Canadian Operational Research Society

Calgary Section

http://www.corscalgary.org/

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SEMINAR

When: Noon to 1:30 PM, Friday, May 28, 2004

Room 217

TransCanada Tower

450 - 1 Street SW

(See attached map)

SPEAKER

Abha Bhargava, M. A., Ph.D.

Senior Director of Energy-Environment Modeling

Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI)

TOPIC

Energy-Environment Modeling with ENERGY 2020

Abstract:

A tremendous amount of analytical work has taken place since Canada signed the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. Much of this work has focused on the use of rigorous economic models to analyze the impact of a range of policy options for achieving Kyoto. ENERGY 2020 is one such model. It is an integrated multi-region, multi-sector energy systems analysis model that simulates the supply, demand and price for energy fuels. It is a causal and descriptive model, which dynamically describes the behaviour of both energy suppliers and consumers for all fuels and for all end-uses. It simulates the physical and economic flows of suppliers and energy users, and the process in which they make decisions and how those decisions causally translate to energy production, energy-use and emissions.

E2020 has been used to evaluate a variety of energy-environmental issues. Among the most significant in recent years are assessments of:

· Impacts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and criteria air contaminants (CACs) emission reductions in Ontario, 2000-2002.

· The Climate Change Action Plan for the federal government in November 2002; and in other several related projects.

· Alberta Sensitivity Analysis on the Federal Plan, December 2002.

The presentation touches on the many aspects of the model, focusing on its use as a climate change policy model. Additional details on the model are provided in a paper presented in 2003 at the Annual Meetings of the Canadian Economic Association in Ottawa

About the Speaker

ABHA BHARGAVA is the Senior Director Energy-Environment Modeling at the Canadian Energy Research Institute (CERI). She holds an M.A. (Economics) from University of Waterloo and a Ph.D. (Economics) from the University of Alberta.

Abha has over 20 years of extensive experience in the Canadian energy sector on varied aspects including: energy-environment modeling and forecasting; the demand and supply of energy commodities (oil, natural gas, electricity and coal); energy-environment linkages; policy formulation and testing; evaluation of alternative tax and royalty regimes and their relationship to the long-term sustainability of energy sectors; and overall analysis of trends in energy investments, production, economics and markets. Over the past five years at CERI, she has worked extensively on the complex energy-environment issues related to Climate Change, focusing on a wide range of questions from energy demand response to climate change policies to an analysis of international scenarios for Kyoto. Some of this work was undertaken for the federal and provincial governments in their effort to ratify the Kyoto Accord. She has also managed the data collection initiative for the Canadian NEMS model undertaken for Natural Resources Canada.