Energy and energy systems are fashionable subjects, and this has generated a lot of papers, apparently beyond the carrying capacity of the subjacent methodology.
In this written version of a presentation at IIASA Third Energy Status Report, various examples serve to show the highly unsatisfactory situation, pointing especially to the internal contradiction of results. Some hints are given about the potential of an analysis based on information theory and the negentropy concept, and about the significance of a search for precise methods of forecasting.