Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy system and the shift progress to renewable energy: Opportunities, challenges, and policy implications

Anh Tuan Hoang; Sandro Nižetić; Aykut I Olcer; Hwai Chyuan Ong; Wei-Hsin Chen; Cheng Tung Chong; Sabu Thomas; Suhaib A Bandh; Xuan Phuong Nguyen

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112322

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic on the global energy system and the shift progress to renewable energy: Opportunities, challenges, and policy implications

Energy Policy. 2021 Jul:154:112322. doi: 10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112322. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Authors

Anh Tuan Hoang¹, Sandro Nižetić², Aykut I Olcer³, Hwai Chyuan Ong⁴, Wei-Hsin Chen^{5

6

7}, Cheng Tung Chong⁸, Sabu Thomas⁹, Suhaib A Bandh¹⁰, Xuan Phuong Nguyen¹¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Engineering, Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH), Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam.
² University of Split, Rudjera Boskovica 32, 21000, Split, Croatia.
³ World Maritime University, Malmo, Sweden.
⁴ School of Information, Systems and Modelling, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, 2007, Australia.
⁵ Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.
⁶ Research Center for Smart Sustainable Circular Economy, Tunghai University, Taichung, 407, Taiwan.
⁷ Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Chin-Yi University of Technology, Taichung, 411, Taiwan.
⁸ China-UK Low Carbon College, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Lingang, Shanghai, 201306, China.
⁹ School of Energy Materials, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India.
¹⁰ Sri Pratap College Campus, Cluster University Srinagar, India.
¹¹ Institute of Maritime, Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport, Viet Nam.

Abstract

Being declared a global emergency, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken many lives, threatened livelihoods and businesses around the world. The energy industry, in particular, has experienced tremendous pressure resulting from the pandemic. In response to such a challenge, the development of sustainable resources and renewable energy infrastructure has demonstrated its potential as a promising and effective strategy. To sufficiently address the effect of COVID-19 on renewable energy development strategies, short-term policy priorities should be identified, while mid-term and long-term action plans should be formulated in achieving the well-defined renewable energy targets and progress towards a more sustainable energy future. In this review, opportunities, challenges, and significant impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on current and future sustainable energy strategies were analyzed in detail; while drawing from experiences in identifying reasonable behaviors, orientating appropriate actions, and policy implications on the sustainable energy trajectory were also mentioned. Indeed, the question is that whether the COVID-19 pandemic will kill us or provide us with a precious lesson on future sustainable energy development.

Keywords: COVID-19; Energy transition; Global energy; Policy implications; Renewable sources.