The rapid advancements in quantum computing hold transformative potential for addressing critical global challenges and achieving sustainable development. This paper presents a conceptual framework that aligns quantum computing innovations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It explores key areas such as renewable energy optimization, smart city infrastructure, and climate change mitigation. The study also emphasizes sustainability challenges, including environmental impacts, ethical concerns, and socio-economic considerations like workforce transitions and digital equity. A novel Carbon-aware Quantum Computing model is introduced to minimize the environmental footprint of quantum systems. Finally, the paper proposes a roadmap for ethical and scalable adoption of quantum technologies, ensuring inclusive and resilient societal growth.
The rapid advancements in quantum computing hold transformative potential for addressing critical global challenges and achieving sustainable development. This paper presents a conceptual framework that aligns quantum computing innovations with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It explores key areas such as renewable energy optimization, smart city infrastructure, and climate change mitigation. The study also emphasizes sustainability challenges, including environmental impacts, ethical concerns, and socio-economic considerations like workforce transitions and digital equity. A novel Carbon-aware Quantum Computing model is introduced to minimize the environmental footprint of quantum systems. Finally, the paper proposes a roadmap for ethical and scalable adoption of quantum technologies, ensuring inclusive and resilient societal growth.
Quantum computing offers unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize equitable green innovation by addressing complex sustainability challenges with enhanced computational power. This chapter explores how quantum algorithms can optimize resource management, improve energy efficiency, and accelerate the adoption of green technologies. By leveraging quantum-based predictive models and optimization techniques, industries can achieve sustainable practices while ensuring equity in resource distribution and access. The chapter also delves into the potential of quantum computing to tackle intricate problems in supply chain sustainability, renewable energy integration, and environmental impact analysis. Challenges such as scalability, accessibility, and ethical considerations are addressed, alongside proposed solutions to overcome these barriers. Real-world use cases and emerging research highlight the transformative potential of quantum computing in fostering a sustainable and inclusive future, bridging the gap between innovation and equity.
The escalating impacts of climate change and the increasing demand for sustainable development and natural resource management necessitate innovative technological solutions. Quantum computing (QC) has emerged as a promising tool with the potential to revolutionize these critical areas. This review explores the application of quantum machine learning and optimization techniques for climate change prediction and enhancing sustainable development. Traditional computational methods often fall short in handling the scale and complexity of climate models and natural resource management. Quantum advancements, however, offer significant improvements in computational efficiency and problem-solving capabilities. By synthesizing the latest research and developments, this paper highlights how QC and quantum machine learning can optimize multi-infrastructure systems towards climate neutrality. The paper also evaluates the performance of current quantum algorithms and hardware in practical applications and presents realistic cases, i.e., waste-to-energy in anaerobic digestion, disaster prevention in flooding prediction, and new material development for carbon capture. The integration of these quantum technologies promises to drive significant advancements in achieving climate resilience and sustainable development.
As quantum computing progresses from theory to practical systems, its environmental and economic sustainability remains underexplored.This paper analyzes both the carbon footprint and cost implications of quantum computing technologies, with attention to their alignment with global sustainability goals.Key contributors to energy consumption, emissions, and operational costs are identified across the quantum computing lifecycle: hardware manufacturing, cryogenic cooling, runtime power demands, and quantum circuit simulation.The study employs a qualitative methodology, integrating a comprehensive review of scientific literature, environmental assessments, cost analysis reports, and benchmarking frameworks.It further presents a comparative analysis of quantum and classical high-performance computing (HPC), evaluating energy efficiency, environmental impact, and cost-effectiveness across realistic scenarios.By addressing both sustainability and economic dimensions, this research provides new insights for developers and policymakers, supporting the advancement of greener and more costeffective quantum technologies.
Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG-7) emphasises universal access to affordable, reliable, and modern energy by 2030. Achieving this target requires transformative energy production, distribution, and financial optimisation solutions. This paper investigates the role of quantum computing in advancing SDG-7 objectives, focusing on quantum optimisation algorithms, simulations, and machine learning techniques. By analyzing global and national energy progress indicators, particularly from India, the study identifies areas where quantum algorithms such as Quantum Annealing (QA), Adiabatic Algorithms (AA), QAOA, and Quantum Machine Learning (QML) offer measurable impact in intelligent energy grid optimization, clean energy forecasting, and resource-efficient investment modeling. Further, the paper assesses financial pathways enabled by quantum-enhanced models to support renewable energy rollouts. The results underline quantum computing’s potential to accelerate access, reduce emissions, and maximise economic efficiency in energy systems aligned with SDG-7. This study offers a novel contribution by linking quantum algorithm performance to both energy optimisation and financial outcomes aligned with SDG-7.
This paper studies the use of quantum computing to disrupt serious problems in a sustainable development space. In our view, the quantum algorithms can disrupt studies related to carbon capture, renewable energy optimization and sustainable agriculture (such as Variational Quantum Eigensolver and Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm). We demonstrate that quantum after a broad underlining of existing studies and theoretical avenues has the potential to have practical, even expedited pathways for attaining multiple goals on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals list. It covers the mathematics behind these quantum algorithms, and discusses case studies that investigate their applications as well as ethical consideration and future directions. The case for quantum computing as a technology solution to our sustainable future: An evidence-based perspective is expected to be strong.
This paper proposes a novel conceptual framework that integrates the advanced capabilities of quantum computing to address the urgent need for responsible and inclusive Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. It reviews current challenges in AI, such as bias, lack of inclusivity, and the computational limitations faced by classical computing methods in solving complex societal problems. By harnessing quantum computing, this framework aims to overcome these barriers, enabling faster, more efficient AI solutions that are ethically grounded and universally accessible. By adopting a holistic approach that integrates technical innovation with ethical considerations and stakeholder engagement, we believe that quantum computing can serve as a catalyst for the development of AI technologies that are not only more advanced but also more inclusive, responsible, and beneficial for society as a whole. This concept paper serves as a foundational framework for further research, collaboration, and action in the intersection of quantum computing and AI, with the ultimate goal of harnessing the transformative potential of these technologies to address pressing societal challenges and promote human well-being. Keywords: Quantum Computing, AI, Development, Responsible.