REEPS/Andong University Joint Workshop

Modelling the interaction between energy,water and material consumption
E3ME

Unnada Chewpreecha
29 August 2017

Overview• Energy-Water-Material Nexus• E3ME• Material modelling in E3ME

NEXUS Definition*interdependencies *trade-offs

Source(s): Water Footprint

The important issues
Issues:• climate change• increasing population• poverty alleviation• economic growth• urbanisation

Source: World Economic Forum**need to look at all these issues in parallel as there are trade-offs
between food, water, and energyIn reality this is even more complex!

Source: CGIAR a global research partnership for a food-secure future

E3ME and NEXUS• How do we capture the NEXUS in a model?
• E3ME has two-ways integrations between energyenvironment and economy• Recently expanded to have global raw material
modelling• Linkages to land-use model is under development• Ongoing NEXUS research project for Brazil
https://www.camecon.com/news/brazil-food-waterenergy-nexus/

Benefits of using E3ME
• Fully integrated global tool with feedbacks between
each modules and regions– relationships that would otherwise not captured if using
bottom-up, sector or region-specific, or other simpler tools– contains detailed FTT technologies sub-modules for power
generation, transport, and heating (land-use and industries
are under development)– results automatically includes any rebounds effects• E3ME and its submodules (FTTs) are simulation
models with real world policies options– it doesn’t rely on optimisation assumptions• See model manual at www.e3me.com

Development of the material module in E3ME
• Originally developed for the European Matisse
research project http://www.matisse-project.net/• Applied in the petrE project (Ekins et al, 2012)
http://www.petre.org.uk/pdf/ExtendingE3ME_to_Mat
erial_Flows.pdf• Very few macroeconomic models currently include
physical measures of material consumption• Recent work for European Commission includes
resource efficiency, material tax, ETR, and circulareconomy• Now includes non-EU regions

New in E3ME: Global material modellingSummary of material module in E3ME
• Consist of econometrically estimated material
demand equations for domestic material input (DMI)• Material intensity allowed to change in response toprice and other economic factors; rather thanfollowing a fixed input-output structure• Provides two ways feedback to main economicframework• Simpler treatment of other material flows variables
available

E3ME Material demand equations

Material flows variables

Source: Eurostat (2013)

Material classifications

Materials – polices options in E3ME••••

Materials taxes
Regulations
Resource efficiency
Exogenous change in global commodity priceE3ME linkages

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/resource_efficiency/pdf/RMC.pdf

E3ME linkages

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/resource_efficiency/pdf/RMC.pdf

Examples of material-energy nexus• Wind and solar technologies need raw material during
construction phase• Bioenergy impacts on food price• Water and land use will be discussed in the next
sessionThank you!
• Contact(s)– Unnada Chewpreecha, Principal Economic Modeller
uc@camecon.com– Hector Pollitt, Director hp@camecon.com