Comment

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes in social and economic conditions may affect the prevalence of energy insecurity. Essential relief must be provided to the growing number of households that are energy insecure and protect them from even more dire circumstances caused by utility disconnections and unpaid energy bills.

The smart home technology industry promises energy savings and lifestyle improvements. However, there is little evidence that smart home technologies will reduce home energy use overall, and there are a range of emerging detrimental social impacts that require further attention from researchers, policymakers and practitioners.

Anomalous seasons such as extremely cold winters or low-wind summers can seriously disrupt renewable energy productivity and reliability. Better seasonal forecasts providing more accurate information tailored to stakeholder needs can help the renewable energy industry prepare for such extremes.

The number of plaintiffs taking energy firms to court for ignoring climate-related risks is growing. By revealing how the sector is not prepared — and not preparing — for what is coming, their cases are pressing the energy sector to treat those risks as a cost of doing business.

Energy firms struggle to incorporate climate risks in their planning and public disclosures. This lack of information is increasing the chances that herd behaviour in finance could potentially lead to sudden disruptions in energy supply and exacerbate consequences of climate-related extreme events.

Despite increased awareness among investors, physical climate risk from extreme weather remains surprisingly unaccounted for in financial markets. Without better knowledge of this risk, the average energy investor can only hope that the next extreme event will not trigger a sudden correction to the market values of energy firms.

Scenarios are the primary tool for examining how current decisions shape the future, but the future is affected as much by out-of-ordinary extremes as by generally expected trends. Energy modellers can study extremes both by incorporating them directly within models and by using complementary off-model analyses.

Climate change entails an intensification of extreme weather events that can potentially trigger socioeconomic and energy system disruptions. As we approach 1 °C of global warming we should start learning from historical extremes and explicitly incorporate such events in integrated climate–economy and energy systems models.

Energy interventions can improve the lives of crisis-affected populations and the efficiency and performance of humanitarian operations. However, there is little existing data around humanitarian energy interventions, and little coordination around how this data can or should be collected, used and shared.

Energy is a priority for refugees yet traditional approaches for its delivery are costly and ineffective, while energy access often falls away once aid is withdrawn. By adopting a market systems approach, aid can do more to ensure access to energy in fragile places is more effective and sustainable.

Humanitarian organizations are increasingly incorporating sustainable energy practices into programming. Policies that are clear and coherent need to be put in place so that the private sector can be progressively engaged and energy services can be scaled-up.

Delivering renewable energy solutions in humanitarian settings that meet the needs of refugees is highly challenging. Inclusive design — engaging refugee communities, humanitarian agencies and the private sector — is a promising approach that offers substantial improvements in delivering energy access for refugees.

Different energy sources have different spillovers on economic development and industrialization. Pathways of economic development based on renewable energy sources might require additional policies to support industrial development.

The world is becoming more complex for policymakers and researchers alike as climate change, new technology and digitalization drive unprecedented energy-system change. Understanding one another is paramount if we are to address the challenges they present.

UK policy on decentralized energy has shifted from community energy to local energy. This signals reduced support for grassroots, citizen-led action in favour of institutional partnerships and company-led investments, which puts at risk the urgent, long-term social and technological transformations required in a climate emergency.

Access to rich, high-quality datasets is widely considered to be vital for energy research and public policy. While smart metering has the potential to revolutionize access to energy consumption data, coordinated efforts are needed from government, funding bodies and researchers to overcome the barriers to data access.

A wealth of candidates are being investigated to improve the catalysts found in acidic and alkaline electrolysers. However, attention should be focused on developing stable water oxidation catalysts with improved intrinsic activity — not only increased geometric activity — alongside best practice for data collection.

New scientific findings cataloguing the need for a rapid renewable energy transition are most often met with calls for innovation. Our failure to address climate change and thereby avoid the socioeconomic crises it foretells will not be attributed to a lack of innovation, however, but rather to a lack of exnovation.

Energy return on investment (EROI) is a critical measure of the comparative utility of different energy carriers, including fossil fuels and renewables. However, it must not be used to compare carriers that cannot be put to similar end-use. In addition, combining carriers to arrive at estimates of ‘average’ or ‘minimum’ EROIs can be problematic.

Energy poverty in the European Union poses a distinct challenge across member states and requires tailored, targeted action. EU policymakers need to strengthen the response to energy poverty and engender action across member states, moving beyond the focus on vulnerable consumers in energy markets.