The Contracting Parties of this Implementing Agreement carry out a Programme consisting of cooperative Energy Technology Systems Analysis (ETSAP). The objective of ETSAP is to assist decision makers in the assessment of new energy technologies and policies in meeting the challenges of energy needs and economic development, environmental concerns and technology development.ETSAP’s strategy in achieving the objectives is twofold.

•  Through a common research program, ETSAP established, and now maintains and enhances the flexibility of consistent multi-country energy/economy/environment/engineering analytical tools (the MARKAL-TIMES model generators) and the capability of an international network of individual national teams.
•  ETSAP members also assist and support government officials and decision makers by applying these tools to energy technology assessment and analyses of a wide range of energy and environment-related policy issues.  

MARKAL-TIMES models represent explicitly hundreds of commodities and technologies of an energy system from primary extraction to the demand for energy services, along the chains of transformation and transmission processes. Present energy systems are represented by technology explicit stepwise supply and demand curves and projected to the future to produce energy environment scenarios. The model generators are supplemented by an Energy Technology Data Source (E-TechDS), where the most important energy technology clusters are each characterised by a four-page summary, tables, graphs and references.

A global multi-regional MARKAL model is at the heart of the Energy Technology Perspective project which was developed by the IEA secretariat that issues the ETP reports. The technological detail, combined with a climate module and stochastic methodologies, enables the global multi-regional TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (ETSAP-TIAM) to identify robust and hedging climate change mitigation strategies.

The MARKAL-TIMES modelling kit is used to generate models at the global, regional, national and local level. Making use of a multi-objective approach it provides decision makers with scenarios where energy systems costs, security of supply, and emissions and technological risk are optimally traded off.

The 18 contracting parties benefit from free use of the tools, the ANSWER and VEDA data base management systems, the global multi-regional TIAM model and the E-TechDS. There are hundreds of licensed ETSAP tools users in almost 70 countries.

10. Global Energy Systems and Common Analyses

11. Joint Studies for New and Mitigated Energy Systems

12. Policy Analyses Tools for Global Sustainability (2011-2014)