Ecologic indicators

The MICATool covers a range of ecologic (or environmental) indicators, for each a fact sheet has been written. The fact sheets cover details about background of the indicator, quantification, methodological challenges, monetisation, etc. This page explains the assumptions and data sources that have been used, while also linking to the relevant equations.

Energy savings

The calculation of energy savings mainly relies on the calculation of the energy mix and the conversion from final to primary energy savings. Relevant key assumptions are described on the related page on the constitution of the energy mix in the MICATool.

Although the energy savings are shown in primary energy savings, the calculation of saved energy costs relies on final energy savings. These are multiplied with sector-dependent energy prices issued from the Enerdata database (However, not all subsectors-energy carrier-combinations are available, so some values have been used for other combinations, in line with expected prices). Since this database is neither public nor does it allow the publication of values, these values are kept in the confidential database.

Here are the equations for the quantification and the monetisation. The fact sheet is available as a PDF.

Impact on RES targets

Greenhouse gas savings

Greenhouse gas emission (GHG) calculations rely on data from IIASA, modelled on the basis of the EU Reference Scenario 2020. However,these factors are constant and merely calculated for the seven final energy carriers. This entails that a future scenario strongly diverging from the EU Reference Scenario 2020 still uses the same marginal GHG emission factors.

Furthermore, given the fact that one coefficient for electricity is calculated for every five years step based on the Reference Scenario’s assumed energy mix, changes in energy mix stated within the tool are currently not accounted for in GHG calculations.

The monetisation uses the societal costs of carbon, taking costs for the environment and citizens (for instance in terms of health) into account. These are provided by the German Federal Environmental Agency.

The equations can be found here, whereas the fact sheet can be downloaded as a PDF.

Reduction in air pollutants

The calculation of air pollutants is identical to GHG savings. Thus, the same caveats apply as well. However, the monetisation of air pollutants takes place within the indicator “Health effects due to air pollution”.

The equations can be found here, whereas the fact sheet can be downloaded as a PDF.