Beyond Technical Efficiency: Integrating Energy Awareness into Life Cycle Assessment of Energy System

Energy transition is most often examined through the lens of technological development and integration, including renewable energy sources, energy storage systems, and digital energy management solutions. In practice, however, the actual performance of energy systems—understood as both energy efficiency and environmental impact across the life cycle—depends not only on technical parameters but also on decision-making processes, operational practices, and management capabilities. This paper aims to conceptualize energy and environmental awareness as a determinant influencing energy system performance at organizational and system levels. The study is based on a structured review of the literature from energy engineering, life cycle assessment, and energy management, complemented by a comparative analysis of how similar energy technologies are utilized under different decision-making contexts. On this basis, an integrated analytical framework is proposed that combines conventional energy and environmental performance indicators with awareness-related dimensions, including energy knowledge, perception of environmental risk, and managerial competence. The analysis demonstrates that insufficient energy awareness leads to systematic gaps between the technological potential of energy systems and their actual performance, resulting in increased environmental burdens despite high nominal technical efficiency. The proposed framework helps to explain performance variability in energy systems operating under comparable technical conditions and highlights the importance of incorporating managerial and competency-related factors into life cycle assessments and energy transition policies. The paper contributes to the literature by extending energy system evaluation beyond purely technical criteria and offers practical implications for the design of energy systems, industrial energy management, and policy instruments supporting sustainable energy transitions.