Quality of energy services and forms will increasingly shape future energy systems

The regional reviews strongly endorsed the global conclusion that the historical trend by which final energy forms become cleaner and more grid-dependent as affluence grows can continue for a wide range of possible future primary energy structures. Solid fuels such as traditional biomass and coal in residential and commercial applications are gradually phased out in all scenarios. Grid-dependent fuels such as electricity, natural gas, and eventually also hydrogen are phased in. Although the speed of the transition varies, the trend everywhere - in global and regional perspectives alike - is toward cleaner, more convenient, and more flexible end-use fuels. The consistency between the regional reviews and the global analysis in their emphasis on the structure of final energy use is particularly important, as this feature of the study represents a conceptual and methodological advance over traditional scenario studies focused solely on energy supply perspectives.