1:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET
Join us for the launch of the Open Insights webinar series from the Energy Modelling Hub (EMH), designed to showcase key models used to inform energy and climate policy. Our first session features the CIMS model, developed by the Energy and Materials Research Group (EMRG) at Simon Fraser University.
CIMS is a behaviourally realistic, integrated economic-energy-materials model that simulates how firms and households respond to policy through technology adoption. Covering all major economic sectors across Canada’s provinces, CIMS offers insights into the effectiveness, costs, and uncertainties of policy scenarios aimed at reducing emissions or accelerating clean technology uptake. This session will introduce the model’s core structure, strengths, and use cases for decision-makers.
Key features of CIMS
- Whole energy system coverage: CIMS covers all energy-intensive industries, including personal / freight transportation, residential / commercial buildings, coal mining, natural gas and crude oil production, electricity generation, various light industrial sectors, petroleum refining, industrial minerals, mining, pulp & paper, and iron & steel.
- Behaviourally realistic: Instead of basing its simulation of technology choices only on financial information, CIMS differentiates itself from conventional bottom-up analysis by including non-financial costs, which reflect real-world consumer and business preferences.
- Bottom-up & technology-rich: Through a ‘stock-flow’ model, CIMS simulates new purchases, retrofits, and retirements over time for many technologies. The level of detail can be as granular as the type of lightbulb used in residential buildings.
Policy / research questions CIMS is designed to explore:
- What are effective policies to reduce emissions from industrial sectors that compete globally?
- Can regulations be designed that are flexible and have economic impacts similar to carbon pricing?
- What are the main drivers of energy and emissions changes under a proposed suite of policies?