The scientific evidence about the vital importance of renewable energies can be considered old compared to the recently risen consciousness of society. Hopefully, now it is hard to find any stakeholder that in principle is against renewable energies. There exists a common sense towards the vitality of the transition from fuel-based to a renewably energized industry. Furthermore, the central governments led by UN programs express willingness to facilitate this transition and contribute to global sustainable development goals. As the economic (profit) potentials- supported by scientific evidence and political will- become clearer, there is currently a proliferation of renewable energy investments. Moreover, this trend is expected to rise shortly progressively.

However, society can be considered unprepared to guide this Renewable Energy Proliferation (REP) to its proper implementation. Indeed, especially large-scale projects of renewable energy investments may have devastating consequences on the social and ecological systems of the context. Thus, a strong environmental awareness must guide this in due REP. This special session aims to provide a discussion medium where different stakeholders argue the potential drawbacks of environmentally unaware renewable energy investments and propose guidelines for well-informed REP. We welcome original research articles, reviews, and communication papers on the following topics:

• Small hydropower plants;
• Hydropower and its impacts on the ecosystem;
• Role of complementary energy sources to maximize hydropower production and mitigate ecological impacts;
• Wind power and its environmental impacts;
• Photovoltaic power station and its environmental impacts;
• Environmentally friendly solutions;
• Energy storage technologies.