Energy Modeling Forum

Energy Modeling Forum
AbbreviationEMF
Formation1976 (48 years ago) (1976)
Founded atStanford University, California, USA
PurposeScientific cooperation
Official language
English
Director
John Weyant
Websiteemf.stanford.edu

The Energy Modeling Forum (EMF) is a structured forum for discussing important issues related to energy and the environment. The EMF was established in 1976 at Stanford University. The EMF works through a series of ad hoc working groups, each focusing on specific corporate or policy decisions. The EMF provides a non-partisan platform that ensures objective consideration of opposing views. Participation is by invitation only.

Since the late 1990s, the EMF has made contributions to the economics of climate change, as reflected in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and in the field of integrated assessment modeling more generally.

John Weyant is the current director of the EMF.

Ethos

The EMF was convened in 1976 over concerns that the insights that large-scale energy models could provide policymakers were being overshadowed by the "plethora of detailed quantitative results" being disseminated and discussed.[1]: 449  As a result, the EMF sought to bring energy modelers together to provide a proper context for their work. Indeed, the EMF was "formed to foster better communication between the builders and users of energy models in energy planning and policy analysis".[1]: 449 

The EMF periodically establishes ad hoc working groups to conduct studies on selected energy topics. A working group then identifies relevant existing models and sets a series of tests to illuminate the basic structure and behavior of each model. Results are then compared, and the strengths and weaknesses of each model are documented in a report, which, as of 1982 is freely available.[1]

List of EMF projects

Reports for most completed projects are available on the EMF website.[2] However, reports since 2006 occasionally been published exclusively in special editions of paywalled academic journals instead.

EMF projects [2]
Project Reported Description
Completed projects
EMF 01 1977 Energy and the economy
EMF 02 1978 Coal in transition: 1980–2000
EMF 03 1979 Electric load forecasting: probing the issue with models
EMF 04 1980 Aggregate elasticity of energy demand
EMF 05 1982 US oil and gas supply
EMF 06 1981 World oil
EMF 07 1986 Macroeconomic impacts of energy shocks
EMF 08 1987 Industrial energy demand, conservation, and interfuel substitution
EMF 09 1989 North American natural gas markets
EMF 10 1991 Electricity markets and planning
EMF 11 1992 International oil supplies and demands
EMF 12 1993 Controlling global carbon emissions: costs and policy options
EMF 13 1996 Markets for energy efficiency
EMF 14 — Integrated assessment of climate change
EMF 15 1998 A competitive electricity industry
EMF 16 1999 The costs of the Kyoto Protocol
EMF 17 — Prices and emissions in a restructured electricity market
EMF 18 — International trade dimensions of climate policies
EMF 19 2002 Climate change: technology strategies and international trade
EMF 20 2003 Natural gas, fuel diversity, and North American energy markets
EMF 21 2008 Multi-gas mitigation and climate change
EMF 22 2010 Climate change control scenarios
EMF 23 2009 World natural gas markets and trade
EMF 24 2014 US technology and climate policy strategies
EMF 25 2011 Energy efficiency and climate change mitigation
EMF 26 2013 Emissions and market implications of new natural gas supplies
EMF 27 2014 Global technology and climate policy strategies
EMF 28 2013 The effects of technology choices on EU climate policy
EMF 29 2012 The role of border carbon adjustment in unilateral climate policy
Current projects (as of late-2016)
EMF 30 Short-lived climate forcers and air quality
EMF 31 North American natural gas markets in transition
EMF 32 US GHG and revenue recycling scenarios
EMF 33 Bio-energy and land use
  • The reported year is that of the last revision.
  • A dash indicates that no report is available.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Huntington, Hillard G; Weyant, John P; Sweeney, James L (1 January 1982). "Modeling for insights, not numbers: the experiences of the Energy Modeling Forum" (PDF). Omega: The International Journal of Management Science. 10 (5): 449–462. doi:10.1016/0305-0483(82)90002-0. ISSN 0305-0483. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  2. ^ a b "Projects — Energy Modeling Forum". Energy Modeling Forum (EMF). Stanford, CA, USA. Retrieved 2016-10-23.