The role of energy is vital to human well-being and it is also crucial for economic development and energy fosters economic growth. Access to sufficient energy resources is a serious global concern, particularly in developing countries that do not have access to a secure supply of energy [1–۳]. Worldwide primary energy demand is expected to rise by approximately 1.5–۳ times by 2050 because of increasing energy demand in various regions of the world [6]. Demand for energy is increasing sharply in the developing countries as a result of rapid population growth, particularly in the continents of Africa and Asia and rapid economic development, particularly in China and India [3–۷]. Population growth and rising the living standard of people are the key drivers behind increasing demand for energy [3,8]. It is estimated that global population will continue to increase by more than one billion persons and reach to 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050 and also increase to approximately 11.2 billion persons by 2100. World’s population is rising by 1.18% annually or almost an extra 83 million persons every year. The highest growth rates of population belong to Africa, with 2.55% [9], while all these communities require modern energy services in order to meet their basic needs such as lighting, cooking, space comfort, mobility, communication and to assist productive processes. Currently, conventional energy sources constitute more than 80% of worldwide energy consumption [10–۱۳]. Most current types of energy production and utilization cause environmental issues at local, regional and global scales, reducing the quality of life and endangering the human health as well as the wellbeing of present and future generations of humankind. The energy production and utilization are responsible for 80% of carbon dioxide and two-thirds of total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide [14]. In 2016, the annual mean atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration reached to 400 ppm (ppm), which is 40% higher than the pre-industrial time’s carbon dioxide level (280 ppm), while half of the global CO2 emissions have risen since the 1980s [15,16]. Historically, developed countries have produced the large majority of anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, while in recent years, the share of GHG emissions from developing countries have surpassed those of developed countries, and these shares have kept rising very rapidly [14,17]. For the first time in history, the aggregate energy-related CO2 emissions of developing countries surpassed those of developed and transition countries in 2008 [18]. CO2 emissions from China and India are rising rapidly, where energy production and consumption have increased significantly [1,19]. In recent years, developing countries have generally experienced a constant growth of CO2 emissions compared to developed countries of the world. Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Pacific region increased very rapidly in recent years, as indicated in Fig. 1 [20].