The Role of Lightweight AI Models in Supporting a Sustainable Transition to Renewable Energy: A Systematic Review

The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy (RE) sources is an essential step in mitigating climate change and ensuring environmental sustainability. However, large-scale deployment of renewables is accompanied by new challenges, including the growing demand for rare-earth elements, the need for recycling end-of-life equipment, and the rising energy footprint of digital tools—particularly artificial intelligence (AI) models. This systematic review, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, explores how lightweight, distilled AI models can alleviate computational burdens while supporting critical applications in renewable energy systems. We examined empirical and conceptual studies published between 2010 and 2024 that address the deployment of AI in renewable energy, the circular economy paradigm, and model distillation and low-energy AI techniques. Our findings indicate that adopting distilled AI models can significantly reduce energy consumption in data processing, enhance grid optimization, and support sustainable resource management across the lifecycle of renewable energy infrastructures. This review concludes by highlighting the opportunities and challenges for policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders aiming to integrate circular economy principles into RE strategies, emphasizing the urgent need for collaborative solutions and incentivized policies that encourage low-footprint AI innovation.