This comprehensive review critically analyzes the multifaceted role of artificial intelligence (AI) in advancing global sustainability and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). While AI offers powerful solutions for climate action, resource management, and other challenges, its own significant ecological footprint and potential for bias present critical risks that must be proactively managed. This study provides a synthesis of the recent literature (published between 2018 and 2024) to address three primary research questions: (1) What are the main applications of AI for sustainability and their contribution to specific SDGs? (2) What are the primary ecological, socio-economic, and ethical risks of AI adoption? (3) What are the key research gaps and future directions for more sustainable and responsible AI application? A key contribution is a comprehensive, multi-dimensional framework that connects AI applications with an in-depth analysis of their interconnected ecological, algorithmic, and socio-economic risks. This framework, along with a synthesized risk matrix, offers a structured tool for future governance and research, highlighting the need for responsible development to fully leverage AI’s potential for a sustainable future.

The paper explores the industrial tourism development potential of a former mining area in Petrila, Jiu Valley, Romania, drastically affected by deindustrialization, in order to build a theme park in the old mine site. The research context is determined by the current economic and social state of the area, and also by the potential of the identified industrial heritage elements. For this reason, there was developed an optimal selection algorithm, based on multi-criteria analysis and Greedy approach. This optimal selection algorithm blends the objectivity of the technical-economic studies and the subjectivity of the residents’ perceptions of community satisfaction. After carrying out the Petrila case study, the results of the proposed algorithm application concerning the destination, from the point of view of their use, of each existing building in the Petrila site was determined. Compared with other studies, ours considers different criteria and can always be reapplied to validate or refine the selection based on new emerging inputs.

The processes of rock excavation and processing involve intense mechanical stresses on cutting, displacing, and transporting tools, inevitably leading to the phenomenon of dry friction wear. The factors influencing the intensity and mechanisms of wear are complex and interdependent, being conditioned by the physical–mechanical properties of the rocks, the geometric characteristics and materials of the tools, as well as the cutting process parameters (cutting force, feed rate). Previous studies have mainly addressed the global aspect of wear without delving into the microstructural evolution of the contact surfaces during the friction process. In this paper, through controlled tribometric tests, we have investigated in detail the abrasive wear mechanisms of metallic materials in contact with different types of rocks, with an emphasis on the role played by surface roughness and the mineralogical properties of the rocks. Experimentally, we varied the applied forces and the number of friction cycles to simulate different working conditions and evaluate how these parameters influence wear intensity and surface morphology evolution. Microstructural analysis of the samples, combined with roughness measurements, allowed the identification of the predominant degradation mechanisms (abrasion, adhesion, fatigue) and their correlation with the material properties and the friction process parameters. The results have shown a strong correlation between the wear capacity of rocks and their petrographic properties, such as hardness, porosity, and hard mineral content. It was also found that the roughness of the contact surfaces plays an essential role in wear mechanisms, influencing both the initiation and propagation of its effects. Depending on the experimental data, we have developed a classification of rocks based on their abrasive potential and proposed criteria for the optimal adoption of materials and working parameters for the tools of technological equipment depending on the type of rock encountered. The results of this study can contribute to improving the durability of tools, as well as mining equipment, and reducing operating costs.

Tailings dams are special constructions that are part of a complex of works related to the installations for preparing mining masses. These constructions play a role in the mechanical treatment of wastewater and the safe storage of sterile material resulting from ore processing. The closing and greening of tailings dams is achieved taking into account the general stability of the pond and its related constructions, as well as the integration into the surrounding environment of the surfaces occupied by mining waste deposits (tailings dams). This study presents the results of the hydrogeotechnical and stability study carried out on the Gura Roşiei tailings dam location. This analysis aims to evaluate the stability degree of the three compartments that comprise the tailings deposit in order to carry out the closing and greening works of the tailings dam, and to conclude whether the idea of raising them by 1.5–2 m with tailings is feasible. This study was based on field observations, geotechnical drilling, and physical–chemical analyses of the collected samples. Due to the shallow depth, the drilling could not highlight a hydrostatic level except for the areas with excess humidity, areas represented by certain lenticular intercalations of sandy dust that yield water very slowly. These areas are not continuous and cannot define a reference hydrostatic level. All situations were analyzed by four different methods that satisfy the static equilibrium of forces or moments (Bishop and Janbu) or simultaneously of forces and moments (Spencer and Morgenstern–Price). From the point of view of the stability calculations performed in the hypothesis in which the three ponds become active for the storage of tailings, assuming a corresponding piezometric level, the resulting safety factors are relatively close to the standard values (Fs ≥ 1.4) for the static analysis, and in seismic conditions, they are at the limit of equilibrium. The NE slope of pond No. 2 shows values below the standard safety limit for this type of work. Moreover, tailings dam No. 3 presented from the calculations as being totally inadequate for the elevation. From the obtained results, it was found that the location formed by the three compartments that comprise the Gura Roşiei tailings dam presents major disadvantages for a future storage of flotation tailings, being at the same time an imminent danger to the environment. Due to its reduced capacity to release water from its pores, the settled material is still in a saturated state, and it is assumed that the foundation land, comprised of the terrace deposits of the Abrudel River, is clogged at the interface with the settled material and unable to naturally drain the excess moisture from the dam’s body.

The equipment in underground mines provides a continuous production flow, depending on the way their quality is preserved during their operation. The TR-7A scraper conveyer subassemblies, which function in the Jiu Valley coal basin and are subjected to abrasion wear, showed a high failure frequency (chains, chain elevators, and driving and turning drums), as well as the hydraulic couplings and certain electric equipment of the same machinery. The data collected following the TR-7A scraper conveyer at work allowed the parameters to be determined that characterise the reliability and maintainability of the above-mentioned components, the failure modes, and their effects. Using calculation methods, the interpretation of the results has been facilitated, with a view to reducing maintenance costs and obtaining an 80% reliability for the components with the most failures, in the case of the TR-7A scraper conveyer.

The mining method that is still often used in salt deposits is the room-and-pillar mining method, in which the dimensioning of the most requested element in the system is followed. The pillars are the elements subjected to the greatest loads. Knowing the size and distribution mode of the secondary state of stress—deformation—is a necessity that can lead to the design and realization of stable, reliable underground excavations. This paper proposes an analytical assessment model of the secondary stress state in the pillars between the operating rooms, as well as in the whole system room–pillar–floor, based on the results obtained from laboratory research through modeling and in situ research. For this purpose, the evaluation of the secondary stress state was carried out considering the following methods: (1) the dimensioning method based on the theory of limit equilibrium, taking into account the effective stress in the pillars; and (2) the mechanics of the continuous environment based on the design of some analytical models for evaluating the secondary stress-deformation state in the pillar and floor. The exploitation of one of the largest salt deposits in Romania is used as a case study, and the stability of the exploitation system with rooms and pillars is evaluated by analytical methods. The secondary state of tension was calculated at different points on the height of the pillar. Through the proposed algorithm, the value of the axial component of the secondary stress state at different points along the axis of a pillar located at a depth of 100 m varies between 1.498 and 1.657 MPa, compared to the value obtained by the finite element method and in situ measurements, which was 1.64 MPa. The comparison revealed a high degree of agreement between the results obtained for the depth of 100 m using both the FEM and laboratory and in situ measurements. This suggests that the proposed algorithm is a reliable method for predicting the secondary stress state. The presented algorithm can be extended in the field of mining deposits, where mining methods with rooms and pillars are used.