IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/rensus/v228y2026ics1364032125012560.html

Sustainable or unsustainable? Semantic insights into two decades of Arctic oil and gas research for sustainable development

Author

Listed:
  • Ren, Feng
  • Li, Rongrong
  • Wang, Qiang

Abstract

The Arctic’s vast oil and gas reserves position it as a strategic energy frontier, yet its development raises sustainability concerns amid climate change and fragile ecosystems. Despite growing attention to SDG-oriented governance, how Arctic hydrocarbon research aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains unclear. Drawing on 276 peer-reviewed papers (2000-2025) from the Web of Science, this study conducts a semantic analysis to explore research evolution and SDG relevance. Breakpoint detection identifies four stages of Arctic oil and gas research. Natural language processing techniques including vector embedding, stop-word removal, using cTF-IDF for word frequency counting, and “Subject-Action-Object” (SAO) extraction are applied to abstracts. A BERT-based model combined with K-means clustering reveals major research foci and temporal trends. Thematic mapping shows five dominant clusters: (1) geological and geophysical assessment, (2) environmental monitoring and ecological impacts, (3) risk evaluation and emergency response, (4) technological innovation and modeling, and (5) Arctic governance, socioeconomics, and resource management, reflecting the core challenges of Arctic oil and gas studies. Through semantic similarity analysis, the research corpus is matched with the 17 UN SDGs, indicating strongest relevance to SDG 14 (life below water), SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 15 (life on land), and SDG 7 (affordable and clean energy). Although overall alignment remains limited, the findings suggest increasing consideration of sustainability frameworks in Arctic exploration. Yet significant gaps persist in addressing climate justice, indigenous participation, and long-term ecological resilience. This study thus provides both methodological innovation and policy insight to foster more integrative, sustainable Arctic energy governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Ren, Feng & Li, Rongrong & Wang, Qiang, 2026. "Sustainable or unsustainable? Semantic insights into two decades of Arctic oil and gas research for sustainable development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:228:y:2026:i:c:s1364032125012560
    DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2025.116583
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032125012560
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.rser.2025.116583?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vicente-Gomila, J.M. & Artacho-Ramírez, M.A. & Ting, Ma & Porter, A.L., 2021. "Combining tech mining and semantic TRIZ for technology assessment: Dye-sensitized solar cell as a case," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Huntington, Henry P., 2009. "A preliminary assessment of threats to arctic marine mammals and their conservation in the coming decades," Marine Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 77-82, January.
    3. Zhang, Chen & Li, Rongrong & Wang, Qiang, 2026. "Artificial intelligence and sustainable development: A global nonlinear analysis of the moderating roles of human capital and renewable energy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    4. Klaus Mohn, 2019. "Arctic Oil and Public Finance: Norway’s Lofoten Region and Beyond," The Energy Journal, , vol. 40(3), pages 199-226, May.
    5. David Kleimann & Niclas Poitiers & André Sapir & Simone Tagliapietra & Nicolas Véron & Reinhilde Veugelers & Jeromin Zettelmeyer, 2023. "Green tech race? The US Inflation Reduction Act and the EU Net Zero Industry Act," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(12), pages 3420-3434, December.
    6. repec:aen:journl:ej40-3-mohn is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Dan Welsby & James Price & Steve Pye & Paul Ekins, 2021. "Unextractable fossil fuels in a 1.5 °C world," Nature, Nature, vol. 597(7875), pages 230-234, September.
    8. Marius Korsnes & Bradley Loewen & Ragnhild Freng Dale & Markus Steen & Tomas Moe Skjølsvold, 2023. "Paradoxes of Norway’s energy transition: controversies and justice," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(9), pages 1132-1150, October.
    9. Smol, Marzena, 2022. "Is the green deal a global strategy? Revision of the green deal definitions, strategies and importance in post-COVID recovery plans in various regions of the world," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    10. E. Carayannis & A. Ilinova & A. Chanysheva, 2020. "Russian Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas Projects: Methodological Framework for Evaluating Their Prospects," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(4), pages 1403-1429, December.
    11. Peng Liu & Wei Zhou & Lijie Feng & Jinfeng Wang & Kuo-Yi Lin & Xuan Wu & Dingtang Zhang, 2024. "Mapping and comparing the technology evolution paths of scientific papers and patents: an integrated approach for forecasting technology trends," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(4), pages 1975-2005, April.
    12. Sarah Greene & Angela V. Carter, 2024. "From national ban to global climate policy renewal: Denmark’s path to leading on oil extraction phase out," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 121-139, March.
    13. Mauritzen, Johannes, 2024. "Boring finance. Petroleum exploration and firm debt: Evidence from Norway," Journal of Commodity Markets, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    14. Gao, Xueli & Barabady, Javad & Markeset, Tore, 2010. "An approach for prediction of petroleum production facility performance considering Arctic influence factors," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 95(8), pages 837-846.
    15. Coco Smits & Jan Tatenhove & Judith Leeuwen, 2014. "Authority in Arctic governance: changing spheres of authority in Greenlandic offshore oil and gas developments," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 329-348, November.
    16. Li, Xin & Wu, Yundi & Cheng, Haolun & Xie, Qianqian & Daim, Tugrul, 2023. "Identifying technology opportunity using SAO semantic mining and outlier detection method: A case of triboelectric nanogenerator technology," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    17. Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Siqi & Li, Rongrong, 2026. "Artificial intelligence in the renewable energy transition: The critical role of financial development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 226(PA).
    18. Matthew J Page & Joanne E McKenzie & Patrick M Bossuyt & Isabelle Boutron & Tammy C Hoffmann & Cynthia D Mulrow & Larissa Shamseer & Jennifer M Tetzlaff & Elie A Akl & Sue E Brennan & Roger Chou & Jul, 2021. "The PRISMA 2020 statement: An updated guideline for reporting systematic reviews," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(3), pages 1-15, March.
    19. Joshua R Thienpont & Steven V Kokelj & Jennifer B Korosi & Elisa S Cheng & Cyndy Desjardins & Linda E Kimpe & Jules M Blais & Michael FJ Pisaric & John P Smol, 2013. "Exploratory Hydrocarbon Drilling Impacts to Arctic Lake Ecosystems," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(11), pages 1-7, November.
    20. Qiang Wang & Tingting Sun & Rongrong Li, 2025. "Does Artificial Intelligence (AI) enhance green economy efficiency? The role of green finance, trade openness, and R&D investment," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-22, December.
    21. Xuefeng Wang & Pingping Ma & Ying Huang & Junfang Guo & Donghua Zhu & Alan L. Porter & Zhinan Wang, 2017. "Combining SAO semantic analysis and morphology analysis to identify technology opportunities," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(1), pages 3-24, April.
    22. Qiang Wang & Yuanfan Li & Rongrong Li, 2024. "Rethinking the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis across 214 countries: the impacts of 12 economic, institutional, technological, resource, and social factors," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, December.
    23. Robert Thorndike, 1953. "Who belongs in the family?," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 18(4), pages 267-276, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Moon, Seungyeon & Lee, Heesang, 2024. "Identifying technological opportunities using enhanced tech mining: The case of the E-health industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    2. Chen, Fan & Wang, Delu & Li, Chunxiao & Mao, Jinqi & Wang, Yadong & Yu, Lan, 2025. "Evolution analysis and trend forecasting for low-carbon technologies in coal power based on a three-layer text mining framework," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    3. Rizwana Yasmeen & Rui Tao, 2026. "Leveraging energy-sector artificial intelligence to enhance energy security and achieve sustainable development goals," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 13(1), pages 1-23, December.
    4. Koecklin, Manuel Tong & Longoria, Genaro & Fitiwi, Desta Z. & DeCarolis, Joseph F. & Curtis, John, 2021. "Public acceptance of renewable electricity generation and transmission network developments: Insights from Ireland," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    5. McCauley, Darren & Pettigrew, Kerry, 2023. "Building a just transition in asia-pacific: Four strategies for reducing fossil fuel dependence and investing in clean energy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    6. Aziz, Md Tareq & Haque, Akramul & Islam, Md Rabiul & Hosen, Md Biplob & Kader, Zarjes & Aziz, Md Abdul & Saha, Ovi Ranjan, 2025. "Site suitability assessment for solar powered green hydrogen production plants: A GIS based AHP and Fuzzy AHP approach for Bangladesh," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    7. Weth, Mark A. & Baltzer, Markus & Bertram, Christoph & Hilaire, Jérôme & Johnston, Craig, 2024. "The scenario-based equity price impact induced by greenhouse gas emissions," Discussion Papers 30/2024, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    8. Kerui Pan & Sisi Wang & Xueping Li & Shuoming Wu, 2024. "Efficacy and safety of ultrasound-guided radiofrequency ablation combined with transhepatic artery embolization chemotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(9), pages 1-13, September.
    9. Rizkiana Sidqiyatul Hamdani & Sudharto Prawata Hadi & Iwan Rudiarto, 2021. "Progress or Regress? A Systematic Review on Two Decades of Monitoring and Addressing Land Subsidence Hazards in Semarang City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-26, December.
    10. Boglárka Anna Éliás & Attila Jámbor, 2021. "Food Security and COVID-19: A Systematic Review of the First-Year Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-18, May.
    11. Omoyele, Olalekan & Hoffmann, Maximilian & Koivisto, Matti & Larrañeta, Miguel & Weinand, Jann Michael & Linßen, Jochen & Stolten, Detlef, 2024. "Increasing the resolution of solar and wind time series for energy system modeling: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 189(PB).
    12. Garcia-Herrera, Alisson & Serrano-Hernandez, Adrian & Faulin, Javier, 2025. "Understanding the dynamics of crowdshipping in last-mile distribution within urban mobility: A comprehensive framework," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Cala, Anggie & Maturana-Córdoba, Aymer & Soto-Verjel, Joseph, 2023. "Exploring the pretreatments' influence on pressure reverse osmosis: PRISMA review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    14. Ming Shan & Yu-Shan Li & Bon-Gang Hwang & Jia-En Chua, 2021. "Productivity Metrics and Its Implementations in Construction Projects: A Case Study of Singapore," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-19, November.
    15. Susca, T. & Zanghirella, F. & Colasuonno, L. & Del Fatto, V., 2022. "Effect of green wall installation on urban heat island and building energy use: A climate-informed systematic literature review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    16. Alexander P. L. Martindale & Carrie D. Llewellyn & Richard O. Visser & Benjamin Ng & Victoria Ngai & Aditya U. Kale & Lavinia Ferrante Ruffano & Robert M. Golub & Gary S. Collins & David Moher & Melis, 2024. "Concordance of randomised controlled trials for artificial intelligence interventions with the CONSORT-AI reporting guidelines," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-11, December.
    17. Becken, Susanne & Stantic, Bela & Chen, Jinyan & Connolly, Rod M., 2022. "Twitter conversations reveal issue salience of aviation in the broader context of climate change," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    18. Xuefeng Wang & Huichao Ren & Yun Chen & Yuqin Liu & Yali Qiao & Ying Huang, 2019. "Measuring patent similarity with SAO semantic analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 1-23, October.
    19. Gizéh Rangel-de Lázaro & Josep M. Duart, 2023. "You Can Handle, You Can Teach It: Systematic Review on the Use of Extended Reality and Artificial Intelligence Technologies for Online Higher Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-23, February.
    20. Orietta Nicolis & Jean Paul Maidana & Fabian Contreras & Danilo Leal, 2024. "Analyzing the Impact of COVID-19 on Economic Sustainability: A Clustering Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-30, February.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:rensus:v:228:y:2026:i:c:s1364032125012560. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.