The importance of energy in any economy, developed or underdeveloped,
became clear after the first oil shock in 1973. Since then, different
studies were carried out to formulate energy policies and to study the
ir impact on the economies. Since energy policy issues are related to
various aspects of the economy such as price formation, output determi
nation, income generation and distribution, consumption behaviour, gov
ernment operation, etc., a coherent and systematic mechanism is requir
ed for such analysis. By offering such a framework of analysis, AGE mo
dels gained popularity among energy modellers. In the 1980s, the envir
onmental issues have gained importance, and the focus shifted towards
curbing and containing emissions of environmentally unfriendly gases r
esulting from the use of energy, AGE models, because of their capabili
ty to capture the complexities of the economy, have found relevance in
analysing the economic impacts of-controlling pollution and greenhous
e gases. This paper surveys the literature on such general equilibrium
models as applied to energy studies, and reports their special featur
es, evolution through time as well as their limitations.