Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a new interactive online tool to help researchers, educators, and students explore future U.S. energy-use scenarios. The interactive
Buildings, Industry, Transportation, and Electricity Scenarios (BITES) tool allows users to adjust inputs, such as electricity generation and transportation fuel use, to compare outcomes and impacts on carbon dioxide emissions and the U.S. energy mix.
Also, the website is powered by renewable energy! Very Cool!
More information about the tool is described on the
website and is also below for easy reference:
"The Buildings Industry Transportation Electricity Scenarios (BITES) tool is an interactive framework that lets users explore the energy and carbon implications of altering the current U.S. energy profile. Using 'what-if' scenarios, users are able to adjust inputs to the electricity generation, buildings, industry and transportation sectors in order to compare outcomes to baseline reference cases.
With this tool, the user will be able to answer questions such as:
What is the impact of building efficiency measures on CO2 emissions?
If a greater percentage of energy comes from renewable sources, what would the U.S. observe in energy consumption savings?
Scenarios were originally developed to help examine strategic planning opportunities for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (
EERE). The U.S. Department of Energy is interested in identifying research priorities where potential technical advances will have the greatest impact in achieving national energy goals. BITES was adapted for the Web to give users the opportunity to investigate potential future pathways for the U.S. energy economy. As the scenarios demonstrate, significant technology and policy deployment in every sector is required to meet U.S. climate and energy security goals.
The BITES tool is in BETA and still under development... Send suggestions and feedback to
bites@nrel.gov or click on the "Contact Us" link at the top of the page.
BITES was developed for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (
EERE) by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (
NREL)."
