Major energy R&D needs

In the last 15 years, energy systems have experienced significant technological, economic and regulatory influences. Additional information has become available about environmental effects, and new technologies and computer methodologies have evolved to measure and modify these effects. World trade, world energy supply and economic impacts have stabilized somewhat. To deal with these changes, an attempt has been made to identify major research needs in energy exploration, extraction, processing, storage, transmission and end-use. They are aimed at helping achieve three goals: (1) energy security, both economic and strategic; (2) an efficient, or least-cost, strategy of energy supply in the long term; and (3) environmental, societal and institutional acceptability of energy technologies. The guidelines are organized under the headings of ‘Sources of energy supply’, ‘Energy end-uses’, and ‘Pervasive energy issues’. Each section is further divided into research areas which are discussed in terms of issues and research needs to address these issues.