Journal profile · ENERGY & FUELS-ENERGY & FUELS
Energy for Sustainable Development
ISSN 0973-0826 · eISSN 2352-4669 · Elsevier · INDIA · Founded 1994
Energy for Sustainable Development: CAS Zone 3 · Engineering (2025 upgraded edition); impact factor 5.21; hybrid open access; APC about USD 2,750; review about 108 days (submission to acceptance, publisher); community-reported acceptance: fairly easy; 250 articles in 2025; indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Scope
Aims, scope and focus
Energy for Sustainable Development is published by Elsevier and is in Zone 3 of Engineering in the CAS Journal Ranking (2025 upgraded edition). By OpenAlex counts of its recent articles, its largest topics are Energy and Environment Impacts, Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems and Energy, Environment, and Transportation Policies, together about 42.2% of its articles. Its main subfields are Electrical and Electronic Engineering. (generated from OpenAlex topic counts and CAS ranking data)
Energy for Sustainable Development is published on behalf of the International Energy Initiative, which maintains regional offices in Brazil and India. ESD aims to promote – initiate, strengthen and advance – the efficient and clean production and use of energy for sustainable development of developing nations (i.e. any country outside the high income category as per the World Bank definition). It publishes original, applied, interdisciplinary research, commentaries and reviews about energy as an instrument of sustainable development and focuses on energy systems, clean resources, efficient technologies, end uses, policies and governance arrangements. It is the journal for decision makers, managers, consultants, policy makers, planners and researchers in both government and non-government organizations. Accordingly, the Editorial Board does not consider highly specialized works in a specific discipline appropriate for this journal.The Editorial Board of ESD views energy, not as an end, but as an instrument of sustainable development. The Editorial Board particularly wishes to encourage papers that are (1) in line with the scope outlined above, (2) likely to be of interest to more than one professional group, and (3) contributing significantly to knowledge through analysis, synthesis and critical review and evaluation. The board also welcomes papers on North-South, South-South or multilateral cooperation in energy technology development, governance, training and applications. The Board considers the publication of highly specialized work more appropriate to other professional journals.The criteria for acceptance of the papers in Energy for Sustainable Development are 1) relevance of the work and breadth of interest; 2) originality and contribution to knowledge; 3) methodological robustness; 4) quality of analysis and 5) the quality of presentation, irrespective of the type of paper (full length research papers, short communications or review articles).Please see our Guide for Authors for information on article submission. If you require any further information or help, please visit our Support CenterThis journal welcomes contributions that support and advance the UN's sustainable development goals, in particular SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy) and SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities)
From the journal's Aims & Scope
Research area (LetPub): ENERGY & FUELS-ENERGY & FUELS
Editor-in-chief Subhes C. BhattacharyyaPublisher website
Editorial board by country: none in mainland China; most named United States 8, Australia 4, France 3, United Kingdom 2, Brazil 2 (28 members with a country) Editorial board ↗Publisher website ·
Main research topics OpenAlex counts of recent articles; shares are approximate
- Energy and Environment ImpactsEnvironmental Science25.5%
- Hybrid Renewable Energy SystemsEnergy10.5%
- Energy, Environment, and Transportation PoliciesEnergy6.1%
- Electric Vehicles and InfrastructureEngineering4.9%
- Smart Grid Energy ManagementEngineering4.4%
- Environmental Impact and SustainabilityEnvironmental Science3.6%
- Building Energy and Comfort OptimizationEngineering3.5%
- Advanced Battery Technologies ResearchEngineering3.5%
Rankings & indexing
CAS ranking and database indexing
CAS Journal Ranking
CAS Journal Ranking, upgraded edition (March 2025)Engineering Zone 3
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Energy & Fuels | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 4 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
CAS Xinrui Journal Ranking (March 2026)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Energy & Fuels | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: not marked
CAS Journal Ranking, previous upgraded edition (December 2023)Engineering Zone 2
| Level | Category | Zone |
|---|---|---|
| Major | Engineering | Zone 2 |
| Minor | Energy & Fuels | Zone 3 |
| Minor | Green & Sustainable Science & Technology | Zone 3 |
Top journal: noReview journal: no
Database indexing
SCIEScopusLetPub
International journal early-warning lists: not listed in any editionLetPub
Editions, and major and minor categories, are shown separately and never merged into one zone; check which edition your institution uses before you submit or report.
Metrics
Impact metrics and publication volume
Impact
- Impact factor
- 5.21LetPub ·
- Impact factor (publisher)
- 5.2Publisher website ·
- CiteScore 2026-06
- 9.9LetPub ·
- CiteScore (publisher)
- 9.9Publisher website ·
- SJR 2026-06
- 1.23LetPub ·
- SNIP 2026-06
- 1.33LetPub ·
- h-index
- 52LetPub ·
- h-index
- 113OpenAlex ·
- i10-index
- 1,568OpenAlex ·
- 2-year mean citedness
- 6.14OpenAlex ·
- Self-citation rate
- 5.8%LetPub ·
- Share of gold OA articles
- 26.26%LetPub ·
Volume
- Articles per year
- 237LetPub ·
Articles by year OpenAlex count · 2,679 in total · the current year is incomplete
| Year | Articles | Open access | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 205 | 82 | 116 |
| 2025 | 250 | 78 | 1,376 |
| 2024 | 217 | 71 | 2,633 |
| 2023 | 183 | 60 | 3,237 |
| 2022 | 192 | 64 | 4,802 |
| 2021 | 105 | 29 | 2,923 |
Sources count differently and were observed at different times, so each source's own value is kept; "publisher" marks figures from the journal's website.
Review & acceptance
Review time and acceptance
Publisher-reported review time from the journal's website
108 dayssubmission to acceptance · community reports 6–12 weeks
The publisher's own definition applies; dates from this journal's articles in the last 24 months are not available yet, so the publisher's figure is used.
Figures by source
- Average review time (community reports)
- 6–12 weeksLetPub ·
- Average acceptance (community reports)
- Fairly easyLetPub ·
- Submission to first decision
- 2 daysPublisher website ·
- First decision after review
- 54 daysPublisher website ·
- Submission to acceptance
- 108 daysPublisher website ·
- Acceptance to publication
- 10 daysPublisher website ·
- Peer review
- Single anonymous peer reviewPublisher website
Community reports come from authors' own submissions (confidence 0.5) and are not a promise from the journal; for publisher figures, the journal's own definitions apply.
Fees & open access
APC and open-access policy
Hybrid open accessLetPub
A subscription journal in which authors can pay to publish their article open access.
| Source | APC | Fee waiver | License | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAlex | USD 2,750 / EUR 2,570 / GBP 2,200 / JPY 341,080 | — | — | |
| Publisher website | USD 2,750 | — | — |
A hybrid journal charges the APC only when the author chooses open access; publishing under the subscription model is usually free.
The journal's website is authoritative for fees; sources were observed at different times and each keeps its own value, without averaging.
Submission
Article types and submission policies (journal website)
Open calls for papers1, by deadline
Publisher websiteWhat to prepare6 items from the author guidelines
- Abstract
- ≤ 250 words
- Keywords
- ≥ 1
- Manuscript length
- ≤ 8,000 words
- Reference style
- APA
- Templates
- LaTeX and Word
- Highlights
- Required
Article types accepted8, with length limits
- commentariesCommentaries (up to 1,500 words)Length not stated
- commentary- Original research articles (up to 8,000 words)- Review papers (up to 10,000 words)- Short communications (up to 2,500 words)- Commentaries (up to 1,500 words)main text ≤ 1,500 words
- original research article- Original research articles (up to 8,000 words)- Review papers (up to 10,000 words)- Short communications (up to 2,500 words)- Commentaries (up to 1,500 words)main text ≤ 8,000 words
- original research articlesOriginal research articles (up to 8,000 words)Length not stated
- review- Original research articles (up to 8,000 words)- Review papers (up to 10,000 words)- Short communications (up to 2,500 words)- Commentaries (up to 1,500 words)main text ≤ 10,000 words
- review papersReview papers (up to 10,000 words)Length not stated
- short communication- Original research articles (up to 8,000 words)- Review papers (up to 10,000 words)- Short communications (up to 2,500 words)- Commentaries (up to 1,500 words)main text ≤ 2,500 words
- short communicationsShort communications (up to 2,500 words)Length not stated
Policy excerpts from the journal's websiteAI use, Authorship, Conflicts of interest, License & copyright, Open access, Peer review, Preprints
- AI use Declaration of generative AI use
Authors must declare the use of generative AI tools in the manuscript preparation process upon submission of the paper.Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI tools”) have been rapidly adopted in research and scholarly publishing, offering significant benefits while requiring clear standards for responsible and transparent use.Authors preparing a manuscript for this journal may use AI tool…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Authorship Group authorship
Group authorship refers to the attribution of an article to a defined and named group of authors whose members have contributed to the work. Examples include research consortia, clinical trial groups, collaborative networks, task forces or working groups, expert panels or consensus groups, and participatory research groups. Group authorship must be declared on the title page at submission. When av…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Conflicts of interest Declaration of competing interests
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential competing interests include:EmploymentConsultanciesStock ownershipHonorariaPaid expert testimonyPatent applications or registrationsGrants or any other fundingAffiliation with the journal as an Editor or Advisory Board …
Source ↗Publisher website ·- License & copyright License options
Authors will be offered open access user license options which will determine how you, and third parties, can reuse your open access article. We advise that you review these options and any funding body license requirements before selecting a license option.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Open access Open access
We refer you to our open access information page to learn about open access options for this journal.
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Peer review Peer review
Single anonymized review process Model summary
This journal follows a single anonymized review process. Your submission will initially be assessed by our editors. If your submission is deemed suitable, it will typically be sent to be reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers for an independent expert assessment of the scientific quality. The decision as to whether your article is accepted or rejected for publication will be made by our editors.Re…
Source ↗Publisher website ·- Preprints Preprints
Preprint sharing allowed, does not count as prior publication Model summary
Preprint sharingAuthors may share preprints in line with Elsevier's article sharing policy. Sharing preprints, such as on a preprint server, will not count as prior publication.We advise you to read our policy on multiple, redundant or concurrent publication.
Source ↗Publisher website ·
Excerpts are quoted from the journal's website; "model summary" lines are written by Workers AI and checked against the text. The journal's website is authoritative.
Profile
Publication details and official links
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Country or region
- INDIA
- Language
- English
- Founded
- 1994
- ISSN
- 0973-0826
- Electronic ISSN
- 2352-4669
- Society / sponsor
- International Energy Initiative
- Official links
- Journal homepage ↗OpenAlex
- Submission system ↗Publisher website
- Special issues ↗Publisher website
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Energy for Sustainable Development
What CAS zone is Energy for Sustainable Development in?
In the 2025 upgraded edition of the CAS Journal Ranking, Energy for Sustainable Development is in Zone 3 of Engineering, and in Zone 3 of the minor category Energy & Fuels / Green & Sustainable Science & Technology. In the 2026 Xinrui edition it is in Zone 2 of Engineering. Zones from different editions, and from major and minor categories, are not interchangeable.
What is the impact factor of Energy for Sustainable Development?
The latest impact factor listed by LetPub is 5.21; CiteScore 9.9, h-index 113.
How long does peer review take at Energy for Sustainable Development?
The publisher reports about 108 days (submission to acceptance); authors report an average review time of 6–12 weeks; the community-reported acceptance is “Fairly easy”. Article statistics cover accepted papers only, publisher figures follow the journal's own definitions, and community reports come from authors' own submissions; none is a promise from the journal.
What are the manuscript requirements of Energy for Sustainable Development?
According to the journal's author guidelines: Abstract: ≤ 250 words; Keywords: ≥ 1; Manuscript length: ≤ 8,000 words; Reference style: APA; Templates: LaTeX and Word; Highlights: Required. A model extracted these from the author guidelines and each was checked against the text; check the latest version on the journal's website before submitting.
Where are the editorial board members of Energy for Sustainable Development based?
Of the 28 board members whose country the journal's board page names, none are in mainland China; the countries named most often are United States (8), Australia (4) and France (3). Counted from the institutions listed on the board page; for reference only.
Which databases index Energy for Sustainable Development?
According to LetPub and DOAJ records, Energy for Sustainable Development is indexed in SCIE and Scopus.
Is Energy for Sustainable Development open access, and what is the APC?
Energy for Sustainable Development is a hybrid journal. For open-access publication: APC about USD 2,750.
Sources and updates
The facts on this page come from LetPub, Publisher website, OpenAlex; every figure is tagged with its source and the date it was observed, and conflicting values are kept per source. LetPub source page: view ↗ (archived 2026-08-25). Last updated: .