Today's society faces as no generation before two main energy related threats: first, to guarantee secure and affordable energy supply and second, to reduce and abolish environmental and climate harms caused by energy consumption. Over 80 percent of today's primary energy consumption is coming from non-renewable fossil fuels, as coal, oil and gas. If we do not change our behaviour, futures share of fossil fuel resources remains as high as today. As the major oil and gas reserves are located in few areas of the world, importing countries would become more vulnerable to supply disruptions and energy price shocks. Furthermore, fossil fuel consumption causes CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions and therefore climate change. As the International Energy Agency said in its recent report, the future energy mix should not be under-invested, vulnerable and dirty but clean, clever and competitive. Secure, reliable and affordable energy resources are fundamental to sustained economic development. The threat of disruptive climate change, the erosion of energy security and the world's growing demand for energy all pose major challenges for energy decision makers. To meet these challenges and transform our energy system, a better use of existing technologies will be required along with significant scientific innovation to spur the adoption of new energy technologies. Therefore, urgent action is needed to rapidly advance available energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies and practices. Basic science and energy research funding has been declining in the public and private sectors for the past several years. Additional funding is critically needed to develop a sustainable energy future. Research priorities encompass inter alia photovoltaics, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS), biofuels and hydrogen generation, storage and use.
