Energy: from efficiency to sufficiency

Energy sufficiency emerges as the next step in driving sustainable developments to carbon neutrality. Energy is an existential component of modern societies subjected to geopolitical influences, resource availability, and type. The paradigm shift to fully electric societies and rapid urbanization calls for rethinking the roadmap to Net Zero. This paper explores energy sufficiency as complementary to efficiency and its integration within Net Zero. It intends to answer questions such as whether efficiency is enough to face the increasing demand for energy, renewable resources and reliable storage systems. Moreover, the paper briefly addresses the human impact on energy and questions how resources are used within the planet's boundaries. This study uses a rapid literature review (RLR) to identify the current state of the art of research on the previous topics and goes beyond by incorporating Industry 5.0. Considering the societal approach and interaction between humans and machines, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), this paper also includes a short reflection on paralleling sufficiency with the fifth Industrial Revolution. The results show that the sufficiency concept aligned with Net Zero is still at the embryonic stage, with only eight papers addressing the topics. However, the contextualization with Industry 5.0 is still an unexplored area of research. There is a need to incorporate the concept of sufficiency in a broader sense, from supply to demand. Sufficiency as a reemerging concept still requires policies on energy systems and societies. Research highlights the importance of carefully assessing energy sufficiency within different types of societies. This study adds to the body of knowledge by providing a discussion within an unexplored area in literature.