Citation: Adepoju, O.O.; David, L.O.; Nwulu, N.I. Analysing the Impact of Human Capital on Renewable Energy Penetration: A Bibliometric Reviews. Sustainability 2022, 14, 8852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148852 Academic Editor: Donato Morea Received: 4 June 2022 Accepted: 28 June 2022 Published: 20 July 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Analysing the Impact of Human Capital on Renewable Energy Penetration: A Bibliometric Reviews Omoseni Oyindamola Adepoju 1 , Love Opeyemi David 2, * and Nnamdi Ikechi Nwulu 2 1 Department of Management and Accounting, School of Social Sciences & Management, Lead City University, Ibadan P.O. Box 30678, Nigeria; adepoju.omoseni@lcu.edu.ng 2 Center for Cyber—Physical Food, Energy and Water System, University of Johannesburg, Cnr Kingsway & University Roads, Auckland Park, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa; nnwulu@uj.ac.za * Correspondence: loveopeyemidavid@gmail.com Abstract: In contributing to reducing the adverse effects of non-renewable energy sources, this paper researched how human capital can enhance the penetration level of renewable energy, which is highly abundant in Nigeria, Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper, using qualitative research methodology through Bibliometric analysis, reviewed three hundred and three (303) papers published between the year 2000 and March 2022. The bibliometric study covered publications per author, publications per country, research focus based on co-occurrence keywords, and research thread. The findings revealed that publications on how human capital can aid renewable energy penetration have been slow and in an infant stage in the past two decades. It also shows that there have been eighteen (18) papers on the subject papers in the last twenty years, showing the low level of human capital development in the energy sector. The intellectual patterns via the co-occurrence of keywords shows five (5) clusters, which are economics of renewable energy sources, human capital factors in environmental management, economic factors in energy supply and demand, sustainable energy factors, and human capital development and economy. These cluster areas revealed how human capital could be developed to increase the penetration level of the abundant renewable energy in the world. Thus, this paper recommends intensive efforts in optimizing human capital through inter-organizational collaboration on renewable energy technologies and periodic training. Keywords: renewable energy; human capital; environmental management; energy; human capital development; renewable energy penetration 1. Introduction Renewable energy has been pronounced a sustainable energy source without adverse effect on humans and the environment, and, thus, needs more penetration in regions where it is less utilised. Hence, the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of the earth and its resources has shifted the world’s attention to renewable energy. Renewable energy is an energy source that can be replenished, sustainable, and not harmful to humans and the environment [1,2]. According to the authors, renewable energy includes biomass, wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and solar energy. However, despite the enormous amount of these renewable energy sources in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, there is much reliance on non-renewable energy sources, primarily fossil fuels, with their attendant consequences [3]. These consequences include the emission of carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming, the production of acidic rainfall that harms vegetation and stationery water bodies, and the release of toxic compounds like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, and benzene, among others. This is particularly evidenced in Nigeria, Africa’s most prominent black country, where massive environmental degradation hinders economic performance and decreases the standard of living [4]. According to Corfee-Morlot et al. [5], clean energy resources such as renewable energy resources aid in reducing energy poverty, enable sustainable economic growth, improve the Sustainability 2022, 14, 8852. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148852 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability