Release of World Energy Issues Monitor 2020: "Decoding new signals of change"

The "World Energy Issues Monitor 2020: Decoding new signals of change" was launched on 26 February. It provides unique insights into what energy leaders identify as their critical uncertainties and action priorities in 2019.

Based on the 11th annual survey and analysis of over 3,000 survey responses from energy leaders in 104 countries, the World Energy Council has identified major trends and agenda items which are relevant to new energy and energy-related developments in regionally diverse systems. Key highlights from this year's survey include:

• Macroeconomic and geopolitical issues are the key critical uncertainties.
• Technology innovation is driving most of the action priorities.
• Self-reliance is outpacing regional integration as key enabler of energy security.
  

For eleven consecutive years, the World Energy Issues Monitor has been gathering the perspectives of energy leaders in the public and private sectors on 42 key issues (and four specific issues related to digitization) that shape and drive our energy system. It is a very useful platform for identifying, sharing and tracking critical issues surrounding the energy transition and how these change through time and space. New this year, the Issues Monitor also provides with a snapshot of the consumer´s perspective toward the energy transiton, which details based on 550 responses from individual energy users in 50 countries.

The World Energy Issues Monitor 2020 identifies the shifting patterns of connected issues that impact energy systems development and transition on a multi-local, regional and global basis. Some of the key trends and topics that have emerged from tracking these issues over time as well as the survey of individual consumers are:

• The 2020s may be the decade of the customer.
• Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) is gaining in importance within the oil & gas sector.
• While opinions differ globally, nuclear power remains important in Europe.
  

Spain, through the Spanish Committee of the World Energy Council (CECME), has participated in the report for another year. As the Spanish map shows, critical uncertainties in our country are marked by the political scenario, and priorities for action are related to the development of technologies for decarbonization and decentralization.

Thus, the main issues on the Spanish map are: on the one hand, electricity storage, EU cohesion, and climate change, as critical uncertainties; and, on the other hand, renewable energy, energy efficiency and digitization, as priorities for action.

The full report and executive summary are accessible through the following link World Energy Issues Monitor 2020. In addition to this report, an interactive online tool is available where you can view the maps and make custom queries.

You can access this tool at the following link: http://www.im.worldenergy.org/