Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development in EU Countries: Status, Prospects, and Challenges

This study aims to present the current status and forecasts related to the generation of energy from renewable sources, as well as the challenges and barriers resulting from the development of this energy in the European Union countries. The research procedure consists of three stages: bibliometric analysis of scientific publications conducted based on the Web of Science database, visualization of results using VOSViewer software (version 1.6.20), and in-depth analysis of the content of the publications. The study covered two periods. The first one covered the years 1990–2024, in which publications on sustainable development and renewable energy sources began to appear around the world. The second one included publications from 2002, because the first works on European Union countries were identified in that year. The final sample included 96 articles that identified key links between sustainable development and renewable energy. These topics accounted for 50% of all issues discussed in these articles. It turned out that one of the most important challenges of modern economies (21.9% of the articles examined) is finding a balance between sustainable economic growth and limiting environmental degradation. The literature review also shows that the renewable energy sector in the EU and its Member States is developing dynamically. This was confirmed by Eurostat data on both renewable energy production and consumption.