Examples of the types of policies analyzed using ENERGY 2020
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Energy and Emission Incentives and Taxes
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Carbon Cap-and-Trade Systems
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Clean Air Standards
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Energy Efficiency Measures
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Appliance and Building Standards
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Landfill Gas Regulations
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Vehicle Emissions Regulations
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Renewable Fuel Content Standards
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Renewable Energy Requirements
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Industrial Generation
Our Approach
ENERGY 2020’s methodologies make it an ideal use for policy analysis. The model is designed with a bottom-up, causal approach simulating a detailed, integrated energy system. Principles of consumer choice theory are applied to provide realistic simulation of consumer decisions, and principles from system dynamics are applied to track capital stock turnover. With this approach, detailed policies are simulated with realistic results showing feedback effects across sectors and fuels and interaction effects of simulating multiple policies simultaneously.
The figure above illustrates the overall structural design of ENERGY 2020. The energy demand module consists of four sectors (residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation). Energy demands are calculated and sent as input to the supply module consisting of six energy producing sectors – electricity, oil and gas, refinery, biofuels, coal, and steam. The supply module produces the energy required to meet the energy demand, calculates energy prices, and sends energy prices back as feedback to the demand sector. Both energy and non-energy related emissions are tracked covering eighteen separate greenhouse gas (GHG) pollutants and criteria air contaminants (CAC) plus water usage.