Journal summary from Editor in Chief

We have now completed our first three years in what has been a crucial period for the global energy sector. While the past three years as seen fossil fuels continue to dominate global energy supply, the agreement reached in Paris at the end of 2015 to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit the average global temperature rise to 2^oC may see this start to change.

The growing concern over climate change has seen a significant repositioning in global thinking about coal. The growth in natural gas driven by the US has, when combined with changes in the global economic outlook, considerably altered the prospects for oil. Levelized costs for renewable energy, particularly solar PV, have continued to fall. When all these factors are combined, the prospects for low carbon emitting energy technologies have never looked brighter.

There has also been a growing recognition of the need to support clean energy in developing countries as they grow and transition their economies.

Many of these changes have been recognized in our journal through the topics addressed in focused special issues and individual contributions, while their importance can been seen in the growth we have had in both submissions and readership. Since our first year in 2013, we have seen a four-fold increase in submissions to our journal. As measured by downloads and on-line paper views, readership of our articles in the last quarter of 2015 was greater than all recorded for 2014. Our 10 most read papers in 2015 all dealt with alternative energy technologies.

We have also established a truly global reach among our authors who originate almost equally in numbers from North American, European and Asian-Pacific countries. This international reach is also reflected in the membership of our Editorial Board.

Next year will see the fourth year of our journal. As we enter what is hoped to be a new age in global thinking about energy supply, we must ensure that our journal can provide a critical forum for research, review and discussion of energy technology, development and policy. To this end, we have a number actions planned which we hope will enable us to further strengthen the presence, quality and sustainability of our journal. These include, renewal of the Editorial Board, introduction of publishing fees, reduced processing time and a move to Bi-monthly publishing. We will be seeking support of the Editorial Board members to make this plan a success.

I would like to end this editorial by thanking all the members of the journal’s Editorial Team and Board. The continued strong growth seen in 2015 was due to your hard work and I look forward to working with you to further build the strength and reputation of our journal in what will be an exciting 2017.