Developing a generic COMET model for cities and using the COMET-NYC model to inform the first Climate Budget of New York City

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducts extensive research to enhance the scientific foundation for national environmental decision-making. In this context, is has developed COMET (City-based Optimization Model for Energy Technologies) which enables comprehensive analysis of energy planning strategies on an urban scale. COMET accounts for costs and emissions implications of technology pathways meeting energy demands in buildings and transportation sectors. For this project, ESMIA was selected to help update the COMET model and make it more widely applicable. In Phase I, ESMIA updated the COMET model and assisted the US EPA and the City of New York in preparing the first New York City Climate Budget publication (launched April 2024). The project team forecasted three baseline scenarios through 2050 and modelled city actions that are: i) expected to meaningfully impact GHG emissions, ii) committed either through a local law, mayoral commitment, or executive order, and iii) funded in the budget or capital plan or will be carried out by mayor-appointed leadership. In Phase II, ESMIA developed a generic version of COMET that can be applied to any city and be utilized by local and state planning and environmental protection agencies, with a novel approach to facilitate GHG calibration based on the level of data available.