Edmonds-Reilly-Barns (ERB) Energy Model

ERB (Edmonds-Reilly-Barns Model) models relationships between energy, the economy, and greenhouse gas emissions. The ERB model is a revised version of the earlier Edmonds-Reilly Model (ERM), which was developed by Jae Edmonds and John Reilly at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the early and mid-1980s. Comprehensive documentation for the original ERM is available in the following manual:

Edmonds, J. and J. Reilly. 1986. The IEA/ORAU Long-Term Global Energy-C02 Model: Personal Computer Version A84PC. Washington, D.C.: Institute for Energy Analysis, Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

The entire document is too large for SEDAC to provide online access to it. Therefore, we provide access to some key parts of the User's Guide to the IEA/ORAU Long-Term Global Energy Economic Model with Carbon Dioxide Emissions prepared by Jae Edmonds. The user's guide constitutes the bulk of the documentation cited above.

Abstract -- complete abstract and introduction from The IEA/ORAU Long-Term Global Energy-C02 Model: Personal Computer Version A84PC.
Chapter I: Introduction -- presents a brief overview of the model, including computer configuration requirements and model outputs.
Chapter II: Model Structure-An Overview -- discusses the four components of the model: (1) Energy Demand, (2) Energy Supply, (3) Energy Balance, and (4) CO2 Emissions.
Chapter III: Running the Model-An Overview -- discusses the basic skills necessary to run the model and provides an outline for the remaining chapters of the User Guide.
Full Text Option -- access the full-text version of Chapters 1-3 of the Users Guide.

Additional Documentation:

In addition to the chapters from the User's Guide, a short paper by Jae Edmonds and John Reilly (1982) discusses origins of the model:

An Introduction to the Use of the IEA/ORAU, Long-Term Global Energy Model -- This paper provides useful historical context for the model development.

A hard copy of the documentation along with the model is available from the following address:

Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center
Attn: Sonja B. Jones
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
P.O. Box 2008, MS 6335
Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6335
Tel: (615) 574-3645
Fax: (615) 574-2232
e-mail: cdiac@ornl.gov or cdp@ornl.gov

Numerous revisions have been made to the ERM and ERB models. Unfortunately, these revisions are not well documented. One of the major advances has involved the inclusion of other greenhouse gases in addition to carbon dioxide. MiniCAM (Mini-Climate Change Assessment Model) uses version 4.15 of the ERB model, which is discussed in detail in the Energy-Related Emissions section of the Edmonds, Wise, and MacCracken (1994) paper Advanced Energy Technologies and Climate Change: An Analysis Using the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM).