National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Energy Analysis: Energy Collaborative Analysis Initiative

The Energy Collaborative Analysis Initiative (ECAI) is a collaborative effort among federal and state officials and research organizations to identify opportunities to enhance collaboration on energy analysis, which would ultimately inform and drive policy making. The Planning, Analysis, and Evaluation (PAE) group in DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), in conjunction with these leading energy analysis organizations, is sponsoring this initiative. Activities related to the collaboration are facilitated and coordinated by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Overview

Through coordination among agencies, this initiative aims to make analysis more efficient and cost-effective, increase credibility of analytical methods, and standardize assumptions and methodologies. The overview section outlines the initiative's goals and vision, and includes a baseline characterization (PDF 72 KB) Download Adobe Reader that outlines energy analysis activities of the participants.

Analysis Collaboration Topics

Sixty-two analysts from 27 organizations identified eight high-priority energy topics that analysts and decision makers should address in the near future. These collaboration areas include:

• Enhance Research, Development, and Deployment Portfolio Analysis Tools
  Improve portfolio analysis best practices, including tools for establishing priorities and methods and use of these methods for uncertainty and risk analysis and development of integrated R&D and deployment plans.
  
  
• Improve Deployment Partnerships between Industry and Government
  Improve knowledge of lessons, opportunities, and best practices for technology commercialization and deployment partnerships between industry and state/federal government.
  
  
• Augment Energy Technologies and Demand Response Representation in Energy Models
  Improve representation of energy technologies and demand response in energy models, including the next version of NEMS.
  
  
• Enhance Regional Technology Characterizations and Transmission Constraints in Energy Models
  Improve models to better represent regional technology characterizations; improve transmission constraint representation.
  
  
• Improve Impact Evaluation Tools: Economic Development, Energy Security, Environmental Impacts
  Improve impact evaluation tools and best practices to quantify benefits: (a) economic development, (b) energy security, and (c) environmental impacts, including integration of all three.
  
  
• Improve Policy Analysis Tools and Integration of Data/Tools at State and Federal Levels
  Develop improved policy analysis tools at the state and national levels, including scenario analysis tools; identify ways to link/integrate policy tools at the state and national levels.
  
  
• Enhance Biofuel Resource Potential and Infrastructure Analysis
  Enhance analysis of and tools for transportation fuel resource potential and infrastructure; initial topic is biofuels.
  
  
• Improve Behavioral Factors in Market/Choice Models and Tools

Collaborators

The participants and leaders of this initiative are key to its success in both the short and long term. The collaborators section includes information on the Planning Committee (PDF 16 KB) Download Adobe Reader, background on initiative participants and their analysis work, and information on the leadership committee that was formed to continue overseeing collaboration activities.

Analysis Activities by Organization

Several organizations — including research, industry, government, and others — are doing work in the area of energy analysis. This activities section of the site includes background information on these groups, including their objectives and ongoing activities.

Workshops

The ECAI group conducts workshops to bring together federal and state officials and research organization representatives to identify specific energy analysis goals and activities. Two workshops have been held since ECAI was formed in early 2006. The inaugural one was on June 20-21, 2006 and a second was held June 27-28, 2007.