How Research in Sustainable Energy Supply Chain Distribution Is Evolving: Bibliometric Review

Purpose: As the need to transition into the distribution of cleaner energy has garnered corporate and scholarly interests, this study aims to track the research trends in sustainable energy supply chains for five years before 2021. Research methodology: This study was conducted by a bibliometric literature review and analysis to map the field's evolution between 2016 and 2020. Out of an initial title search result of 2,484 papers from the Scopus engine, filtering led to 180 documents obtained. The data was exported in excel format (CSV) to VOSviewer software to generate and analyze network visualization of sustainable energy supply chain trends. Results: The results revealed China's the highest publishing country, with 36 research papers. The Journal of Cleaner Production was the top publishing source, with 22 papers per year. These findings showed five clusters formed in the bibliographic coupling of countries. Circular Economy and Green Supply Chain Management represent the current hot topics. Research gaps identified in the field included limited cross-industry testing and modifying sustainable supply chain models. Conclusion: This paper contributes to the sustainability literature on supply chains by providing an overview of trends and research directions for scholars' and practitioners' consideration in future research.