| The Energy and Materials Research Group (EMRG) is a research unit coordinated since 1986 by Dr. Mark Jaccard in the School of Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. EMRG is comprised of faculty, adjunct professors, full-time research associates and graduate students; it collaborates closely with external researchers and consultants. EMRG focuses on analyses of technologies, strategies, behaviour and policies that lead to a more sustainable flow of energy and materials in society (see Research and Publications). Two major components are: |
- technologically explicit and behaviourally realistic simulation modelling of sustainability policies for government, business and consumers; and
- data collection on the energy and materials characteristics (including emissions) of technologies, systems and infrastructure.
For Sustainable Policy Modelling, EMRG developed the CIMS model. CIMS keeps track of the energy and material inputs and outputs of technologies, systems of technologies and infrastructure / urban form, and combines this with information on firm and household preferences and decision making processes to simulate how various policies (regulations, market instruments, information, incitation, tradable permits) might influence technological evolution, and thus sustainability performance.
As a Data Centre, EMRG houses the Canadian Energy and Emissions Data Centre. The centre is supported by Environment and Climate Change Canada, Natural Resources Canada, and many industry associations across Canada. Its primary focus is industrial energy use data, but it is also associated with energy and material flows data for other sectors of the economy. CEEDC data supports policy applications of the CIMS simulation model.
EMRG provides a home base for students wishing to do a graduate Master’s or Ph.D. in REM (see Graduate Program). Graduates advance to employment in key energy and sustainability organizations.
EMRG produces EMRG News, its newsletter, three times a year. Contact us to get on the mailing list.