The gap between energy policy challenges and model capabilities

Georgios Savvidis, Kais Siala, Christoph Weissbart, Lukas Schmidt, Frieder Borggrefe, Subhash Kumar, Karen Pittel, Reinhard Madlener and Kai Hufendiek

Energy Policy, 2019, vol. 125, issue C, 503-520

Abstract: Ambitious decarbonization targets, technology-specific policies, and computational developments led to increases in the complexity and diversity of energy system models. The lack of transparency and standardization, however, renders the assessment of model suitability for specific policy questions difficult. Therefore, this paper systematically assesses the ability of energy system models to answer major energy policy questions. It examines the existing literature on model comparison schemes, then proposes a set of criteria to compare a sample of 40 models. Besides, a novel, model-oriented approach is developed in order to cluster energy policy questions. Finally, the model capabilities and the policy questions are brought together by quantifying the gap between models and policy questions. The results show that some models are very well able to answer a wide range of energy policy questions, whereas others are only suitable for a specific area of energy policy. The representation of the distribution grid, the endogenous adjustment of demand, and the technical flexibility of the energy system are among the features, where models generally lag behind. Our results provide policy-makers with guidance on crucial model features with respect to a selection of energy policy questions and suggest potential funding priorities for future energy system modeling.

Keywords: Energy system modeling; Model comparison; Policy issue categorization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (43)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518306864
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: The gap between energy policy challenges and model capabilities (2019)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:enepol:v:125:y:2019:i:c:p:503-520

DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.10.033

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Policy is currently edited by N. France

More articles in Energy Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().