In order to address the twenty-first-century challenges of decarbonisation, energy security and cost-effectiveness it is essential to understand whole energy systems and the interconnection and interaction between different components. An integrated language is therefore needed to assist energy policymakers and to help industrial stakeholders assess future energy systems and infrastructure and make realistic technical and economic decisions. Whole Energy System Dynamics provides an interdisciplinary approach to whole energy systems; providing insights and understanding of it in the context of challenges, opportunities and solutions at different levels and time steps. It discusses approaches across disciplinary boundaries as well as existing issues within three main themes: theory, modelling and policy, and their interlinkage with geopolitics, markets and practice. Spataru argues that there is an urgent need for a whole energy system integration. This is necessary for effective analysis, design and control of the interactions and interdependencies involved in the technical, economic, regulatory and social dimensions of the energy system. This book is essential reading for students interested in the area of energy systems, policy and modelling. It is also a valuable read for policymakers, professionals, researchers, academics, engineers and industrial stakeholders.

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) has developed an internationally peer-reviewed model of the UK's national energy system extending across power, heat transport and infrastructure. The Energy System Modelling Environment (ESME) is a policy neutral system-wide optimisation model. It models the key technology and engineering choices, taking account of cost, engineering, spatial and temporal factors. Key points: • A system-wide perspective, informed by modelling, is highly relevant because complex energy systems are made more inter-dependent by emissions reduction objectives • Efforts to cut emissions are substitutable across a national energy system encompassing power, heat, transport and infrastructure. • Energy systems are subject to key decision points and it is important to make the right choices in major long lived investments • Policy makers should place policy in a system-wide context. The ETI's current ESME-based analysis of the UK energy system shows that • Decarbonisation can be achieved affordably (at around 0.6% of GDP), provided that the most cost-effective technologies and strategies to reduce emissions are deployed • A broad portfolio of technologies is needed to deliver emissions reductions, with bio-energy and carbon capture and storage of particular system-wide importance Policy makers can use energy system modelling to inform market and policy design, increase understanding of pathways (including the impacts of 'real world' constraints and inertia in deploying technology), and identify key 'contender' technologies with particular system-wide value.

The roles and applications of various modeling approaches, aimed at improving the usefulness of energy policy models in public decision making, are covered by this book. The development, validation, and applications of system dynamics and agent-based models in service of energy policy design and assessment in the 21st century is a key focus. A number of modeling approaches and models for energy policy, with a particular focus on low-carbon economic development of regions and states are covered. Chapters on system dynamics methodology, model-based theory, fuzzy system dynamics frame-work, and optimization modeling approach are presented, along with several chapters on future research opportunities for the energy policy modeling community. The use of model-based analysis and scenarios in energy policy design and assessment has seen phenomenal growth during the past several decades. In recent years, renewed concerns about climate change and energy security have posed unique modeling challenges. By utilizing the validation techniques and procedures which are effectively demonstrated in these contributions, researchers and practitioners in energy systems domain can increase the appeal and acceptance of their policy models.

This book highlights how energy-system models are used to underpin and support energy and climate mitigation policy decisions at national, multi-country and global levels. It brings together, for the first time in one volume, a range of methodological approaches and case studies of good modeling practice on a national and international scale from the IEA-ETSAP energy technology initiative. It provides insights for the reader into the rich and varied applications of energy-system models and the underlying methodologies and policy questions they can address. The book demonstrates how these models are used to answer complex policy questions, including those relating to energy security, climate change mitigation and the optimal allocation of energy resources. It will appeal to energy engineers and technology specialists looking for a rationale for innovation in the field of energy technologies and insights into their evolving costs and benefits. Energy economists will gain an understanding of the key future role of energy technologies and policy makers will learn how energy-system modeling teams can provide unique perspectives on national energy and environment challenges. The book is carefully structured into three parts which focus on i) policy decisions that have been underpinned by energy-system models, ii) specific aspects of supply and end-use sector modeling, including technology learning and behavior and iii) how additional insights can be gained from linking energy-system models with other models. The chapters elucidate key methodological features backed up with concrete applications. The book demonstrates the high degree of flexibility of the modeling tools used to represent extremely different energy systems, from national to global levels.

In 1973, a seminar was held by Resources for the Future to bring together the new and growing community of scholars researching into the general field of energy modelling. Originally published in the same year, this report gathers together all of the papers presented at that seminar in order to further spread the results of these studies with those who were unable to attend. The papers cover a full range of techniques used for energy modelling whilst commenting on current government and industry models. This title will be of interest to students of Environmental Studies.

Prior to the so-called "energy crisis" of 1973, energy played a relatively minor role in our daily lives.and received limited attention from economists, planners and politicians. As a means of production its share in the total cost of the average product was considerably less than 10%. After the decisive events of 1973/74 however, all of this is changed. Energy now affects our daily lives more than anything else; it is the most current issue in business circles, the academia, the civil services and politics; and it is likely to become the most important factor in a potential international instability. The jump in oil prices in 1973 did not just lead to global inflation. but it also made the world a much more complicated environment to live in. Most decisions now require the analysis of yet another dimension; the alternatives have increased in number; the penalty for errors has gone up, and the like. In contrast to the interwoven, complicated, and mostly incompre hensible reality, progress is being made in the realm of mathe matical modelling that is comprehensible and has the advantage that it can be designed~o the degree of complication desired. Viewed in this way, it can be said that the aim of the Advanced Study Institute held in Istanbul in June 1979 was to try to bridge the gap between the real system and its model.

Studies the dynamic behavior of energy and environment systems to aid in energy and environmental policy planning for sustainable development. The author considers modelling of energy and environment with micro and macro level applications fro developing countries using both simulation and optimization techniques. He also presents a plan for integrated rural energy systems to promote sustainable development. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR