Toward an Integrated GIScience and Energy Research Agenda

The growing evidence indicating that climate change is real and accelerating, coupled with a host of interrelated energy sustainability questions, has fostered increased interdisciplinary research on improving energy efficiency and reducing per capita energy consumption, as well as better understanding the sources of pollution emissions and possible policy options for limiting permanent environmental damage. Increasingly, geographic information systems, remote sensing, and other spatial technologies are being leveraged by researchers when analyzing these problems. There is, however, limited discourse regarding the possible synergies that could result from sustained engagement between those interested in geographic information science (GIScience) and researchers tackling energy issues. In this article, we outline an integrated research agenda for GIScience and energy studies that focuses on the prospects for making new contributions to the growing literature on energy sustainability. We identify three critical issues that offer substantial opportunities for new synergistic research at the nexus of GIScience and energy sustainability, including (1) the problem of carbon estimation and inventory, (2) questions of new energy infrastructure placement and transition, and (3) household energy conservation and efficiency. We lay out substantive energy considerations within each problem area and discuss possible new contributions involving GIScience. Our analysis suggests that issues of scale, representation, complexity, and several other core GIScience themes underpin these energy research needs. This article is intended to foster new dialogue between GIScience and energy studies.