DOE Phase 1 Report: Increasing Accessibility of Department of Energy (DOE) Resources to Local Government Stakeholders

Summary

This Phase 1 report, published on September 1, 2023, addresses the challenge of increasing accessibility for U.S. local governments to the Department of Energy's (DOE) climate modeling and scientific tools. The project, conducted under Award #DE-SC0022989 from August 2022 to August 2023, involved 12 interviews with DOE researchers. Key findings highlight issues with limited accessibility, technical complexity, and lack of awareness among local government stakeholders regarding DOE resources like climate models, datasets, and scientific articles. The report recommends developing user-friendly interfaces, comprehensive guides, fostering collaboration (e.g., HyperFACETS with 9 universities), and targeted outreach. Models can provide high-resolution data (10-200m spatial, hourly 100-year temporal) and examples like the STRESS tool (county-level data) and GCAM (used by Seattle and San Francisco for carbon policy) demonstrate potential, but successful application can take several years.

Key Facts

Source Document

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