares of everything the list above accounts for. A node where two countries do two thirds of the work and one spread evenly across twelve read alike as a ranking and not at all alike here.

United States: 28.1%China: 14.5%United Kingdom: 11.4%India: 8.6%6 others listed: 37.3%28%largest
United States1,285 · 28.1%China661 · 14.5%United Kingdom523 · 11.4%India394 · 8.6%6 others listed1,703 · 37.3%

Shares of the rows listed above, not of the whole node.

Which institutions lead Global Energy and Sustainability Research research?

By volume in 2022-now, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique publishes the most Global Energy and Sustainability Research research, followed by Russian Academy of Sciences and University of Oxford.

By volume, 2022-now

  1. 1 Centre National de la Recherche ScientifiqueFrance 103 works
  2. 2 Russian Academy of SciencesRussia 89 works
  3. 3 University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 34 works
  4. 4 Chinese Academy of SciencesChina 29 works
  5. 5 University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 22 works
  6. 6 Technical University of DenmarkDenmark 22 works
  7. 7 Helmholtz Association of German Research CentresGermany 22 works
  8. 8 Imperial College LondonUnited Kingdom 21 works
  9. 9 Stanford UniversityUnited States 21 works
  10. 10 University of Port HarcourtNigeria 21 works

Who are the leading researchers in Global Energy and Sustainability Research?

The most-cited researchers publishing on Global Energy and Sustainability Research include Philippe Ciais.

  1. 1 Philippe Ciais France 237k citations

Ranked by citations received across their whole record, among researchers with at least three works on this topic.

What are the most cited papers in Global Energy and Sustainability Research?

The most cited paper in Global Energy and Sustainability Research is "A safe operating space for humanity" (Johan Rockström et al., 2009), with 13,302 citations. Next come "Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet" (12,569) and "Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study" (7,168).

Most cited papers
#PaperReleasedCitations
1 A safe operating space for humanity Johan Rockström et al. · Nature Open access 23 Sep 2009 13,302
2 Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet Will Steffen, Katherine Anne Koren Richardson, Johan Rockström et al. · Science Open access 15 Jan 2015 12,569
3 Technological transitions as evolutionary reconfiguration processes: a multi-level perspective and a case-study Frank W. Geels · Research Policy Open access Dec 2002 7,168
4 Further Evidence on the Great Crash, the Oil-Price Shock, and the Unit-Root Hypothesis Eric W. Zivot, Donald W. K. Andrews · Journal of Business and Economic Statistics 2002 5,801
5 The role of renewable energy in the global energy transformation Dolf J. Gielen, Francisco Boshell, Değer Saygin et al. · Energy Strategy Reviews Open access 31 Jan 2019 4,968
All 99 most cited papers, with filters and sorting

Where is Global Energy and Sustainability Research research done?

The largest centres of Global Energy and Sustainability Research research in 2022-now are Beijing (China), Moscow (Russia), London (United Kingdom) and Paris (France). Among places with at least 20 works in it, it is an unusually large share of all research in Port Harcourt.

Largest cities, 2022-now

  1. 1 BeijingChina 199 works
  2. 2 MoscowRussia 159 works
  3. 3 LondonUnited Kingdom 137 works
  4. 4 ParisFrance 118 works
  5. 5 Washington D.C.United States 92 works
  6. 6 New YorkUnited States 76 works
  7. 7 SydneyAustralia 66 works
  8. 8 TehranIran 53 works
  9. 9 MelbourneAustralia 52 works
  10. 10 TokyoJapan 49 works

Where it is the local speciality

  1. Port HarcourtNG · 33.1 works11×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient: how much more of its research is in Global Energy and Sustainability Research than the world average.

See Global Energy and Sustainability Research on the map

Where is the best place to study Global Energy and Sustainability Research?

Among universities, judged by research, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, University of Oxford and Australian National University score highest, combining citation excellence, specialisation, size, growth and international reach. Research strength is one signal when choosing where to study; it does not measure teaching.

0%20%40%60%mean 24.34%fractional works in this field (log) →share of work in the world top 10% →Lappeenranta-Lahti U…ETH ZurichAustralian National …University of Oxford
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per university in the first ten of the table below, at the default weights. The upper left is the interesting corner: small places doing unusually strong work.

Citation excellenceshare of its work in the world top 10%, 2022-now and all time averaged
40%
Specialisationhow much of its work is in this field, counted up to 10× the world share
10%
Sizeits output in this field, on a log scale
30%
Growthoutput growth, counted from -20% to +20%
10%
Internationalshare of its work with a co-author abroad
10%
Each slider sets a weight; the share it gets of the score is beside it.
#UniversityScoreTop 10%SpecialisationWorksGrowth
1Lappeenranta-Lahti University of TechnologyFinland 72.850.4%18.9×13 +66.6%
2University of OxfordUnited Kingdom 65.512.0%3.6×34 +73.9%
3Australian National UniversityAustralia 59.621.8%6.1×21 +20.7%
4ETH ZurichSwitzerland 58.325.8%3.3×15 +26.4%
5University of CambridgeUnited Kingdom 58.017.0%2.8×22 +58.7%
6Norwegian University of Science and TechnologyNorway 56.815.1%5.1×20 +29.9%
7Technical University of DenmarkDenmark 55.212.7%6.5×22 +57.2%
8Utrecht UniversityNetherlands 54.718.3%3.4×16 +54.8%
9University of Technology SydneyAustralia 54.013.2%5.7×17 +35.7%
10Central South UniversityChina 53.857.1%0.6×8 +657.0%

Universities only. The score blends citation excellence (40%), size (30%), specialisation (10%), growth (10%), international reach (10%), 2022-now; growth compares 2018-21 with 2022-25 and counts up to +20%, since a jump from a small base is mostly noise.

Every institution in Global Energy and Sustainability Research, country by country

Is Global Energy and Sustainability Research research growing?

Output in 2022-2025 was 35% higher than in 2018-2021, peaking in 2024. The fastest-growing topics are Global Energy and Sustainability Research.

still counting19801990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon: one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Its share of all research

Growing output can still be a shrinking share: all of science grows. This is Global Energy and Sustainability Research as a percentage of every work published that year, 0.039% in 2024.

still counting0.025%0.050%0.075%Global Energy and Sustainability Research0.033% in 202519801990200020102020

Fractional works of Global Energy and Sustainability Research over all fractional works that year. How the balance of science has shifted.

How much of it reaches the world top 10%

Year by year.

still counting5%10%15%Global Energy and Sustainability Research10.7% in 2025200020102020

Of each year's works in it, the share that reached the world's 10% most cited for their field and year. A field is the world for its own topics, so there is no other line to hold it against.

Which topics inside it are moving

Growth and decline on one axis around a shared zero. Two lists side by side hide the thing that matters: whether the growth dwarfs the decline, or the other way round.

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