ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a critical assessment of international scenario studies of the future energy system. It describes how and for what purposes scenarios about the future energy system are used in energy research as well as in energy foresight, policy making, planning and business strategy activities by energy researchers, governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and energy companies and to discuss on which points energy scenario studies could be improved. Scenarios are basically tools for taking a long view in a world of great uncertainty. Scenario planning was introduced in private corporations by Herman Kahn in the 1960s and has since then been used for numerous purposes by academia, businesses, organizations and governments using somewhat different scenario definitions and methodologies.
