An energy and environmental meta-model for strategic sustainable planning

This paper describes a geo-spatially distributed reference based energy model that is coupled to a reduced-order (efficient) photochemical air quality model. Project LEAQ, the Luxembourg Energy Air Quality Model, is built upon the large-scale systems analytic method, a meta-modelling approach that includes a full geospatial database of energy sources, devices, and their emissions for four broad sectors of the economy: transportation, industrial, residential, and commercial. The energy model is coupled to an air quality transport model, handling nitrous oxides, volatile organic compounds, ozone, particulate matter, carbon dioxides and carbon monoxides. The model assists in choosing lowest cost energy solutions given environmental (air quality) constraints in a spatially distributed map. The application is designed for the Luxembourg context and would later be applied to other European cities and regions. We present the MATLAB R © beta-version of the model and describe first results and the development plan and implementation in a proposed European project. We also present the main user functionalities that would assist a researcher in the implementation of the model. We give a first view of the beta-version and its use in modelling Luxembourg’s national energy system.