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. Other members of the EMF include Hillard Huntington, James Sweeney, and Frank Wolak.
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. 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".
The EMF periodically establishes 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.
List of EMF projects
Reports for most completed projects are available on the EMF website. However, reports since 2006 occasionally been published exclusively in special editions of paywalled academic journals instead.
+ EMF projects Project Reported Description Completed projects EMF01 1977 Energy and the economy EMF02 1978 Coal in transition: 1980–2000 EMF03 1979 Electric load forecasting: probing the issue with models EMF04 1980 Aggregate elasticity of energy demand EMF05 1982 US oil and gas supply EMF06 1981 World oil EMF07 1986 Macroeconomic impacts of energy shocks EMF08 1987 Industrial energy demand, conservation, and interfuel substitution EMF09 1989 North American natural gas markets EMF10 1991 Electricity markets and planning EMF11 1992 International oil supplies and demands EMF12 1993 Controlling global carbon emissions: costs and policy options EMF13 1996 Markets for energy efficiency EMF14 — Integrated assessment of climate change EMF15 1998 A competitive electricity industry EMF16 1999 The costs of the Kyoto Protocol EMF17 — Prices and emissions in a restructured electricity market EMF18 — International trade dimensions of climate policies EMF19 2002 Climate change: technology strategies and international trade EMF20 2003 Natural gas, fuel diversity, and North American energy markets EMF21 2008 Multi-gas mitigation and climate change EMF22 2010 Climate change control scenarios EMF23 2009 World natural gas markets and trade EMF24 2014 US technology and climate policy strategies EMF25 2011 Energy efficiency and climate change mitigation EMF26 2013 Emissions and market implications of new natural gas supplies EMF27 2014 Global technology and climate policy strategies EMF28 2013 The effects of technology choices on EU climate policy EMF29 2012 The role of border carbon adjustment in unilateral climate policy Current projects (as of late-2016) EMF30 Short-lived climate forcers and air quality EMF31 North American natural gas markets in transition EMF32 US GHG and revenue recycling scenarios EMF33 Bio-energy and land use
See also Open Energy Modelling Initiative – an open source energy modeling initiative centered on Europe
References
External links EMF home page