Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Contents

  1. How do I Speed-up Calculations?

  2. Why are Some Options Disabled, such as the "Save" Option?

  3. What Should I do if I Encounter a Problem or Bug?

  4. When Adding New Demand Branches, why am I Unable to Select a Different Branch Type?

  5. In a Transformation Electricity Generation Module I have specified all my Data but no Generation Occurs. Why?  

  6. Can LEAP be Used for Life Cycle Analysis?  

  7. Can LEAP be Used for Developing a GHG Inventory as Part of National Communications to the UNFCCC?  

  8. Can LEAP be Used for Non-Energy Sector GHG Mitigation Assessments?  

  9. What is the Difference Between Exogenous and Endogenous Capacity?

  10. How Should I Cite a Report I Have Written That Refers to LEAP?


Answers to FAQs

  1. How do I Speed-up Calculations?  
    Make sure your computer has a minimum CPU speed of 1GHz and at least 2 GB of RAM.  Computers with faster CPUs and more RAM will reduce calculation time. For a given PC, there are a number of things you can do to speed-up calculations:

  1. Why are Some Options Disabled, such as the "Save" Option?
    Options are non-selectable (disabled) when they are not currently applicable. For example, the Save option may be disabled because no changes have been made to data since the last time you saved data. In addition, note that some options are disabled in the Evaluation version of LEAP (Save Data, New Area , etc.) To fully enable your copy of LEAP, you will need to enter a user name and registration code, under the Help: Register menu option. User names and registration codes are only made available to licensed users of LEAP. Visit the LEAP web site for information on how to get a license.

  1. What should I do if I Encounter a Problem or Bug?
    Should problems arise, please try and address the problems in the following order:

  1. When Adding New Demand Branches, Why am I Unable to Select a Different Branch Type?
    The current version of LEAP, does not allow you to mix branch types (categories and technologies) as siblings at a particular level. Therefore, once you have added one branch and set its type, all other branches added as siblings must be of the same type. An exception to this rule is that you may specify categories and aggregate energy intensity branches as siblings of one another. If you have mistakenly specified multiple branches of the wrong type, you must delete them before adding them once more and specifying the correct type.

  2. In a Transformation Electricity Generation Module I have specified all My Data but no Generation Occurs. Why?  
    Please follow this checklist to make sure that all data is entered correctly.  This checklist assumes you are using a simulation-based approach.  If trying to use an optimization approach, please refer to this introduction to optimization.

  3. Can LEAP be used for Life Cycle Analysis?  
    No. LEAP is best suited for integrated analyses.  It is not intended for life-cycle analyses. Other modeling tools are available that take a life-cycle perspective including GEMIS and GREET for modeling well-to-wheel transport emissions.

  4. Can LEAP be used for Developing a GHG Inventory as Part of National Communications to the UNFCCC?  
    While LEAP uses many of the same calculation approaches and covers the same sectors that would be required for a national GHG inventory, it is a more complex tool than is required to simply do a static GHG inventory.  For this task we recommend using the specific methods and accompanying spreadsheets developed by the IPCC. Where LEAP is most useful is in the preparation of energy-sector GHG Mitigation Assessments.  This task generally builds upon the work of an inventory study, but rather than looking at historical emissions data, it examine possible future scenarios for emissions.  This task requires the preparation of forward-looking scenarios: something that LEAP is very well-suited for.  

  5. Can LEAP be Used for Non-Energy Sector GHG Mitigation Assessments?  
    LEAP is primarily an energy sector modeling tool, although it can be used for relatively simple calculations of non-energy sector sources and sinks. If the focus of your mitigation assessment is on the non-energy-related sectors of agriculture, forestry or land-use change then we suggest you use another modeling tool such as EX-ACT, CENTURY, or AgLU models.  Note however, that you may still wish to incorporate the results from these separate analyses into the overall set of GHG emissions accounts in your LEAP analysis.  This can easily be accomplished, especially for those of the above models that are spreadsheet-based.  Results from these models can be imported into or linked to the non-energy branches in your LEAP area in order to provide a single comprehensive set of emissions results covering all sources and sinks of GHGs.

  6. What is the Difference between Exogenous and Endogenous Capacity?
    Exogenous Capacity is capacity explicitly entered by the user, and is normally used to reflect existing capacity as well as planned/committed capacity additions and retirements.  Endogenous Capacity values are those capacity values calculated internally by LEAP in order to maintain a minimum planning reserve margin. Endogenous capacity additions occur in addition to capacity specified in the Exogenous Capacity variable.  Endogenous capacity is only available in scenarios where a module is using a simulation methodology. It is NOT used when a module uses least-cost optimization modeling.  When doing an optimization, future capacity values are calculated internally.  For more information, see this page on Specifying Capacity Data in LEAP.

  7. How Should I Cite a Report I have written That Refers to LEAP?  Please refer to our citation guidelines.  Please also consider sharing your reports with fellow members.  Please contact us if you would like to do that.