Scales, strategies and actions for effective energy planning: A review

This paper is a review of the most recent literature on the interaction between climate change, land-use and energy, based on the analysis of papers collected through the most relevant scientific literature databases. A total of 114 papers published between 2000 and 2011 were reviewed. The aims of this review are: in general (1) to identify the different research topics that have been developed related to the interaction between climate change, land-use and energy; more specifically, (2) to analyze what are the most suitable spatial and temporal scales of investigation to focus on for actions and strategies to reduce critical issues in the field of energy and environment; (3) to identify which actions and strategies are deemed as the most appropriate to mitigate critical issues in energy and environment; and given the research gaps found in the review, (4) to propose research recommendations in the context of effective climate-energy planning. We argue that there are certain gaps and needs for a "nested" environmental governance. It is necessary to understand how different environmental policies overlap and how they can be integrated in order to verify whether there are conflicting targets that may negate each other in the long term. - Highlights: • Energy production and consumption can directly or indirectly affect climate change. • Energy sector is influenced directly and indirectly by changes in climate conditions. • Energy sector and climate change affect and limit alternative uses of land, causing land-use changes. • The most suitable spatial scale for energy planning is the municipal level requiring short-term perspectives. • Several research recommendations to deal with the complexity of energy-land-use-climate change issue are proposed