MESAP — A Co-operative Modelling System for Sustainable Local Energy and Environmental Planning

Abstract

Since the deregulation of German energy markets 1998 we can observe diverging planning interests and priorities of the local communities on one side and the local energy utilities on the other side. This seriously endangers the consensus in local energy planning achieved in the past which will be crucial in order to identify and implement effective greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation strategies. This paper presents a co-operative planningapproach which embeds systems analysis into a well structured communication, mediation and learning process for decision making. This process is supported by the cooperative modelling systemMESAP, a software for energy and environmental planning, which integrates different energy models with an energy information system. This allows to combine traditional local energy planning with the more business oriented view of the utilities. The specific design of MESAP allows for a continuous "sustainable" planning and monitoring similar to business tools for accounting and controlling in companies.