A Foresight Exercise in the Energy Sector to 2050

A recent INSIGHT_E publication aims at defining and assessing megatrends impacting the future energy system of the European Union (EU) to the year 2050. This paper discusses the results of an internal opinion pool, targeted at INSIGHT_E’s energy experts, and was performed between 13th and 29th January 2016. The survey allowed respondents to assess the impact of megatrends on three specific impact areas: energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and affordability, in the EU. This paper provides insights on the underlying impact of each megatrend on the energy system, on the degree of uncertainty of the impact outcome, and on how a foresight analysis can support policy development towards the European Union’s long term decarbonisation objectives of 80-95% to 2050 compared to 1990.