The importance of open data and software: Is energy research lagging behind?

TLDR

Energy policy increasingly depends on quantitative models and data, yet the sector lags behind other disciplines in openness, facing ethical, security, and institutional barriers that hinder transparent analysis amid climate‑driven transformation. The authors argue that openly available models and data are essential for higher‑quality science, reduced duplication, and stronger science‑policy links, and they outline actionable steps to improve openness in energy research. They review the current openness landscape and recommend concrete actions for the energy research community to enhance transparency and reproducibility.

Abstract

Energy policy often builds on insights gained from quantitative energy models and their underlying data. As climate change mitigation and economic concerns drive a sustained transformation of the energy sector, transparent and well-founded analyses are more important than ever. We assert that models and their associated data must be openly available to facilitate higher quality science, greater productivity through less duplicated effort, and a more effective science-policy boundary. There are also valid reasons why data and code are not open: ethical and security concerns, unwanted exposure, additional workload, and institutional or personal inertia. Overall, energy policy research ostensibly lags behind other fields in promoting more open and reproducible science. We take stock of the status quo and propose actionable steps forward for the energy research community to ensure that it can better engage with decision-makers and continues to deliver robust policy advice in a transparent and reproducible way.