RELEASE: Energy Policy Simulator Launched at a National Workshop by WRI India in Partnership With MoEFCC
New Delhi, (Monday, 29 October 2018): World Resources Institute (WRI) India and Energy Innovation LLC jointly released a powerful new tool that anyone can use to understand the environmental and health effects of different energy scenarios for India. The Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) was launched at the National Workshop on Energy and Environment Modelling organized by WRI India and Centre for Policy Research (CPR) in partnership with the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. Mr. J R Bhatt, Advisor, MOEFCC, launched the EPS in the presence of Mr. Navroz Dubhash, Senior Fellow, CPR; Dr. OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India; and Jeff Rissman, Energy Innovation LLC.
This workshop brought together energy and environment modellers, policy makers, researchers and other practitioners to discuss how they can together address pressing questions on India’s energy and development needs. Addressing the workshop in his opening remarks Dr. OP Agarwal, CEO WRI India said, “The EPS tool will be particularly of help to Indian policymakers in designing energy polices as it assesses the impact of different combinations of policies on air pollutants, GHG (greenhouse gases) emissions, energy demand by industry, buildings and transportation, composition of electricity capacity over time and so forth. It also calculates the costs of implementing these policies. The EPS model will bring much evidence based predictive capacity to the table which can inform the planning process in India”.
Speaking on this occasion Additional Secretary, MOEFCC Mr. A K Jain, said, “This workshop is conducted at an extremely opportune time as MOEFCC is planning to build its own modelling capacity. Such interactions help us understand the language of the modellers and explore various ways in which we could apply modelling results effectively for decision making."
The India EPS can be accessed online at https://india.energypolicy.solutions. It is free and open-source and has a simple interface. It runs quickly, completing a simulation of India’s energy system in less than a second. It uses data from Indian government agencies, peer-reviewed academic journals, and where needed, reputed international organizations.
The EPS allows users to explore impact caused by different hypothetical situations like:
What if, starting now, all cars, bikes, and buses in India were to gradually become electric by the year 2050?
And what is the impact on human health and emissions if industries phased out inefficient facilities early?
And if we plant trees on a million acres each year, what other policies are needed to meet our climate goals?
Or what if we did all this but after waiting for another ten years?
The EPS calculates the impact of such combinations of technologies and policies on 12 different pollutants: four types of particulates (PM2.5, PM10, BC, OC), four other gaseous pollutants (NOx, SOx, VOCs, CO), and four greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, F-gases). It shows that actions that reduce air pollution in India can also help reduce global climate change.
The EPS also calculates the costs of implementing various energy and climate policies and assesses their impact on energy demand by industry, buildings and transportation, and the composition of electricity capacity over time. It demonstrates the importance of action taken sooner than later as the resultant impacts show the reduction of cost, greater health benefits. It also shows the result of promoting clean energy and energy efficiency.
The recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said that the world needs to move to “net zero” carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 if we want to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. The EPS shows what India can do to contribute to this transition while laying a foundation for long-term prosperity.
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