EMPATHI
what does an energy decision mean for people and the planet?
Energy Metrics for Project Assessment of Trade-offs & Human Impacts
EMPATHI, connects energy-system decisions to the emissions, health, climate, and environmental consequences that follow.
energy decisions are about More than energy.
When a power plant is built, retired, replaced, or expanded, the decision changes more than the electricity supply.
It can change emissions. Those emissions can change air quality and climate. Those changes can affect health, ecosystems, communities, and ultimately human lives.
we measure energy systems in
generation
capacity factors
$/MWh
tonnes of CO₂
particles per million
abstractions
while people experience in
air pollution
extreme heat
climate risk
health impacts
environmental change
economic consequences
EMPATHI connects these two ways of seeing an energy system by asking Different questions
What happens if we build this project?
What does this project bring to the community asked to host it?
What happens if we retire this fossil-fuel resource?
How does the answer change as the grid decarbonizes?
What are the potential public-health consequences?
What climate impacts could be avoided?
How do different energy pathways compare?
from Energy Systems to Human Impacts.
EMPATHI follows the consequences of an energy-system intervention through a chain of interconnected models and datasets.
Define the intervention
What are you changing?
Specify an energy project, technology, location, capacity, timing, and other characteristics.
Define the intervention
How does the system respond?
Explore how the intervention changes electricity generation and emissions over time under different assumptions about the future.
Translate emissions into impacts
What follows from those changes?
EMPATHI connects emissions and energy-system changes to modeled consequences for health, climate, and other environmental outcomes.
Put the results into context
What are you changing?
Instead of stopping at tonnes of CO₂, EMPATHI translates modeled changes into outcomes that can help people understand the broader consequences of energy decisions.
the future isn’t now.
The impact of an energy project isn’t determined by the project alone.
It also depends on what happens around it.
How quickly does the electricity system decarbonize?
How does electricity demand change?
How does the population change?
What technologies replace retiring resources?
How does climate change?
we analyze future possibilities
to avoid the worst outcomes.
a different way to Evaluate Energy Decisions.
EMPATHI follows the consequences of an energy-system intervention through a chain of interconnected models and datasets.
Transparent
The assumptions are visible.
EMPATHI documents its methods, data sources, assumptions, and limitations so users can understand where results come from.
Scenario-based
The future isn’t fixed.
Explore how results change under different energy, demographic, economic, and climate pathways.
Integrated
The impacts are connected.
EMPATHI links energy-system changes with emissions, health, climate, and environmental consequences.
Accessible
Complex modeling without complex software.
The public tool makes a sophisticated analytical framework available through an approachable interface.
EMPATHI in use
Explore analyses developed with EMPATHI to examine real projects, technologies, and energy-system questions.
EMPATHI case studies
built on Transparent Methods and Public Data.
EMPATHI brings together energy-system projections, emissions data, demographic projections, health research, and climate modeling to estimate the broader consequences of energy-system changes.
The framework is documented openly, including its data sources, assumptions, methodology, and limitations.
EMPATHI is available to explore. Engenie can take it further.
explore
Run your own analysis.
Use the public EMPATHI tool to explore an energy project or scenario.
apply
Need a deeper analysis?
Engenie can develop project-specific assessments, reports, scenarios, and professional applications.
collaborate
Have an idea for EMPATHI?
Partner with Engenie on research, education, training, new applications, or extensions of the framework.