Abstract
This paper describes GCAM-USA v5.3_water_dispatch, an open source model that represents key interactions across economic, energy, water, and land systems in a consistent global framework, with subnational detail in the United States. GCAM-USA divides the world into 31 geopolitical regions outside the United States (U.S.) and represents the U.S. economic and energy systems in 51 state-level regions (50 states plus the District of Columbia). The model also includes 235 water basins and 384 land-use regions; 23 of each fall at least partially within the United States. GCAM-USA offers a level of process and temporal resolution rare for models of its class and scope, including detailed subnational representation of U.S. water demands and supplies and sub-annual operations (day/night for each month) in the U.S. electric power sector. GCAM-USA can be used to explore how changes in socioeconomic drivers, technological progress, or policy impact demands for, and production of, energy, water, and crops at a subnational level in the United States, while maintaining consistency with broader national and international conditions. This paper describes GCAM-USA’s structure, inputs, and outputs, with emphasis on new model features. Four illustrative scenarios encompassing varying socioeconomic and energy system futures are used to explore subnational changes in energy, water, and land-use outcomes. We conclude with information about how public users can access the model.
Highlights
Modern societies depend on a complex set of interacting and co-evolving human and natural systems, including economic, 25 energy, water, land, agriculture, and climate systems
This paper introduces the latest version of GCAM-USA, a version of the Global Change Analysis Model (GCAM) with subnational detail in the United States
6.1 Energy consumption 480 The four GCAM-USA scenarios presented in this paper entail vastly different future energy trends (Fig. 2)
Summary
Modern societies depend on a complex set of interacting and co-evolving human and natural systems, including economic, 25 energy, water, land, agriculture, and climate systems Studying these systems in an integrated fashion is important because of the potential for changes in one system, region, or sector to impact others. GCAM-USA is housed within the global version of GCAM (Calvin et al, 2019) and includes the representations of economic-energy-water-land systems in 31 geopolitical regions outside of the U.S subnational outcomes within the U.S are consistent with international conditions. The model solves for the market clearing price (where supply equals demand) of bioenergy and all other energy, water, land, and emissions markets simultaneously This integrated, multisectoral framework allows users to analyze the interdependencies, feedbacks, and co-evolution of such coupled systems under alternate futures
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