Basic Parameters Screen

This guide describes the 'Basic Parameters Screen' in the Low Emissions Analysis Platform (LEAP) software, detailing the settings used to configure the scope, scale, timeframes, and calculation methodologies for energy system modeling.

• The 'Scope & Scale' tab allows users to enable various optional analyses, including energy demand modeling, load shapes, transformation and resources, land-use change, and cost-benefit analysis. Specific options include 'Affordability Analysis' for low-income or rural households and 'Calculate Useful Energy for All Demands' for expanded Energy Balances and Sankey Diagrams.
• LEAP's 'Years' tab defines the temporal boundaries of an analysis, including the 'Base Year' (the first year with data) and the 'End Year' (the final year calculated). Users can specify a 'First Scenario Year' to separate historical data from scenario-based projections, and a 'Last Year to Count Costs' to limit the period of cost-benefit accounting.
• The software provides two primary methods for cost-benefit calculation boundaries: 'Full system costing', which encompasses the entire area and all modules, and 'Restricted costing boundary', which allows users to nominate a specific module (e.g., electricity production) to avoid counting upstream costs like oil refining or coal mining when data is unavailable.
• The 'Optimization' tab manages emission constraints and integrates with the NEMO solver, which supports several solvers including GLPK, Cbc, HIGHS, CPLEX, GUROBI, MOSEK, and XPress. To handle insufficient capacity additions, LEAP can either report an error, issue a warning, or report an error via NEMO, using a hidden 'UNSERVED' process to avoid solver failure in the first two options.
• The Impact Benefits Calculator (IBC) module calculates health and crop damage impacts. It supports relative risk functions from the Global Burden of Disease (2010, 2015, and 2019) and can scale base year particulate matter emissions to match satellite-based calculations from van Donkelaar et. al 2016. It also incorporates 'Rest of World Emissions' based on IIASA's ECLIPSE scenarios (versions 5 and 6).
• LEAP supports geographical mapping by associating areas with standard GIS shape files. The 64-bit version of the software can create and display maps with up to 300 x 300 cells, while the 32-bit version is limited to 50 by 50 cells.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). Basic Parameters Screen. https://leap.sei.org/help24/Supporting_Screens/Basic_Parameters_Screen.htm#Loads

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Basic Parameters Screen. n.d. https://leap.sei.org/help24/Supporting_Screens/Basic_Parameters_Screen.htm#Loads.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Basic Parameters Screen |url=https://leap.sei.org/help24/Supporting_Screens/Basic_Parameters_Screen.htm#Loads |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendbasic, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Basic Parameters Screen}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://leap.sei.org/help24/Supporting_Screens/Basic_Parameters_Screen.htm#Loads}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }