Background<br/>NASA partners with national organizations and Federal agencies to extend NASA Earth science research results into decision support tools to benefit U.S. and global citizens. The Energy Management Program Element focuses on extending NASA Earth science research results to improve decisions and assessments for energy production and energy efficiency. The program has made considerable progress in the areas of renewable energy (solar, wind, and biomass), energy efficiency (sustainable buildings), long-term modeling, and collaboration with interagency and international initiatives.<br/><br/>Improved Decision Support in the Energy Sector Using NASA Spaceborne Observations and Models<br/>Richard S. Eckman and Paul W. Stackhouse, Jr. NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA Richard.S.Eckman@nasa.gov, Paul.W.Stackhouse@nasa.gov<br/><br/>PA31A-0810 International Energy Agency<br/>Through a NASA Memorandum of Understanding with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Energy Management program help found and is now collaborating upon an International Energy Agency (IEA) task entitled Solar Resource Knowledge Management. This activity uses NASA datasets to add value to the standardization and structure (e.g., improved spatial/temporal coverage) of energy products that serve multiple countries and are easily accessible to end users. The project's goals are inherently consistent with the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) 10-year Implementation Plan for solar irradiance datasets. NASA Products Used: SSE, GEWEX SRB, ISCCP, CERES, and GMAO GEOS Decision Support Systems: RETScreen and HOMER. Also support United Nations Environment Programme's Solar Wind Energy Resource Assessment (UNEP SWERA) for developing countries. Expected Outcomes: · Establish standardized methods for evaluating satellite based solar energy information, develop advanced methods to disseminate that information, and foster the development and improvement of the capability for current and future satellite systems to provide such information. · Reduce the cost and planning of solar energy system deployment, improve efficiency of solar energy systems by more accurate and complete resource information. End-users include the solar energy industry, designers, and architects of renewable energy systems. As renewable use in power plants and buildings grows the data will be required in larger sectors of the energy industries including the generating utilities.<br/><br/>Results: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency<br/><br/>Renewable Energy<br/>Through the Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resource Project (POWER), the Energy Management Program serves multiple decision support systems (DSS's) in the renewable sector. NASA Products Used: Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES), Earth Radiation Budget Energy (ERBE), International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project, Surface Meteorology and Solar Energy (SSE), Surface Radiation Budget (SRB), GEOS, and FLASHFlux Decision Support Systems: Natural Resources Canada's RETScreen, Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewables (HOMER), and Solar Sizer Expected Outcomes: site optimization for renewable energy technologies, assisting farmers in planning, monitoring, and the prediction of fuel crops, and improved decision making for energy markets (buying and selling). Recent accomplishments: · 21+ Year SSE nearing release: Processed, analyzed and validated 20+ years of GEWEX SRB solar flux and GMAO GEOS 4 reanalysis assimilation for inclusion on the next SSE release scheduled for December 2006. At the time of this release, RETScreen is planning its next major release in over 21 languages. · NSRDB Evaluation: Team compared SSE solar flux time series to new NREL National Solar Radiation Data Base (NSRDB) fluxes. Also produced a report detailing a new method to use NASA derived surface fluxes at the higher resolution required by NSRDB. · Short-term Solar Energy Forecast: Produced first results using NOAA National Forecast Digital Database Cloudiness to forecast solar irradiance in 6 hourly periods over 2 days. · Energy Market Forecasting: Provided data sets specifically designed to met input needs for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratories' (PNNL) MiniCAM market forecast model. Model simulations with the inputs are being evaluated. · User Support: Provided renewable energy parameters for special design/engineering problems the most unique of which was the design of autonomous solar powered systems for Iraq.<br/><br/>Energy Efficiency<br/>The POWER team is working to support the sustainable buildings design and engineering industry by working with partners and developing new parameters from the NASA derived data sets specifically designed to meet engineering needs. Recent accomplishments include: Sustainable Buildings Web-site Release 1: Delivered the first version of the &quot;Sustainable Buildings&quot; prototype web-based protocol. This interface contains new plots and figures that architects/HVAC use in the energy efficient design of buildings. Also, specialized statistics including DOE consistent climate zones were defined from the data sets. International Solar Cities Congress: Presented the Sustainable Buildings web site products and interface at the International Solar Cities Congress. This congress is dedicated towards the integration of solar technologies in building design to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. DOE/ASHRAE Participation: Participated in the annual ASHRAE meetings and in the Meteorology and Climate subcommittee. Produced sample data sets for evaluation by committee members. Developed and delivered data sets to specifically address unmet data needs for clear-sky solar flux information within DOE.<br/><br/>NASA Products For Decision Support: Process Flow<br/><br/>Results: International Energy Agency<br/><br/>Interagency Collaboration<br/>· Climate Change Technology Program (CCTP): Coordinated the Measurements and Monitoring Working Group in responding to public and government comments to the draft CCTP Strategic Plan chapter, &quot;Enhancing Capabilities to Measure and Monitor Greenhouse Gases.&quot; The Strategic Plan was formally released in September 2006. · Group on Earth Observations (GEO): Attended the GEO Secretariat Energy Expert meeting in August 2006. The meeting brought together 20 individuals from the U.S., Europe, and South Africa to discuss their contributions to the 2007 GEO energy work plan and to begin drafting the GEO 5-10 year strategic plan for the energy societal benefit area. Agreement was reached on a GEO demonstration task which was based on elements of the IEA solar resource knowledge management task.