Energy economics is a broad scientific subject area which includes topics related to supply and use of energy in societies. Due to diversity of issues and methods applied and shared with a number of academic disciplines, energy economics does not present itself as a self-contained academic discipline, but it is an applied subdiscipline of economics. From the list of main topics of economics, some relate strongly to energy economics:

Computable general equilibrium
Econometrics
Environmental economics
Finance
Industrial organization
Input–output model
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Operations research
Resource economicsEnergy economics also draws heavily on results of energy engineering, geology, political sciences, ecology etc. Recent focus of energy economics includes the following issues:

Climate change and climate policy
Demand response
Elasticity of supply and demand in energy market
Energy and economic growth
Energy derivatives
Energy elasticity
Energy forecasting
Energy markets and electricity markets - liberalisation, (de- or re-) regulation
Economics of energy infrastructure
Energy policy
Environmental policy
Risk analysis and security of supply
SustainabilitySome institutions of higher education (universities) recognise energy economics as a viable career opportunity, offering this as a curriculum. The University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam are the top three research universities, and Resources for the Future the top research institute. There are numerous other research departments, companies and professionals offering energy economics studies and consultations.