Energy maps and calculators

The production and use of different forms of energy have been mapped geographically for a variety of reasons, and some examples will be outlined briefly before describing a recent place-based energy calculator for the UK. Scales of mapping vary in the examples from the global through region, country, city and parish down to city block. Both energy production and use have been mapped by type, such as coal, gas and oil, wind and solar renewables, by the associated emissions, and by energy flows between geographical regions. The purpose and the intended audience vary from case to case.

The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy is a resource coordinated by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) which “allows its users to find maps of renewable energy resources for locations across the world.” (Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, 2021).

The Global Solar Atlas provides information on irradiation levels on land worldwide within a suitable range of latitudes, and calculates the outputs of a selection of PV systems in the chosen locations (Global Solar Atlas, 2021).

The Global Wind Atlas provides information on wind speed, direction and power density for land and offshore waters worldwide except for the polar regions. It is intended as a guide to help policymakers, planners, and investors identify suitable sites for wind power generation (Global Wind Atlas, 2021).

The Heat Maps provided by Sustainable Energy for All are principally focussed on the energy requirements of poor and disadvantaged populations. The topics on which data are provided for specific countries include electrification, regulatory indicators, investment needs, energy for healthcare, clean fuels for cooking, energy efficiency, access to cooling and the potential for renewable energy (Heat Maps, 2021).

The electricityMap shows the climate impact of electricity generation in over a hundred areas worldwide, ranked by the carbon intensity of electricity consumed, measured in gCO₂eq/kWh. There are also data on the percentage of low carbon energy and of renewable energy, wind power potential, and the cross border flows of energy between regions (electricityMap, n.d.).

The Renewable Energy Maps and Tools website is part of the U.S. Federal Energy Management Program. It maps physical features of the USA relevant to renewable energy such as biomass density, irradiance levels, geothermal and hydro resources; types of land cover, wind speed over land and offshore, and wave power density. Land ownership of areas such as tribal lands, brownfield sites and national parks is indicated, and areas of environment concern are mapped. An Economic Site Analysis tool allows figures such as payback times to be calculated for various renewable technologies (Renewable Energy Maps and Tools, n.d.).

The U.S. Energy Mapping System shows where various kinds of energy are produced. Locations of coal mines, battery storage plants, biomass, coal, geothermal, hydroelectric, natural gas, nuclear, petroleum, pumped storage, solar and wind power plants can be selected and displayed. Pipelines for oil, gas and petroleum, and electricity transmission lines can be shown, as can railroad networks. Fossil and uranium resources, administrative boundaries, climate zones and population zones are among the other features mapped (U.S. Energy Mapping System, 2021).

The UK Renewable Energy Map shows the locations of planned and active renewable energy systems in the UK in December 2018. Capacities are given for hydro, anaerobic digestion, battery, solar PV, offshore and onshore wind, landfill gas, energy from waste incineration and geothermal facilities. The website also has a family of platforms giving real time information and analysis of energy and carbon emissions in Great Britain (UK Renewable Energy Map, 2021).

The New York City Building Energy Map from the Sustainable Engineering Lab of Columbia University shows estimated delivered energy at the block and tax lot level, in kWh/m² per annum. For any selected location, a pie chart shows the percentage accounted for by heating, cooling, electricity and hot water (Energy NYC, n.d.). The context of the map is provided in a paper by Howard et al. (2011).

The Impact Community Carbon Calculator is an emissions estimator which gives parishes and small communities in the UK usable data on their carbon emissions that is easy to interpret and to share. It aims to give such communities “robust and accurate data on their carbon footprint” in order to inform efforts to reduce emissions. The calculator is a map in the sense that it presents data for defined geographical regions, but no visual maps are displayed; data for a named community is given in tCO2e under the headings of agriculture, road transport, industrial and commercial, housing, waste management, aviation, F-gases, shipping, other transport and diesel fuelled railways (Impact Community Carbon Calculator, n.d.).

Morgan (2021) wrote that “there is no successful path to decarbonisation that does not require a restructuring of society and the built environment far beyond what is possible by individuals.” Individual actions can be important, but it is communities which “have the collective resources and powers to make meaningful change.” This view informed the development of the Place-Based Carbon Calculator (PBCC), which emphasises the “structural issues that we can come together to solve as a community.” The project was funded by the Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (CREDS). A progress report on the calculator described its purpose as to “enable policymakers and the public to understand the spatial variation in per capita carbon footprint and monitor progress towards decarbonisation.” The approach focussed on bottom-up data “which requires an almost complete understanding of everything the residents have done over an entire year” with a view to producing “an informative local footprint that can aid in policymaking and communicating complex ideas to the public” (Morgan, Anable, and Lucas, K., 2021). The geographic unit used for calculation is the Lower Super Output Area (LSOA), a statistical region “with an average population of 1,500”, which is “well understood by the primary audience for the tool, Local Authority planners”.

The Place-Based Carbon Calculator (PBCC) was launched at a webinar in June 2021. A recording with pdf versions of the presentations is available (PBCC 2021), with links to a talk on the reasons for building the PBCC, a demonstration of its use, and an exploration of how it can meet local authority carbon reduction goals.

Further information on the PBCC is provided on its website, with instructions for use (PBCCwebsite, 2021). Selection of a LSOA yields figures on kgCO2e per person in total, and in the areas of electricity, gas, other heating, car driving, van driving, flights and consumption of goods and services, with further details on housing, energy performance certificates, transport and consumption, and general information such as estimated population.

References

Energy NYC, n.d., Sustainable Engineering Lab, Columbia University, online, accessed 30 August 2021

https://qsel.columbia.edu/nycenergy/index.html

and https://qsel.columbia.edu/project-nyc-energy-mapping/

electricityMap, n.d., Tomorrow, online, accessed 30 August 2021

https://www.electricitymap.org/map

Global Atlas for Renewable Energy, 2021, IRENA, online, accessed 30 August 2021

https://www.irena.org/globalatlas

Global Solar Atlas, 2021, Global Solar Atlas, online, accessed 30 August 2021

https://globalsolaratlas.info/map

Global Wind Atlas, 2021, Global Wind Atlas, online, accessed 30 August 2021

https://globalwindatlas.info/