Economic and Policy Analysis

Macroeconomic Analysis

EERA has provided macroeconomic impact analyses (including job creation and economic growth) associated with new technologies, related policies, or implementation programs. We use industry-standard software, including IMPLAN, that facilitates regional input-output analysis for understanding macroeconomic impacts associated with perturbations in the economy resulting from shifts in technology and policy adoption, or other sectoral shifts.

Benefit-Cost Analysis

EERA has in-depth knowledge of benefit-cost theory and experience conducting benefit-cost studies for energy and resource management and emissions impact mitigation. In addition to analyzing monetary benefits and costs, we can identify costs and benefits in non-monetary dimensions including ecosystem services.

Economic and Policy Impact Analysis

EERA has evaluated potential effects of policy on diverse stakeholders. We have produced economic elasticity models of economic instruments to achieve environmental policy goals used by state legislators and stakeholders from both industry and advocacy groups. We develop decision support models and provide analyses to inform decision makers with model simulations and scenarios to generate new ideas, analysis of uncertainty and confidence in alternate strategies, and multi-attribute decision models to provide balanced and robust recommendations.

Mobile Source Emissions and Energy

Ship Emissions and Fuel Cycle Analysis

EERA's team members are experts at understanding how energy-use and emissions change according to operating mode choice in marine transportation. Additionally, EERA uses total fuel-cycle analysis to understand the energy use and emissions associated with the production, distribution, and combustion of marine transportation fuels. EERA has developed capabilities to manage, analyze, and visualize big data sources like AIS, allowing for rapid development of state of the art activity-based emissions models.

Transportation Energy Analysis

Transportation energy represents one of EERA’s strengths, combining our analytical skills with extensive knowledge of transportation systems (highway, marine, rail; infrastructure and vehicle technologies; emissions, economic, and energy use). We have experience developing a variety of models and using existing off-the-shelf models, including developing the New York Greenhouse Gas and Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (NY-GREET) model for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Members of the EERA team were responsible for developing the Total Emissions and Energy Analysis for Marine Systems (TEAMS) model, which can estimate total fuel cycle emissions for marine vessels.

Mobile Source Emissions Modeling

For both mobile and stationary sources related to transportation modes, terminals, facilities, and ports, the EERA team can analyze the impacts of various technology policy decisions based on quantitative analysis of energy and combustion technologies. Our expertise ranges from deploying existing environmental software packages (e.g., EPA's MOVES model, DOE's GREET model, etc.), to optimization modeling that can identify preferred ways to meet your emissions and environmental goals, to tailored site and operation-specific emissions modeling.

Alternative Fuels and Life-Cycle Assessment

Alternate Transportation Fuels Analysis

EERA provides specialized services related to the evaluation of energy and environmental impacts of transportation technologies and policies. We have worked with a number of clients, including NYSERDA, to assess greenhouse gas and criteria pollutants related to biofuel development and use, heavy-duty vehicle operations and technology, marine shipping, electric vehicles, and other alternative fuels.

Life-cycle and Low-Carbon Fuel Pathways

The EERA team is experienced conducting life-cycle analysis of conventional and low-carbon fuel pathways. Our expertise includes knowledge of attributes that vary by region or by system, which may have important impacts on life-cycle emissions and energy use. For example, specific to New York State, we have developed the New York Greenhouse Gas and Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (NY-GREET) model for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), which estimates total-fuel-cycle emissions and energy use for a number of conventional and lower carbon fuel pathways, including gasoline and diesel, hydrogen produced by various pathways, corn and cellulosic ethanol, and electricity.

Technology Assessments

EERA has detailed knowledge of technology systems and can evaluate technologies from both performance and cost perspectives. We integrate technology evaluations into decision support models for better decisions by businesses and agencies. We have developed optimization models that can recommend robust sets of technologies and technology combinations that satisfy multiple objectives or meet alternate constraint scenarios.

Model Development and Programming

Computer Modeling Packages

The EERA team has expertise in a variety of off-the-shelf models and designs original models for specific client needs and platforms. Modeling platforms that we use include:

• Decision analysis under uncertainty
• Optimization modeling (linear and nonlinear)
• Dynamic simulation modeling
• Geospatial and network modeling
• Statistics, regression, analysis, and forecasting
• Big data analytics
• Python and R programming languages