Review of sustainable energy policies on developing renewable energy

Meeting the rising energy demand and limiting its environmental impact are the two intertwined issues faced in the 21st century. Governments of different countries have been engaged in developing regulations and related policies to encourage environment friendly renewable energy generation and technological innovations. This study presents a review on sustainable energy policy for the promotion of renewable energy by introducing the development history of energy policy in five countries, i.e., the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and China. It concludes that it is particularly important to formulate policies and regulations to promote the development of renewable energy. Meanwhile, governments and stakeholders need to actively increase the use of renewable energy and adopt effective policy incentives and policy controls to achieve the sustainable energy pathway in the future. This paper may provide relevant and suitable policy recommendations for end-users, and may also provide references for future work concerning the development of renewable and sustainable energy policy.