EnerGEO - Earth Observation for impact on Energy Use

At the end of 2009 the FP7 EnerGEO project is starting to monitor the global impact of current and future energy use on the environment. The European Commission is looking to gain insight into the consequences of various energy transition scenarios. This four-year project has a budget of eight million euros. TNO is coordinating this EnerGEO project and is working with IIASA, DLR, ARMINES, SRON and BMT Argoss, among others.

Measuring the impact of energy use

The focus of the European EnerGEO project is to develop a strategy to monitor the global impact of current and future energy use on the environment using existing environment and energy models as well as satellite data. This will be demonstrated in four pilots for fossil fuels, biomass, wind energy and solar energy.

TNO's role

Apart from being the coordinator of this project, TNO is a key contributor to the modelling and monitoring of atmospheric emissions on a European scale. We hope that the EnerGEO project will prove to be a strong incentive for the further development of space applications in the field of energy and the environment. TNO is already contributing in this respect through modelling and monitoring air quality on a European scale in the FP7 project MACC (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate).

Global Earth Observation System

EnerGEO is one of the European Commission contributions to the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), an initiative of more than 80 countries and 50 international organizations to create a joint Earth observation system. This system will be able to gather information to help solve global issues in the area of environment, health and safety, including natural disaster contingencies, food safety and climate change.