This article describes how energy issues and education for sustainable development (ESD) are part of the agenda for two current European projects, CoDeS and SUSTAIN. The latter is mainly concerned with the development of inquiry-based primary and lower secondary science education while the former is a network that aims to learn more about collaborations within schools and communities that foster sustainable development. Even though the words "sustainability" and "global warming" are not mentioned in the 2014 key stage 3 (ages 11-14) science and geography National Curriculum in England, it is suggested that teaching the difficult concept of energy within the framework of sustainability will increase the engagement and curiosity of pupils and their motivation to study science using different contexts.