Energetic charged particles ~>40 keV can affect the plasma temperature and pressure and as a consequence the whole dynamics of the magnetosphere. How do particles get to such energies is a fundamental science question. Energetic particles are also potentially hazardous for the space observations. It is, therefore, necessary to study the origin of energetic plasma, its acceleration, distribution and consequences on the magnetospheric dynamics. In this work we review the related results based on observations from the Cluster/RAPID energetic charged particle detector. These results represent new insights in plasma acceleration, unexpected features in its distributions, effects on substorm and geomagnetic storm dynamics and remediated observations in the radiation belts during approximately 1.5 solar cycles.
