This article discusses different approaches that are used to present and categorise models used in energy system analysis, with the overall objective to improve their quality, efficiency, and outreach to policy makers and public stakeholders involved in the European energy transition. A comprehensive literature review identifying strengths and limitations of existing approaches of classification is conducted. It highlights the tendency towards a versatile presentation of models, where the same set of information is available for all users while the way...

In this article we apply the transparency checklist methodology by Cao et al. to a case study to evaluate the degree of transparency in energy system modelling. We use a recent case study conducted by the Reiner Lemoine Institut that analyses heat and electricity supply in a German region. An analysis of the questions of the transparency checklist indicates that different issues are addressed: transparency, reproducibility and quality. The completed checklist with answers regarding the case study and its supplementing...

This paper brings together different modelling groups across Europe and the United States to calculate mortality and morbidity due to air pollution and their economic costs on the society. We use the Economic Valuation of Air Pollution (EVA) model to estimate health impacts of air pollution using data from fourteen models and establish an uncertainty of these estimations due to differences in models by keeping the emissions and the boundary conditions same among all the models. Results show that differences...

A new study by Morten A.D. Larsen and Martin Drews from the Technical University of Denmark published in Science of The Total Environment (Larsen and Drews, 2019) looks into the quality of present day openly available data on the water-energy nexus at larger scales, here highlighted for Europe. The approach is to combine multiple (free) data sources to generate the best possible estimate on the actual 1980-2015 historical water consumption (net share) and withdrawal rates (total share including return flow)...

This paper investigates the impacts of local versus foreign emissions to the air pollutant concentrations over Europe and North America. We have employed an approach called the Response to Extra-Regional Emission Reductions (RERER), in order to quantify the differences in the strengths of non- local source contributions to different species among the different models. We found large RERER values for ozone (O3) over both Europe and North America, indicating a large contribution from non-local sources, while for particles (PM2.5), low...

To meet the stated ambition in the Paris Agreement, Europe’s energy transition needs to be one that effects large-scale emission reductions at an unprecedented rate, with a system that has to be net-zero CO2 emissions by or soon after 2050. Critical to this transition will be the large-scale deployment of existing and new technologies. However, many uncertainties abound concerning future technology cost, performance, deployment, and socio-political feasibility, making planning for this transition challenging. A REEEM case study by University College...