The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), a not-for-profit, international research organization focusing on the issue of sustainable development with headquarters in Stockholm, has released a new version of the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system (LEAP), its Windows-based analytical tool for climate change mitigation and energy policy analysis. SEI’s US center is affiliated with my alma mater, Tufts University in Massachusetts, and its funders include the United Nations, the World Bank, a variety of foundations and national governments. LEAP allows users of various levels and job functions to address complex quantitative questions about climate and energy policy.

The latest version, LEAP2008, includes:

• New transport modeling capabilities, allowing users to better analyze bio-fuels and other fuel-switching policies
• New features that examine how requirements in energy importing countries can drive exports from other regions
• Increased usability features:o Real-time equation checking that alerts users to problems. - Real-time equation checking that alerts users to problems. - Integrated help that automatically displays relevant pages based on the part of the model where the user is working. - Improved charting functionality - Vista Operating System compatibility
• A host of other technical changes that can be seen here

According to SEI, in recent years LEAP has become a widely used modeling tool for energy policy analysis and climate change mitigation, with thousands of users in more than 150 countries including local and national government agencies, consulting companies, energy utilities, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations such as the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) which uses LEAP to analyze national fuel economy standards and the Chinese Energy Research Institute (ERI) which uses it to explore ways for China to reduce carbon emissions while still achieving its development goals. The United Nations recently announced that more than 85 countries are using LEAP as part of their commitment to report to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The software is distributed at no charge to government, academic and NGO institutions in the developing world and on a sliding scale of $500 - $3000 for licensing by organizations, institutions and consultants in the developed world.

According to the LEAP software developer, Charles Heaps, “LEAP is helping to democratize energy policy making” through its ease of use and assistance in making information easier for decision makers to understand. Other advocates for the software tout LEAP as being accessible to energy consultants and not just limited to modeling specialists, while having the flexibility to work for those with sophisticated policy cost/benefit analysis needs. Online support for the software is available at COMMEND, the Community for Energy Environment and Development. The site also has user comments about LEAP from research scientists, academics and environmental analysts from around the world.

Too bad there’s not a new component in LEAP2008 that can get policy makers to take the politics out of policy making and take the bold steps needed to solve the climate crisis.