The Advanced Research Institute (ARI) on "The Application of Systems
Science to Energy Policy Planning" was held under the auspices of the
NATO Special Programme Panel on Systems Science in collaboration with
the National Center for Analysis of Energy Sys- tems, Brookhaven
National Laboratory, USA, as a part of the NATO Science Committee's
continuous effort to promote the advancement of science through
international cooperation. Advanced Research Institutes are sponsored by
the NATO Science Committee for the purposes of bringing together senior
scientists to seek consensus on an assessment of the present state of
knowl- edge on a specific topic and to make recommendations for future
research directions. Meetings are structured to encourage inten- sive
group discussion. Invitees are carefully selected so that the group as a
whole will contain the experience and expertise neces- sary to make the
conclusions valid and significant. A final report is published
presenting the various viewpoints and conclusions. The NATO Systems
Science Panel noted that the systems approach is increasingly being
applied to energy policy analysis and plan- ning in both public and
private sectors of national economies. Consequently, it seemed
appropriate at this time to bring together experts to review and
evaluate recent experience, in order to iden- tify strengths and
weaknesses in current prac tice, and to make recommendations for
research directions.