Book excerpt: We are now entering the third decade of the 21st Century, and, especially in the last few years, the achievements made by researchers have been exceptional, leading to major advancements in the fast-growing field of energy and society. Frontiers has organized a series of Research Topics to highlight the latest advancements in research across the field of sustainable energy policy, with articles from the Associate Members of our accomplished Editorial Boards. This editorial initiative of particular relevance, led by Professor Sanya Carley, Specialty Chief Editor of the Energy and Society section, is focused on new insights, novel developments, current challenges, latest discoveries, recent advances, and future perspectives in the energy and society field. The Research Topic solicits brief, forward-looking contributions from the editorial board members that describe the state of the art, outlining, recent developments and major accomplishments that have been achieved and that need to occur to move the field forward. Authors are encouraged to identify the greatest challenges in the sub-disciplines, and how to address those challenges. The goal of this special edition Research Topic is to shed light on the progress made in the past decade in the energy and society field, and on its future challenges to provide a thorough overview of the field. This article collection will inspire, inform and provide direction and guidance to researchers in the field.