Developing models for the energy sector
The EC-funded SAPIENTIA project connects energy technologies, their dynamics and potential, R&D efforts and sustainable development. The aim is to enable policy-makers to arrive at more informed decisions based on robust analytical data sets. SAPIENTIA aids in the understanding of the potential of R&D in sustainable development by offering novel analytical methods for evaluation and assessment. The indicators used in the models that were developed cover a variety of parameters such as climate change, CO2 emissions, pressure on natural resources and transport congestion. The data that were collected spanned all these diverse areas. Data collections showed the linkages between sustainability indicators and energy system models. The development of the TIMES model has allowed the inclusion of chains of causality stemming from R&D to the impact on sustainable development indicators. The model was developed at the University of Stuttgart and it aims to offer long-term analysis regarding the relationships between various parameters. The researchers that worked on TIMES within the framework of SAPIENTIA are looking for support in order to further this line of research. The completed model could yield a valuable decision-making support tool.
