Existing tools, user needs and required model adjustments for energy demand modelling of a carbon-neutral Europe
File(s)
OA Location
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
To achieve the European Union's target for climate neutrality by 2050 reduced energy demand will make the transition process faster and cheaper. The role of policies that support energy efficiency measures and demand-side management practices will be critical and to ensure that energy demand models are relevant to policymakers and other end-users, understanding how to further improve the models and whether they are tailored to user needs to support efficient decision-making processes is crucial. So far though, no scientific studies have examined the key user needs for energy demand modelling in the context of the climate neutrality targets. In this article we address this gap using a multi-method approach based on empirical and desk research. Through survey and stakeholder meetings and workshops we identify user needs of different stakeholder groups, and we highlight the direction in which energy demand models need to be improved to be relevant to their users. Through a detailed review of existing energy demand models, we provide a full understanding of the key characteristics and capabilities of existing tools, and we identify their limitations and gaps. Our findings show that classical demand-related questions remain important to model users, while most of the existing models can answer these questions. Furthermore, we show that some of the user needs related to sectoral demand modelling, dictated by the latest policy developments, are under-researched and are not addressed by existing tools.
Date Issued
2022-08-01
Date Acceptance
2022-05-07
Citation
Energy Research & Social Science, 2022, 90
ISSN
2214-6326
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Energy Research & Social Science
Volume
90
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by- nc-nd/4.0/).
Subjects
CLIMATE
Climate neutrality
Demand-side management
Energy demand
Energy demand modelling
Environmental Sciences & Ecology
Environmental Studies
FRAMEWORK
IMPACTS
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Model adjustments
SCENARIOS
Science & Technology
SUFFICIENCY
SYSTEMS
User needs
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
ARTN 102662
Date Publish Online
2022-05-23