World Energy Scenarios 2016 - The Grand Transition

The report 'World Energy Scenarios 2016: THE GRAND TRANSITION' presents three exploratory scenarios—Modern Jazz, Unfinished Symphony, and Hard Rock. These provide users with a common language for thinking and talking about current events. They provide energy leaders with an open, transparent, and inclusive framework to think about a very uncertain future, and thus assist in the shaping of the choices they make.

The study has developed three realistic scenario stories using an explorative approach rather than the more commonly used normative, methodology:

The three scenarios developed are Modern Jazz, which represents a ‘digitally disrupted,’ innovative, and market-driven world, Unfinished Symphony, a world in which more ‘intelligent’ and sustainable economic growth models emerge as the world drives to a low carbon future, and a more fragmented scenario called Hard Rock, which explores the consequences of weaker and unsustainable economic growth with inward-looking policies.

World Energy Scenarios 2016 were built in collaboration with Accenture Strategy and Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and a network of more than 70 members, from over 25 countries, and quantified with a global multi-regional energy system model. Feedback was also gathered at the Council’s Energy Leaders’ Dialogues and at 14 workshops around the world, ensuring the inclusion of key insights from leaders of the industry, politics, economics, environment, technology, and science.

The 'Scenarios 2016 Perspective Paper - Innovating Urban Energy' selects five emerging urban energy innovations which hold the potential to substantially steer transition of the energy agenda in our cities, towns and smaller conurbations. It explores the importance of local government, new digital platforms, hydrogen, city morphology and financial tools in securing a clean, resilient and affordable future for energy, transport and other city systems.