Energy Planning

Abstract

Energy planning is a general term that is applied to a variety of issues. It can address, for example, the design of energy supply and utilization in new buildings; it can also address municipal planning of district heat supply and the structure of heating systems. In national energy planning, the focus is on political targets such as a diversification of energy sources or environmental targets such as a reduction in acidification of soil and lakes. International bodies — e.g., the World Energy Council (WEC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) — investigate the future of our energy system on a multinational or even global level (e.g., IPCC, 1990; Houghton and Callander, 1992; or WEC, 1992). Many research institutions and scientists focus their research on the long-term future of the global energy system (see e.g., Häfele, 1981; Darmstadter and Landsberg, 1983; Guilmot et al., 1986; Goldemberg et al., 1988; Manne and Richels, 1992).