The International Energy Agency’s annual World Energy Outlook, the latest edition of which was published on Wednesday, is probably the closest thing to a bible in the energy world. It marks in granular detail several different ways the global energy system might evolve. The organization projects electricity generation and fuel production volumes and price points, by national or regional levels, in five-year increments for the next 20 to 30 years. It’s also become the subject of increasing controversy in the past decade over its influence on efforts to stabilize the climate and shift away from fossil fuels. The new WEO possibly marks the resolution of a tension that has plagued the IEA for years: Does it simply show possible futures, or does it also define those futures? This year the IEA confirmed a subtle but important shift in the way it defines and frames its different pathways, or scenarios, […]