OBJECTIVES iSPACE – Smart Energy Balances
The applied research projects of Smart Energy Balances address solutions to spatially motivated problems in the context of regional and national energy systems. They primarily serve decision making processes in municipalities, institutions and the energy industry, which face major challenges – such as increasing energy demand, climate protection or geopolitical risks – in the context of their national and international interdependencies.
Methodologically similar to the intended and forecasted development of e.g. existing residential land potentials under consideration of the local settlement structure, energy modelling is to be seen. From descriptive “what is where”, “how much is where” and “where is what” questions with which GIS was associated in the early years, the energy group around Dr. Markus Biberacher develops geo-prognostic models in research projects (EU, FFG etc.) or on behalf of various companies, such as eControl.
In the latter case, the focus is on the ambitious assumption that transmission fees do not necessarily have to be determined on the basis of existing transmission infrastructure. Rather, the determination of network charges should be based on the analysis of the infrastructure necessary in principle to fulfil the supply mandate. This is the basis of a pricing system that is oriented on objective effort. Research activities of the Energy Group in the area of geographically specific questions focus on the spatial and temporal availability of renewable energy resources such as biomass, PV, hydropower and the consideration and modeling of correlated load flows in the electricity and heat sector.
The entire process chain in the energy sector from the identification of potentials to the analysis of demand densities as well as the possible transport, storage or conversion of forms of energy are examined with regard to their spatial effectiveness and spatial correlations and are dealt with in projects.
Team
