Abstract: This paper extracts the elements of energy transition issue,emphasizing that the behaviors of stakeholders such as policy makers,and energy suppliers can impact the energy transition dynamic significantly.The main aims（explanation,prediction,projection,and optimization）,contents,and challenges of energy transition researches are presented,and the stateof-the-art research paradigms for energy transition and their limitations on addressing the challenges introduced by human behaviors are reviewed.Finally,this paper suggests a new research paradigm,hybrid simulation of technology-economicbehavior model with human participants,in which the energy transition target and pathway is optimized by repeatedly carrying out experimental economic simulation.The subsequent paper will discuss the uncertainties and analysis approaches in the energy transition researches.