This theme is aimed at assessment of future energy systems. The focus is on both renewable and nonrenewable energy systems considering the extraction, processing, conversion, transportation and utilization of different energy forms. The overall goal is to identify environmentally sustainable, economically viable and socially acceptable energy pathways.

This theme aims to answer the following questions related to system characterization:

• Which primary energy sources do we have in a particular jurisdiction?
• How much primary and secondary energy do we use, and where?
• What are the pathways to convert each primary energy to secondary energy?
• What are the costs of producing each form of energy?
• How much energy and other resources are consumed in converting from one to another form of energy?
• What are environmental footprints over the life cycle of an energy form in terms of (GHG, water consumption, and land footprint?
• What are the socio-economic impacts of these energy pathways?
• What are their impacts over the short, medium and long term?

Some of the key strategic questions that this theme is trying to answer are:

• How do we decide which energy pathways to choose?
• How do we include energy pathways in development but not yet operational?
• What are the implications of decisions made elsewhere on our own situation?
• How do decisions made in one energy sector affect other sectors?

The desirable outcomes of this theme would be a clearer understanding of risks and trade-offs for available policies and technologies. An indication of where technology-specific details fit into the bigger picture for technologies developed under various themes.