ADVANCE activities

What was our aim? In January 2013 fourteen research institutions from all over Europe started cooperation with the aim to develop a new generation of Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs).

Why was this important? Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) describe the environmental, social and economic factors and interactions that determine climate change. They have become central tools to inform policy makers on different climate mitigation options and their impacts. However, with the increasing use and growth in complexity of the models, the demand for improved representations as well as thorough validation of model behaviour has grown significantly over the past years.

What did we do? We improved modelling methodologies in four priority areas:

• Demand for energy services and energy end use (WP2)
• Consumer heterogeneity and consumption behaviour (WP3)
• Technical change and uncertainty (WP4)
• System integration, path dependencies, and resource constraints (WP5)

We elaborated comprehensive and harmonized model documentations and we developed automated validation tests allowing for assessment of model performance. Datasets and methodologies were made available to the broader scientific community via an open access resource (WP1). Improved models were eventually applied to assess the post-Paris climate and energy policy framework (WP6).

Project structure