In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of R&D and innovation in energy efficiency and dealing with climate change. To improve our knowledge in these matters a workshop was organized in Barcelona, Spain, in January 2014. This introduction to the special issue first presents some insights from the literature on challenges for R&D and innovation in energy. The second section summarises the articles from this workshop that make up this special issue and that provide new insights into innovation in energy. All the articles include energy policy recommendations based on the empirical analyses carried out. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.