The Energy Trilemma in the Low-Carbon Transition: From Static Trade-Offs to Dynamic Interactions

The transition towards low-carbon energy systems is fundamentally reshaping the relationships between energy security, affordability, and environmental sustainability. Although the energy trilemma has become a widely adopted framework for analysing these objectives, existing studies often examine individual dimensions or bilateral trade-offs in isolation, providing limited understanding of how interactions evolve throughout the transition process. This review synthesises recent evidence on the energy trilemma in the context of the low-carbon transition and develops a dynamic, context-sensitive interpretation of interactions between its three dimensions. A structured integrative literature review with thematic synthesis was conducted using systematic searches of the Scopus and Web of Science databases, followed by multi-stage screening and qualitative synthesis. Rather than evaluating individual studies separately, the review integrates evidence across complementary research streams to identify recurring interaction patterns, trade-offs, synergies, and the conditions under which they emerge. The findings demonstrate that interactions within the energy trilemma are neither static nor universally characterised by unavoidable trade-offs. Energy security increasingly depends on electricity system resilience, critical mineral supply chains, and institutional capacity rather than fossil fuel availability alone. Affordability is shaped primarily by distributional processes, adaptive capacity, and equitable access to low-carbon transition opportunities rather than average energy prices. Security–affordability interactions evolve across different risk regimes, highlighting the economic value of resilience under geopolitical uncertainty and market disruption. Across all three dimensions, technological innovation, infrastructure development, governance quality, temporal dynamics, and socio-economic context determine whether policy interventions generate trade-offs or mutually reinforcing outcomes. Building on these findings, the review reconceptualises the energy trilemma as a dynamic and context-sensitive analytical framework rather than a static balancing exercise. The proposed framework integrates technological, institutional, temporal, distributional, and geopolitical perspectives to explain how interactions among energy security, affordability, and environmental sustainability evolve under different transition conditions.