MiniCAM

Project Summary

Full Title:	MiniCAM
Project ID:	194
Principal Investigator:	Mike Scott
Brief Description:	The MiniCAM is a long-term (100 year), partial-equilibrium model of the energy, agriculture, and climate system.
Keywords:	Greenhouse gas; emissions; long term; gas prices; economics

Purpose

Calculate GHG emissions and how GHGs will build up in the atmosphere. Project oil and gas prices under a variety of assumptions.

Performer

Principal Investigator:	Mike Scott
Organization:	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Address:	P.O. Box 999 Richland, WA 99352
Telephone:	509-372-4273
Email:	michael.scott@pnl.gov

Project Description

Type of Project:	Model
Category:	Macro-Economic
Technologies Modeled:	Electric generation (Coal, Oil, Gas, Biomass, Hydro, Nuclear, Wind, Solar PV), Hydrogen production (Coal, Oil, Gas, Biomass, Electrolysis), synthetic fuels (liquids and gases from coal, oil, gas, biomass), geologic carbon sequestration from fossil fuels (electric generation, hydrogen generation, synthetic fuel production)

Methodology/Approach:	MiniCAM integrates three existing models. The Edmonds-Reilly-Barns (ERB) energy-economic model represents long-term trends in economic output, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions for nine world regions through detailed submodules representing energy resources, primary energy supply and demand, energy markets including world trade and electricity conversion, and fuel-specific emissions factors. From these projections of greenhouse gas emissions, MAGICC (Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas Induced Climate Change) and SCENGEN (regional climate change Scenario Generator) provide estimates of atmospheric concentration, climate change, and sea level rise. These, in turn, yield market and non-market damages using simple damage functions drawn from the MERGE model.

Methodology/Approach:

MiniCAM integrates three existing models. The Edmonds-Reilly-Barns (ERB) energy-economic model represents long-term trends in economic output, energy use, and greenhouse gas emissions for nine world regions through detailed submodules representing energy resources, primary energy supply and demand, energy markets including world trade and electricity conversion, and fuel-specific emissions factors. From these projections of greenhouse gas emissions, MAGICC (Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas Induced Climate Change) and SCENGEN (regional climate change Scenario Generator) provide estimates of atmospheric concentration, climate change, and sea level rise. These, in turn, yield market and non-market damages using simple damage functions drawn from the MERGE model.

User Interface:	A simple graphical spreadsheet-based interface has been developed for MiniCAM

Timeframe Studied:	1990 - 2050

Products/Deliverables

	Description: Model Description - The Joint Global Change Research Institute http://www.globalchange.umd.edu/models/minicam/ Description: Model Description - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory http://www.pnl.gov/gtsp/research/minicam.stm

Date Last Updated: 03/25/2008