The slow pace of transition to sustainable energy systems is the result of several factors running in parallel. The starting points are very low. Even 30% per annum increases in rated capacity (for wind energy or solar PV, for example) take many years to make a big impact at the global level....

Renewable energy, especially its new forms, starts from a very small base. The pace of recent development and diffusion has been too slow, and effective action is required to accelerate development and diffusion. The paper provides the results of recently published work on global energy...

Global prospects for renewable energy are bright, but for a number of reasons the pace and scale of development will be slower than some assume.

Oil and related products continue to be prime enablers of the maintenance and growth of nearly all of the world's economies. The dramatic increase in the price of oil through mid-2008, along with the coincident (and possibly resultant) global recession, highlight our continued vulnerability to...

Due to the critical importance of oil to modern economic activity, and oil’s non-renewable nature, it is extremely important to try to estimate possible trajectories of future oil production while accounting for uncertainties in resource estimates and demand growth, and other factors that...

Due to the increasing importance of natural gas for modern economic activity, and gas's non-renewable nature, it is extremely important to try to estimate possible trajectories of future natural gas production while considering uncertainties in resource estimates, demand growth, production...

Since the Stockholm Conference of 1972 the UN system has taken a leading role in promoting environmental and development issues, and more recently sustainable energy issues. A review of the past 30 or so years suggests that the results, especially for energy and emissions related matters, have...