CLPFUDatabase: A suite of R packages for energy conversion chain analysis

• DOI: 10.21105/joss.06057
• Publication Date: 2024-01-09T18:00:34Z
• Authors: Matthew Kuperus Heun; Zeke Marshall; Emmanuel Aramendia
• Keywords: Chain (unit)

Energy flowing through societal energy conversion chains (ECCs) enables economic activity and facilitates human flourishing.To understand growth well-being, the field of analysis (Common, 1976) evaluates ECCs from primary stage (resources extracted environment, such as coal, oil, natural gas, wind, solar), to final (energy purchased by consumers, refined petroleum electricity), useful desired end user, heat, motion, light), sometimes services (such thermal comfort, transport, illumination).Societal exergy (SEA) (Ertesvåg, 2001), an extension analysis, quantifies in terms 1 .We created a suite open-source R packages metapackage CLPFUDatabase (Heun, 2023a) assist SEA practitioners analyze ECCs.The new enable any country world across timespans decades or longer.In short, enable, for first time, scalable SEA.We used create CL-PFU database 2 , resource community (Brockway et al., 2024).This paper describes design demonstrates briefly their use. Statement needHistorically, have analyzed individual countries using linked spreadsheets, often starting with primary-and final-stage data International Agency's (IEA's) Extended World Balances (EWEBs) (Ayres 2003;Brockway 2014Brockway 2015;;Serrenho 2014).Data were stored varying inconsistent formats.An early (De Stercke, 2014) estimated efficiencies end-use machines status countries, thereby precluding use energy-economy studies.The authors current others wanted expand cover all but spreadsheet approach was deemed not scalable.A needed, one that scaled many years without relying on estimate machine efficiencies.