Opening Pandora's box of twenty years of research on energy policies: On the rise of a 'technology-driven' debate

Highlights: • The energy policy debate is becoming more sophisticated and technical in terminology. • The debate on energy policies is increasingly 'technology-driven'. • Renewable technologies are driving the debate in the last fifteen years. • Policy-makers will encounter troubles in addressing energy technological advancements. - Abstract: Since the Kyoto Protocol, there has been increasing attention by scholars on energy issues, with this trend having strong implications for policy. The design and implementation of energy policies depend on the underlying scientific literature and adapt to new stimuli and research findings. Energy challenges today and in the coming years will require the adoption of policy efforts across a range of different fields and technologies. The purpose of this paper is to provide an investigation of energy policy studies based on more than 22 thousand research products published between 1997 and 2017. This synthesis aims to improve the mutual understanding of the policy debate on diverse and multifaceted energy issues to allow more efficient, concerted and rapid action. Results highlight how the debate on energy policies is becoming increasingly 'technology-driven', that is more sophisticated and technical in its approach and terminology.