LEAP: The Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning System

2008.0090: 9/9/2010

Fixed a serious bug introduced in 2008.088: emissions results were being mis-scaled by a factor of 1 thousand. Please do not continue using v88. My sincere apologies for allowing this to slip through.
Corrected problem when exporting tables to Excel under certain non-English regional/language settings. Quote marks were incorrectly being placed around numbers.
Relaxed installation requirements to allow LEAP to be installed on PCs with any screen resolution.

2008.0088: 9/3/2010

Various Bug fixes. Some users experienced errors during calculation of data sets after updating to v85 with its new memory management code. This release should address those errors.

2008.0085: 8/4/2010

Improved Memory Management. On some data sets with large numbers of regions or scenarios LEAP was crashing with an out of memory error. Memory management has been greatly improved which should prevent this from happening.
Improved scenario inheritance feature: LEAP has for a long time had the ability for scenarios to inherit their expressions from multiple other scenarios. Specifying secondary scenarios allows you to create packages of scenarios that combine mini-scenarios into a single package (e.g. one package for transport policies or one for all efficiency measures). However, until now it was not possible to further combine multiple packages to form an overall scenario (i.e. packages of packages). This has now been fixed. You can use this new feature to combine packages of transport, industry, buildings and supply policies into an overall mitigation scenario.

2008.0083: 6/9/2010

Improved Allocation of Emissions: Added ability when allocating GHG emissions back to enery demands to list emissions either according to the demand fuel whose consumption drove the emissions or the supply fuel whose combustion actually resulted in the emissions. See Option marked "Alocate emissions to demands" on the General: Basic Paramteres: Scope screen.
Various minor bug fixes.

2008.0080: 5/3/2010

Improved Excel(filename, rangename) expression function. Now, in addition to importing values from Excel this function will also import from LEAP expressions entered in Excel. This allows you to store and manipulate your LEAP expressions in Excel.
LEAP now supports both .xls spreadsheet files and the newer .xlsx file format introduced in Excel 2007.
Improved Copy and Paste. While LEAP has long supported copying ranges of data in Excel and pasting them into LEAP as Interp or Step functions, you can now also copy an Excel cell and then paste it into LEAP as a link to that Excel cell. Use Ctrl-Alt-V or Edit: Paste Link to paste a link to an Excel cell. Note that you can only paste links to spreadsheets that have previously been saved (i.e. not to in-memory spreadsheets).
Improved the Analysis: Import from Excel menu option. You can now import from a template spreadsheet and use it create links to a set of LEAP expressions stored in the spreadsheet. In this way you can quickly set up a LEAP area in which all expressions are stored and managed in Excel.
Improved Error Handling. If LEAP detects a corrupted file or fails to open an area, that area will be marked for repair. Next time LEAP is opened, the files in the area will be checked and, where possible, repaired.
Improved LEAP's Application Programming Interface (API). The API now provides an Area.Backup procedure to backup an area to a named folder.
Fixed a bug in the Help: Check for Updates feature that was preventing it from working on pre-Windows Vista systems.
Improved Script Security. A new tab has been added to the General: Basic Parameters screen marked "Script Security". Use this tab to control how scripts run on your computer within LEAP. Scripts are files that contain visual basic code that is executed on your computer. Bear in mind that scripts might contain malicious code that can damage your PC. For example, a malicious script could delete files, infect your PC with a virus, or take control of your PC. Hence, you should only allow scripts to run if you received your LEAP area from a trusted source or if you created it yourself. The default setting for scripts is that LEAP will ask you to grant permission the first time a script is to be executed. Thereafter, LEAP will add that script to the list of approved scripts to be run for a given area. For maximum security you can tell LEAP to never run any scripts. You can also tell LEAP to run all scripts without asking. This last setting is the least secure and is not recommended.
Changed the Help: Register and Help: Register Online menu options so that they are always visible, even if a user has already registered.
Redesigned Calculations for allocating Transformation energy use and GHG emissions back to demand branches. These calculations are now more realistic under a wider variety of Transformation configurations and are also much faster. Instead of slowing down calculations by a factor of 2 or 3 they now only cause a negligible slowdown. You can include this type of calculation by going to the Scope tab on the General: Basic Parameters screen and checking the box marked "Allocate Primary Energy..."
Improved Title Captions in Results charts to make them less confusing and added a visible title by default to all Results view charts. The title can be hidden by right clicking on a chart and unchecking "Show Chart Titles".
Fixed bug in Manage Areas affecting the Restore and Delete features.Fixes

2008.0079: 4/3/2010

Fixes and improvements to the LEAP update feature. The updater has been improved to include a link to the "What's New?' page of the web site. Also, it was not properly updating help files and sample data. Various other issues have also been addressed that caused incorrect status messages.

2008.0078: 3/29/2010

Revised Transformation calculation to better handle auxiliary fuel use in situations where a process consumes some of the same energy it produces (e.g. own use of electricity in power plants). Previously auxiliary fuel use required LEAP to do iterative calculations of the entire Transformation system and you could not specify that auxiliary fuel use was provided directly by the same process consuming the auxiliary fuel. Now, you can specify that auxiliary power comes from the same process. To set-up LEAP to reflect this situation, go to the Calculations tab of the General: Basic Parameters screen and check the box marked Meet auxiliary energy needs from outputs of same process where possible. A benefit of this new method is that it reduces the need for iterative calculations, making LEAP's calculations more robust and faster.
You can also optionally check another box on the same Basic Parameters screen marked Also derate capacity additions.... This will automatically derate the capacity value of those processes in which the auxiliary fuel use is met from process outputs. If those processes are listed as options the Endogenous Capacity screen, then LEAP will automatically derate those processes to reflect the fact that only some of their output goes to meet the demands on the module. This in turn will force LEAP to build greater amounts of capacity for a given reserve margin.
See help file for more on this new approach.
Expanded and improved help to reflect recent changes to the Auxiliary fuels calculations and the basic parameters screen.
Fixed bug that caused occasional error messages when double clicking on a ".leap" file to install and open a data set in LEAP.
Fixed bug affecting stock change calculations.
Fixed bug affecting display of the variables used in Transport stock-turnover calculations.
Fixed bugs causing error messages in the Basic Parameters screen and added additional error checking of various basic parameters.

2008.0077: 3/17/2010

Fixed bugs in General: Basic Parameters screen introduced in last version (checkboxes not working). Sorry!
Fixed bug causing error message when editing scenario abbreviation in scenario manager and improved checking of scenario abbreviations.
Added checking for duplicate neighboring branch names. By default duplicate neighboring branch names are now marked as an error and will causes LEAP's calculations to halt. You can change this behavior by setting an option in the General: Basic Parameters: Calculations screen. If not flagged as an error duplicate neighboring branch names will instead be highlighted with a warning message in the diagnostics screen.
Added a check for situations where a Remainder function is used in expressions in conjunction with a saturation unit in activity level variables. This is now marked as an error.

2008.0076: 3/16/2010

Improved code completion in the script editor. When typing a period after an object, LEAP now pops up a box showing all of that object's properties and methods. The popup box includes documentation for each method including the list and type of any required parameters. LEAP can now deduce the type of all variables assigned to LEAP objects enabling code completion to work in most situations.
Reorganized code for the basic parameters screen.
Various bug fixes.

2008.0074: 2/27/2010

Fixed issues preventing LEAP from running correctly when User Account Control (UAC) is on in Windows 7 or Windows Vista. If you are having problems running LEAP with UAC, fully reinstall LEAP by downloading and running the complete install package (i.e. - do not update from the Help: Check for Updates menu). You can also manually set read/write security privileges for non-admin users on the "\ProgramData\LEAP Setttings" folder. This problem was exacerbated in version 2008.0073, which used a new version of the installation program.
Fixed issue where LEAP was not properly detecting the installed version of Internet Explorer with UAC enabled in Windows Vista and Windows 7.
Fixed issue where making changes to references or to scenarios would not cause the Save button to be enabled.
Adjusted calculations for stock changes to better match IEA energy balances.

2008.0073: 2/15/2010

Improvements to display of charts in analysis view.
Fixed bug causing crash with Windows 2000.
Improved error reporting (allow for emergency exit from LEAP).
Further fix to useful energy calculation/fixed bug in calculation of total activity variable.

2008.0071: 2/10/2010

Support for new Windows 7 interface feaures such as jump lists and taskbar progress indicators. The jump lists appear in the Windows 7 Start Menu or when right-clicking on LEAP in the taskbar. They enable you to quickly jump to a particular LEAP view or a recently opened LEAP area. Jump lists only work in Windows 7, they are not visible in Windows 2000, XP or Vista.
Fixed bug in useful energy calculations.
Fixed bug where LEAP sometimes insisted on being recalculated even if data was not changed.
Fixed range error messages in results view.

2008.0070: 1/6/2010

Fixed auto-registration of ".leap" files. You can double-click a LEAP file to launch LEAP and install a new area.
Fixed problems introduced in last version when opening “.LEAP” files.
Updated code for zipping/unzipping areas to fix problems and improve speed of operation.
Added support for dragging and dropping “.leap” files into the LEAP application as an alternative way of installing an area.

2008.0069: 12/7/2009

Support for Windows 7: LEAP has now been tested and found to work correctly under Windows 7.
Bug fixes in charting: particularly when showing and printing pie charts.
Two new types of charts: Two new types of charts have been added in Results view: wedge charts and charts showing avoided energy/emissions in one scenario versus another.

― Wedge Charts show one scenario as a time-series line with reductions coming from each sector, region or fuel as colored "wedges" below that line. Hence the lowest line in the chart is the time series of values in a second scenario: i.e. the first scenario minus all of the wedges.

See example here: http://tinyurl.com/y9snxx5

To select this type of chart in Results view, pick results for one scenario (e.g. a mitigation scenario), and organize the chart to show years on the x axis and regions, fuels or branches on the legend. Click the "more" button in the toolbar then choose "show wedges vs. baseline" (or some other scenario). Wedge charts always appear as area charts and can be shown for most variables but make most sense for energy and emissions results.

― Charts Showing Avoided Energy (i.e. Efficiency) summarize the trend in a variable in a given scenario (e.g. energy use over time in a mitigation scenario) as a bar chart. You can now choose to have an additional series showing the energy avoided compared to another scenario, displayed as a special series of bars shown with a dotted line border. Typically these charts are used to display energy demand results so that avoided series shows the energy efficiency gains of one scenario versus another.

See example here: http://tinyurl.com/yblgbgm

To select this type of chart in Results view, pick results for one scenario (e.g. a mitigation scenario), and organize the chart to show years on the x axis and regions, fuels or branches on the legend. Click the "more" button in the toolbar then choose "show avoided vs. baseline" (or some other scenario). Avoided charts can be shown for most variables but make most sense for energy and emissions results.

2008.0067: 9/1/2009

Fixes to chart export screen. Left axis could not be edited and line charts defaulted to Y=0.
Enhanced favorites feature: now has option to save the title/subtitle of chart for use in the print/export screen.
Fixed bug when selecting favorites charts. Was not properly using saved region.
Improved API to support manipulation of charts and to better support exporting of charts. Added ability to change units, regions, scenarios, years for a selected (favorite) chart before exporting it. Added new methods: ActiveUnit, ActiveScenario, ActiveRegion, ActiveYear, ResultsXAxis, ResultsLegend. See updated help file for full details.
Made code more robust to handle situations when _work folder runs out of space.
Fixed bug affecting endogenous capacity additions in multi-region areas. This bug was causing LEAP to add duplicate capacity in all areas.
Transformation feedstock fuel shares could not be shown as stacked bar or area charts.
Fixed bug causing error messages in menu option: Area: Install: Install from Internet
Fixed wrong units being displayed in Results View for the Total Activity variable.
Improvements to map display: user ca now manually set the min and max values for colors.
Added two new downloadable examples for CHP (CHP Demand and CHP Supply).

2008.0066: 8/4/2009

Bug fix for a problem caused by v65 to expressions with international format (non US) numbering. NB: if you experienced problems when updating to v65 please contact Charlie for assistance in fixing the issue (leap@sei-us.org)
Bug fix: improper error message when indicator value less than zero.
Minor improvements to new Find feature (sorting of search results, instant find as you type).

2008.0065: 8/3/2009

New Find screen for searching for text in branches, expressions and notes or for searching for the branches where particular fuels are used. The results of each search are displayed as rows in a table in the lower part of the Find window. You can double-click a row in the table to jump to that data in LEAP's Analysis or Notes views. You can make your searches case sensitive and you can search for whole words or parts of words. You can also optionally filter the displayed results by variable, scenario and region.
Area: Open menu now shows 5 most recently used areas at the top of the list. The rest of the list is now correctly ordered alphabetically.
Added various new functions to expressions: Random, RandomUpper, RandomLowerUpper, TrueRandom, TrueRandomUpper, TrueRandomLowerUpper, RandomInteger, RandomIntegerUpper, RandomIntegerLowerUpper and BaselineValueIn(year). The TrueRandom functions return a truly random value while the Random function return a pseudo random value - it is random but repeatable for a given branch, scenario, region, variable and year. The BaselineValueIn(year) function returns the baseline value of the current branch/variable in a specified year: useful in Interp functions when creating mitigation scenarios. See the updated help file for more information on these new functions.
Improved LEAP's online registration process, which was confusing new LEAP users. You can now enter either your COMMEND password OR your LEAP registration code when you first run LEAP.
Fixed a bug in display of stock and sales data in the Analysis View when using the Stock Turnover method. The bug did not effect calculated results.
Fixed bug in expression evaluation code: LEAP was not properly handling some functions when they were referenced within Interp, Step and other time series functions.

2008.0064: 7/27/2009

Fixed a bug in transport stock turnover calculations. If user switched from bottom-up to top-down method of specifying stocks, LEAP would erroneously apply the bottom-up scaling factors to the calculations.
Fixed bug: options on pull-down menus in the main data entry table were not working.
Added extra error checking in stock turnover calculations to better catch incorrectly specified data.

2008.0063: 7/23/2009

Fixed an occasional but serious problem with how results were stored that incorrectly caused large negative results in some data sets. (Problem introduced in v62).
LEAP was improperly checking activity level shares on technology branches for aggregate energy intensity methods. This caused an error message that halted calculations even if input data was OK.
Improved handling of expressions. Variable references or percentage values embedded in time series functions such as Interp or Step functions were not being properly processed.
Code completion was not working for variable references embedded in functions.
Note: I have begun testing LEAP with the beta version of Windows 7. Currently LEAP does not run in this OS. I am aiming to fix this before Windows 7 is released this fall.

2008.0062: 7/5/2009

Various bug fixes:

Editing of notes in scenario manager not working properly.
Chart axis labels not scaling properly in chart print preview dialog.
Floating point error in some results charts/tables.
After entering too large a value in the Transformation Reserve Margin variable - variable was locked so user could not fix error.
Could not change chart type in Analysis View of Current Accounts.
Keyboard not working for copying/cutting/pasting environment branches.
".LEAP" files not being installed properly (e.g. when double-clicked in Windows Explorer).
Various toolbar display problems.
Missing branch names in diagnostic table.
Errors when viewing certain transportation data in results view.
Chart shading and colors not showing correctly on charts with many data series.
Energy balance columns not honoring ordering of fuel categories.
Energy balance settings now saved when changing views and between sessions.
Tables in Overviews view not displaying correctly.
Expressions incorrectly interpreting some branch references.

2008.0061: 6/18/2009

Fixed bug in display of percentage share tables.

2008.0060: 6/5/2009

Fixed bug causing floating division by zero error when showing tables/charts (problem introduced in last update).
Fixed an error with in-area export calculations in multi-region data sets.

2008.0059: 6/3/2009

Improved tabular display of results with the ability to add additional rows and columns that report various statistics including the total, minimum, maximum, mean, standard deviation, variance and (for tables with years as columns) annual average growth rates. Look for these options in a new "Statistics" button in the toolbar attached to tables in the Analysis and Results Views.
Fixed bug with import/export calculations.
Improvements to API to better support manipulation of energy balance reports.
Improved CSV export format to properly remove extra commas in large numbers.

2008.0058: 5/19/2009

Added better error checking to catch when historical production data is negative.
Made scaling factor selection "sticky" in energy balance reports.

2008.0057: 5/17/2009

Added ability to specify environmental loadings per unit of added capacity and to directly input total annual environmental loadings in the demand and Transformation environmental loadings screens.
Further minor changes to better support large data sets.

2008.0056: 5/14/2009

".LEAP" Files Make Sharing Data Easier: In addition to saving areas as ".zip" files LEAP now also uses and registers the ".leap" file type. You can backup an area to a single ".leap" file or send it to a colleague via email. The area can then be opened by double-clicking the ".leap" file. LEAP will either automatically open and install the area, or if LEAP is already open it will install and open the new file. If an area already exists of the same name, LEAP will offer to replace the area with the new one, whilst warning you if you are replacing a newer area with an older one. LEAP also still works with areas archived as standard ".zip" files.
Integration with COMMEND Web Site: LEAP is now integrated with the COMMEND web site so that users can optionally sign-in to LEAP using their COMMEND email address and password. If you have already applied for and been granted a LEAP license, LEAP will automatically download your license when you sign in, so there is no longer a need to remember the separate LEAP user name and registration code (although that option also still works).
Note: the first time you use this new version of LEAP you will be asked to register it by entering your COMMEND email and password. This occurs even if you have previously entered a license code. Once you are registered you will not be asked for this information again.
Improved General: Units screen. Added ability to change number of decimal places, to show conversion factors in scientific or decimal formats, to export factors to Excel, to show all units together, and to sort the table by type, name or abbreviation.
Better Support for Large Data Sets. Typically most LEAP areas will have an unzipped size of a few megabytes. For example Freedonia is about 3 MB. However this update now supports areas many Gigabytes in size.
Improved Checking for Updates. Includes a button linking user to the web site so they can see what is new before installing the latest update.
New Unit Convertor dialog that stays on top of other Windows to help develop data for entry into LEAP.
Improved speed and reliability of reordering branches using the move up/down buttons or via drag and drop, particularly in multi-region areas where some branches are hidden.
Added ability to show tables in the Analysis, Results and Energy Balance views in Scientific format.
Fixed bugs in General: Constants form. LEAP was not properly registering edits to the list of constants (e.g. when evaluating expressions) until an area was saved.
Fixed problem in the Manage Scenarios screen: LEAP could freeze when editing the scenario abbreviation.
Fixed access violation message when exporting a table to Excel.
Fixed bug that was causing LEAP to generate negative imports in some circumstances: these are now calculated as exports.
Fixed bugs in the General: Fuels screen. Adding a new fuel was not working reliably. Also, fixed a problem with appearance of the fuel state field in the "one fuel" tab.
Reorganized the Area: Open option. The "Browse" and "Open from Internet" options have now been moved to a separate "Install" option under the Area: Open menu and have been renamed "Install from file" and "Install from Internet".

2008.0054: 4/22/2009

Improved code for detecting when LEAP data has been changed, resulting in fewer unnecessary and time consuming calculations (Thanks for beta testing Nan!).
Improved code to reduce various memory leaks, resulting in better reliability and lower memory use.
Added ability to export charts to the online Google Chart format.
Added ability to email data sets to another person without erasing results.

2008.0051: 4/12/2009

Fixed range check error bug introduced in v49.

2008.0049: 4/10/2009

Added improved pie chart views into Results view. These now work much more intuitively, showing multiple pies on screen, listing pie slice names in the chart legend and with each pie properly labeled. You can also optionally have the area of each pie set to be proportional to the total pie value. See example here: http://tinyurl.com/c6uctx
Updated help files.

2008.0048: 4/3/2009

Improved display and conversion of units for resource and resource cost variables.
Improved options for formatting charts including new options to rotate X axis labels, more flexibly format gridlines, display symbols on line charts and automatically apply patterned shading on bar and area charts with many series.
Reorganized chart toolbars for improved user interface clarity.
Added new screen with many new export options for sending charts and tables to various destinations including the clipboard, printer, PowerPoint, Word, email, and numerous file formats (BMP, WMF, JPG, GIF, PNG, PDF, WMF, EPS, XLS, CSV, TXT). This new screen also provides an accurate preview of charts before printing/exporting as well the ability to fine tune titles, subtitles, axis labels and the positioning of the chart's legend.
Fixed incorrect conversion factor for the cubic feet volume unit in the default data set.

2008.0047: 3/12/2009

Fixed problems handling "IF" expressions in older data sets.

2008.0046: 3/10/2009

Fixed problem introduced in v45 with exporting to Excel.

2008.0045: 3/5/2009

Fixed problem introduced in v43: some data sets with non-zero scaling factors on energy intensities were being calculated incorrectly.
This is an important bug fix: it is strongly recommended that anyone using v43 or v44 update to v45.
Improved background handling of Excel spreadsheets: in many cases this will result in faster calculations.

2008.0044: 2/25/2009

Additional improvements to the Value function to allow an expression to reference a previous year's value within a single expression.
Improved checking of parameters in time series functions: now checks for duplicate and improperly ordered year parameters.
Improved checking of growth rate parameters: by default checks if growth rates exceed 50%. In the General: Basic Parameters: Calculations screen you can edit this value or disable checking entirely.
Fixed error when pasting text in the registration screen.

2008.0043: 2/24/2009

Improved the Value function to support the referencing of future year values in other variables
Fixed occasional scaling factor problem when using aggregate energy intensity branches.
Extended the "IF" function to support multiple pairs of tests and results. This avoids the need for complex paired IF functions and helps to reduce the complexity of expressions.
Fixed problem in how non-energy sector emissions results were being displayed. They were not being properly allocated to the fuel labeled “non energy”, so results appeared incorrectly when showing results by fuel.
Improved display of hints on multiline expressions.
Fixed problem with installation program - Program was refusing to install over an earlier version.

2008.0041: 2/5/2009

New Korean language translation, kindly provided by Hoseok Kim of the Korean Environment Institute.
Fixed bug in "Interp" and other time series functions. The optional final growth rate parameter was being applied one year too late.
Fixed error in automatic error reporting system.

2008.0040: 1/29/2009

Improved transport stock turnover calculations so that future sales (in scenarios) can be entered as a function of past retirements.
Improved importing from Excel: no longer rounds off values imported from Excel to just a few decimal places.

2008.0038: 12/17/2008

Fixed bug that would cause LEAP to freeze when adding a technology in TED.
Fixed bug that prevented the "max built capacity" variable from being honored.
Fixed display bug on calculation progress dialog (showed progress > 100%) where some scenarios were left unchecked.

2008.0037: 12/3/2008

Added new AnnualGrowth function that calculates the year on year growth rate of another branch/variable.

2008.0036: 11/22/2008

Fixed problem with ordering of tree branches (introduced in a recent version).
Fixed problem with processing of entries to the "end year" dialog when using non-English number formatting.
Fixed problems referencing lagged results variables.
Fixed option that automatically adds IPCC Tier 1 emission factors to all branches.
Added new calculated variable for device retirements in stock turnover calculations.
Added requirement to accept terms of use agreement in the LEAP installation program.

2008.0035: 11/09/2008

Fixed problem with legend size in Results view.
New function: Subtotal and new use of Total function.
Updated help files.

2008.0034: 11/06/2008

Fixed problem with GIS map display in Results view.
Fixed minor problems with some API functions.

2008.0032: 10/21/2008

Fixed problems in last version: Overview charts were not being created correctly.
Fixed a problem when charts were exported to PowerPoint or the clipboard. Minimum value of vertical axis was not set correctly.
Added a new chart type: an unfilled Area chart (without vertical lines).

2008.0031: 10/20/2008

Charts: can now optionally display two marker labels and a dividing line indicating how time series are divided between historical (Current Accounts) data and scenario projections. These markers have default labels ("< Actual" and "Projected >"), which you can click if you wish to edit the label. The marker labels and divider are only displayed on charts with years as the X axis and in cases where the Current Accounts contains more than one year of data. You can also right-click on a chart to disable this feature.
Unmet Requirements: Added new Results report showing overall unmet requirements (i.e. unserved demands) remaining after all Transformation modules have been calculated. This corresponds to the "unmet requirements" row in the Energy Balance table. Note that each Transformation module may also report "unmet requirements". However, these module level values do not necessarily sum up to the overall unmet requirements, since one module may leave some requirements unmet, but these may subsequently be met by modules in later branches of the tree. For example, am area may contain more than one electric generation module each of which produces a fraction of the overall electricity requirements.
Cost of Unmet Requirements: This new variable allows you to specify a damage cost per unit of unserved energy requirements (see above). For example, it can be used to specify an economic cost of electricity blackouts, brownouts or other incidents of unserved energy demands. This cost need not be the same as the original production cost of the fuel. If specified, this cost also now forms part of LEAP's overall social cost-benefit calculations.
Usage Factor: Added this new variable for use in non-transport stock turnover models. This variable is a simple multiplicative factor (with a default value of one) that is applied to the average intensity of all devices of any vintage in each year of the calculation. This variable was added to allow users to distinguish between device technical specifications which depend on stock turnover and the usage of the device which is likely to depend more on socio-economic factors. For example, you might use this factor to simulate how average household heating and cooling usage increases year-on-year as incomes increase, independently of the introduction of new building efficiency standards, which can be modeled via the Marginal Final Energy Intensity variable.
Energy Balance: Added option to export energy balance to a .CSV file.
API: Added new API functions to allow adding of aggregate energy intensity and useful energy branches and for exporting results to .XLS files. Also added new API functions for getting and setting the units, columns and scenarios in energy balances, and for copying energy balances to the clipboard, and exporting them to .XLS and .CSV files.
Charts: Added four new chart color palettes.
Bug fix: Fixed problems with the optional growth factor parameter within the Interp, Step and other time-series functions. The parameter was not working correctly if it was specified as a reference to another variable that itself changed over time.
Bug fix: Fixed problems and improved performance when showing/hiding branches in multi-region areas. Also added a new option on the tree menu to hide an individual branch in the current region.
Bug fix: Fixed a problem in Transformation calculations: LEAP was sometimes erroneously reporting an invalid value in a variable (maximum built capacity) even when it was unused/hidden.
Bug fix: Fixed problem with chart placement on the "Split" tab in Results view.
Updated help files.

2008.0030: 9/29/2008

Bug fix: LEAP was not always recalculating results when changes were made in Analysis View.
Bug fix: Results for data sets using seasonal/time of day load curves were not being displayed correctly.
Bug fix: In the Results view, LEAP was not showing the legend selection boxes in charts if a null set of results was selected. This made it hard to select another set of results.
New functions in expressions: UBOUND, LBOUND and CONSTRAIN.
Minor bug fixes to the API.

2008.0029: 9/18/2008

Code Completion in LEAP Expressions. A new "code completion" feature has been added to help you enter Branch/Variable references in LEAP's expressions. Typing a branch name followed by the "\" character will pop up the list of branches below the typed branch name. Entering a branch name followed by the ":" character will pop up the list of variables available at that branch. Finally, once a full branch and variable reference has been entered, typing a "[" character will popup the list of units (but not the scaling factors) available for that branch/variable. When using the popup, you can select an item by double-clicking or by pressing Enter. The item name will then be added to the expression, or you can press Escape to dismiss the popup. Each popup appears after a short pause to allow you to manually type the property name yourself.

Thus, with the code completion feature you can quickly specify full variable references for a long branch such as…

"Demand\Household\Urban\Cooking\Electricity:Final Energy Intensity[GJ]"

…without having to type each branch and variable name. Code completion works for full branch references that start with either the area name or one of the top level branch names (demand, transformation, etc.). It also completes branch names for branches immediately neighboring the current expression.
Code Completion in the API Script Editor: The API script editor now also supports code completion to help you to reference the various objects that form part of LEAP's API. When you type the name of a LEAP object in your script and press the period (".") character, a popup window shows all the various properties and methods associated with that object. For example, typing "LEAP" followed by a "." will popup the list of all properties and methods for the main LEAP object.
API script editor color coding: The API script editor has been improved with the addition of line numbering and color coding of scripts, making it easier to read and debug BASIC scripts. BASIC keywords are colored blue, numbers purple and comments green.
A new checkbox on the Calculation tab of the General: Basic Parameters screen lets you switch the code completion feature off and on.
Various minor improvements and bug fixes for LEAP's API including a few new published methods.

2008.0028: 9/10/2008

Add IPCC Tier 1 Emission Factors to All Branches: New menu option on the Tree menu uses a heuristic (guessing) algorithm to add emission factors to all relevant branches in an area where energy is consumed or produced. The algorithm makes uses of the sector branch names and device fuels to pick the correct set of IPCC tier 1 emission factors from the TED technology database. IPCC Tier 1 emission factors are intended to represent good default sets of emission factors appropriate for doing first-cut GHG emissions assessments in situations where more specific technical or regional data is unavailable. NB: this option only works well if you are using standard English sector names (households, industry, transport, etc.) and the default list of fuels. In situations where no relevant set of factors are available for a device (e.g. if the device uses electricity) then no factors will be added. Because this algorithm is subject to error you will be given a chance to review any changes before they are applied.
In addition to the above option which adds factors for all branches, LEAP also uses the same algorithm to guess a default TED technology when you add a single set of emission factors by linking to TED (by pressing the TED button on the right of the Environmental Loadings screen).
Set First Reserve Depletion Year: Added ability to specify the first year in which reserves are depleted. By default this is set to the base year. This can be useful if your consumption data includes past years of historical data (e.g. 1970-2005), but your reserves data is for some more recent year (e.g. 2005). in this case declines in the reserve due to future consumption will occur only from 2005 onwards. This new option has been added as a new variable "First Depletion Year" on the General: Basic Parameters: Years screen.
Improved API: various new objects and methods added. Also now added the ability to temporarily disable all controls in LEAP for speed and the ability to manipulate data (expressions) during a calculation. Refer to the help file for more information on the API.

2008.0026: 8/30/2008

Fixed bug in how LEAP handled expression errors: after reporting an error the main data entry grid would not display properly until another tree branch had been clicked.
Improved load curve calculation: now properly reports when load curve hours and percentage values are not in the proper order.

2008.0025: 8/11/2008

Fixed installation: Installation was trying to overwrite the system file "msscript.ocx". This file has now been removed from the installation. It should already be installed as part of Windows.
Improved opening of zipped areas: made more robust so that LEAP will now open areas even if they are zipped with embedded folder names.
Improved parsing of expressions and improved handling of variables in the expression builder.

2008.0024: 8/6/2008

Various bug fixes related to opening areas.

2008.0023: 7/29/2008

Reduced calculation times: large data sets now calculate significantly faster, especially multi-regional areas and areas with multi-year Current Accounts data. In some cases, calculation times are 25% or less compared to the previous version.
Improved Application Programming Interface (API):
- Environmental effects and user variables are now included as collections of API objects.
- Added the ability to add and delete API objects including areas, effects, fuels, regions, user variables, scenarios and branches.
- API help pages improved and updated.
User Variables: Increased maximum number from 10 to 30.
Bug fixes:
- Active record jumped around when editing "All Regions" in Analysis View.
- Fix to hide the fuel selection box when showing Aggregate Energy Intensities.
- Improved display of activity level units when using "No data" units in some branches.
- Fix in calculation. Primary production was not being properly calculated when specifying exports in resource branches.
- Improved checking of expression inheritance across regions. Now tests to avoid circular regional references.
- Fixed bug in script editor that could cause LEAP to lock up in Windows Vista.
- Fixed bug in calculation of Indicator variables when using multi-year Current Accounts data

2008.0021: 7/6/2008

Fixes to Time-Series Wizard to properly handle base year and historical values when editing scenarios.
Better handling of unit references in expressions.
Revised help files and tips.

2008.0020: 6/30/2008

Added new radar chart type with lines rather than filled areas.
Added ability to change LEAP Areas folder and temporary working folder from General: Basic Parameters screen.
Fixed disabled buttons attached to expressions in Load Curve form.
Fixed occasional range error messages in diagram.
Various additions to the API to support working with useful energy data.
Fixed linking from TED emissions factors in multi-region data sets.
Fixed problem with User Variables not being visible if assigned only to Transformation processes.
Fixed checking of log files to prevent LEAP.LOG files getting too large.
Fixed error message when displaying checked scenarios.
Fixed cursor appearance during calculation.
Fixed problem with animation button in Results charts: LEAP would sometimes start plotting charts from an incorrect year value.
Fixed installation routine for LEAP mapping components: now supports installation on Windows Vista.

2008.0019: 6/17/2008

Update to Support New Email Server. The Area: Email feature no longer works on older versions of LEAP. If you need to email an area or submit an error report you will need to update to this latest version.

2008.0018: 6/12/2008

Added new Greek language translation. Many thanks to Thanos Angelis-Dimakis for this!
Added ability to specify Transformation emissions per unit of energy lost in a process.
Fixed bug in Summaries View: Newly created summaries were lost when the Save button was pressed. Also fixed various bugs in the summaries view.
Added ability to change color palette in Summaries View.
Fixed calculation of "score" indicators. These were being scaled from 0-5 or 0-10. Should have been from 1-5 and 1-10.
Fixed referencing of module-level results variables such as peak load, load factor, reserve margin, etc. These were being calculated incorrectly and were also not being reported in the proper units.
Made Energy Balance and Diagram Views more robust so that problem data sets with extreme values no longer generate error messages.
Changed how the Save button works to better support external API calls to Save data.

2008.0017: 3/27/2008

New partial translation into Thai. Many thanks to Bundit Limmeechokchai and his students for this!
Fixed calculation problems with multi-regional data sets affecting imports/exports.
Fixed problem with useful energy calculations where useful energy intensity was specified in a non-default unit.
Improved reporting of imports and exports in Results view for multi-region data sets. Now optionally shows imports/exports disaggregated by trade within and beyond the Area.
Improved energy balances for multi-region data sets. Imports and exports are now disaggregated to show trade within and beyond the area.
Added new resource import and resource export variables to better support specification of imports and exports for primary fuels.
Revised and expanded help for resource variables.
New "Multi Region Example" data set illustrating use of the In-Area Import and In-Area Export variables. Use Area: Open: Open from Internet menu option to get this data set.

2008.0015: 3/5/2008

Fixed problem where delete key was erasing whole expression - not just one character in Analysis View data entry tables.
Fixed various bugs in display of demand cost data in Analysis View. Values were not properly converting between units. User can now show values in alternative currency units.
Various other minor fixes.

2008.0014: 3/2/2008

Fixed lockup when trying to select a denominator variable in results view in multi-region data sets.
Improved drag and drop of LEAP branch/variable references in the Expression Builder. This operation will now cause the full variable reference including scale and units to be added to the edit box.
Re-implemented the ability to access LEAP branches and variables in the popup dialog version of the Expression Builder. This functionality had been disabled in earlier versions of LEAP2008 due to an incompatibility with Windows Vista (now fixed).
Minor improvements to better support upcoming new translations of LEAP.

2008.0013: 2/23/2008

Now includes an Indonesian language translation. Many thanks to Oetomo Tri Winarno for this! Some terms in LEAP are still not being properly translated into other languages. I am working on this. An Indonesian translation of the LEAP training exercises is also under development by Oetomo.
Fixes to various bugs that were causing error messages when running LEAP in a language other than English.
Fixed problem where the last edits to notes were being lost if the user pressed the save button or switched views.

2008.0012: 2/5/2008

Fixed bug in chart that could cause occasional errors with extremely small numbers.
Ditto Capability: Added a "ditto" capability to the main analysis view data entry table. Pressing Ctrl-D will cause any field to be copied from the value in the prior record in the table: helping to speed repetitive data entry tasks. Works for expressions and for scale, unit and lifecycle fields.

2008.0011: 1/28/2008

Translations were missing in last release.

2008.0010: 1/21/2008

Fixed problem with colors in table titles.

2008.009: 1/14/2008

Revised interface: a new flatter, simpler look for data entry tables
Improved data visualization: In Analysis View, a ">" marker now indicates the current record, which is also highlighted in the summary charts and tables in the lower pane. Clicking on either the chart or the table causes the active record to change in the data entry table: so that all three views stay synchronized.
Bug fix: improved scanning and updating of older format files, avoids use of temporary folder which could cause problems on some Windows Vista systems.
Bug fix: addressed problems in calculation of indicator variables.
Speed-up: added caching to speed-up access to indicator variables.

2008.008: 1/9/2008

Bug fix: Fixed problem in which indicator expressions could not refer to calculated resource results for indigenous production, imports and exports.
Bug fix: Fixed problem with delivered fuel cost calculations. Calculation was using wrong units.
Bug fix: Fixed colors used for drawing of diagram. Sometimes lines were drawn in white so they disappeared.

2008.007: 1/8/2008

Bug fix: Fixed problem showing incorrect values in results view when showing results with denominator variables across regions in multi-region data sets.
Improved charts: When hovering over a point or bar, the label and value associated with the bar is displayed in the status panel at the bottom of the screen. Works in the results, overview, energy balance and summaries views.
Improved energy balance charts: adding ability to show year label as a background.

2008.006: 1/3/2008

Added new API functions for adding, deleting and reordering branches (see help pages on API for more information).
Added ability to reference non-greenhouse gas emission results in expressions and indicators.
Fixed problem when altering properties of a demand technology (problem introduced in last update)

2008.005: 12/28/2007

Added support in time-series functions (Interp, Step, etc.) for values marked as "unavailable". You can create an annual value and instead of entering a numeric value, you can enter "na", "x", "u" or ".." (all without the quotes) to mark it as an unavailable value. For example: Interp(1990, 100, 1991, 110, 1992, u, 1993, 140). This feature is most useful when importing time series values from a database. Handling of bad parameters in time-series functions has also been improved.
When changing a demand technology branch type from a standard activity analysis to a transport analysis, LEAP did not correctly create the required fuel branch.
Conversely, when changing a transport technology branch to an activity branch, LEAP did not correctly remove the branches below. LEAP asks you to confirm before making this change.
The space (" ") character was not working as a thousand separator even though this is used in some countries.
The color scheme in the main analysis view data entry table was hard to read on windows 2000 and earlier PCs.
Added error checking in calculations to check that shares sum to 100% for stock shares, sales shares and device shares in Transport analyses. Also added diagnostic messages that alert you when mileage numbers and fuel economy numbers are zero.
Make Version in the Manage Areas screen was not working. It gave an access violation.
Edits to the General: First Scenario Year variable were not being properly saved (required editing twice). Also, reorganized the General: Basic Parameters: Years screen for improved usability.
Added various new fuel economy units such as MPG (for both US and UK gallons), liters/100km, liters/km and km/liter for gasoline, diesel and ethanol. Fixed problems in converting between these units. LEAP now allows you to convert fuel economy values between any fuel economy unit. Conversions are done on an energy basis. So for example a US MPG value can be converted to a UK MPG. LEAP also now supports showing fuel economy results in any fuel economy unit in Results view.
In the Results and Analysis view, using the cursor keys to scroll through the tree was not working properly, the screen was not being fully updated.
Fixed units conversion problems for indicators variables. Thanks Gustavo!
Fixed screen refresh problem on Results charts on some Windows vista PCs.
Added a transparent effect on charts when using years or images as a background.

2008.004: 12/06/2007

Fixed problem with "Year", "BaseYear" and other constants not being recognized in expressions.
Added ability to reference Resource variables in indicators.
Made charts the default tab in Results view (the split view took up too much space).
Vista and XP "look and feel" manifest file is now installed as a separate file (leap.exe.manifest) in the program folder. If you have problems with Vista you can simply rename this file and LEAP will return to the old Windows 2000 look.

2008.003: 11/03/2007

Fixed lockup problems with Windows Vista.
Fixed invalid function error when referencing user variables.
Fixed problems with handling exponential format numbers (e.g. 1.23E-5).
Fixed error when adding new scenario into multiple scenario inheritance.
Fixed display problem with new all/checked scenarios option.

2008.002: 10/24/2007

Bug fix: Fixed problem in transport stock turnover calculation.
Added ability to select "Checked Scenarios" in Analysis View.

2008.001: 10/23/2007

Introduction

LEAP2008 includes many new features. Changes have focused on extending the methodological capabilities without adding complexity for existing users, and at the same time improving the overall usability of the system. Before installing the new version, we recommend that you follow the normal good practice of backing up the LEAP program and your LEAP data sets. However, LEAP2008 is designed to be fully backwards compatible with earlier versions, and is able to open and update areas created in earlier versions of LEAP.   All of the changes are designed to incrementally add capabilities without changing the results generated from existing analyses (see below).   Note however that earlier versions of LEAP cannot open areas created in LEAP2008.

Methodological Improvements

Inter-Regional Energy Trade: LEAP2008 includes new variables and reorganized calculations to enable calculation of inter-regional trade in energy resources. In multi-region data sets, import demand requirements in one region can now be used to endogenously drive the calculation of exports in other regions.

Multi-fuel Devices in Transport Stock-Turnover Calculations: In LEAP transport stock-turnover modeling, you can now create vehicles with multiple feedstock fuels (for examples, ethanol and gasoline). This allows for examining of fuel-switching policies in vehicles independently of vehicle stock turnover.

Regional and Scenario Comparison Indicators: Two new functions have been added that let you calculate a wide variety of cross-region and cross-scenario comparisons indicators. These functions can be used to normalize and then compare variables in numerous different ways such as scoring; ranking; z-scores (standardization); re-scaling; ratios to means, highs and lows; differences from means, highs and lows, etc. The new indicator functions will normally be used when creating the new Indicator variables (see below).

Improved Referencing of Results: Referencing of results in regular modeling expressions has been improved. Previously you could reference the lagged value of a result at a given branch such as "total final energy demand." This always returned the total value of that result. You could not filter the result to show, for example, just the demand for one fuel. This is now possible using a new filtering syntax in results references as follows:

    Branch:Variable[Scale Units, Dimension=Value]

    For example, to return, total final electricity demand at the Demand branch in Millions of Gigajoules you would write:

    Demand:Energy demand final units[Million GJ, Fuel=Electricity]

You can specify up to two filters on a result. Allowable dimensions are: fuel, cost and effect.

Indicator Variables: In addition to this new results-filtering syntax, you can now also create non-lagged references to Results variables in a special Indicators section of the Tree. Unlike other variables, Indicator variables are calculated after all other results calculations are complete, so they can include references both to regular data variables and non-lagged references to results. Note however that other data variables cannot reference indicator variables. Indicator variables can be used to calculate any type of additional result variable, although the new Indicator functions (see above) will be especially useful for creating normalized variables used to compare scenarios and regions. Indicator variable can be displayed within the standard Results view using any of the chart types, including the new Radar chart type (see above).

New Electric Sector Load Curve Method: LEAP now provides three alternative methods for describing electric system loads: The two existing methods: (1) Load Duration Curve For Entire System and (2) Seasonal/Time-of-Day Load Shape for Each Electric Demand Technology are now complemented by a third hybrid approach (3) Seasonal/Time-of-Day Load Shape for Entire System. This third method combines some of the best features of the two existing methods. The new method allows you to specify load shapes for an entire electric system and is thus much less data intensive than method (2), but at the same time it allows you to specify seasonal and time-of-day load shape information as in method (1), which thus allows you to more accurately simulate different seasonal availability characteristics and dispatch strategies for power plants. When using this method you need to specify a Base Year and End Year Load Shape for each Transformation module.

Improved Energy Balance Reports: These can now optionally show sub-sectoral totals as well as the standard sectoral totals. An additional toolbar checkbox lets you toggle sectoral or subsectoral balances in the Energy Balance View.

Transformation Decommissioning Costs: Transformation Costs can now also include decommissioning costs, which can be important for nuclear power options. These are entered in the same way as capital costs, although these costs are incurred whenever capacity is eliminated rather than expanded.

Improved Simulation of Production Priorities: In previous versions of LEAP domestic requirements were always assumed to have priority over export demands in cases where production was unable to fully meet both demands. You can now control this assumption by assigning first priority to domestic requirements or to exports or by giving both equal priorities. This option is found on the Output Properties tab for Transformations Output branches.

Data Management, Reporting and Ease-of-Use Improvements

Integrated Expression Builder with Check-as-you-Type Error Checking: The Expression builder, a tool for creating your modeling expressions now works in an easier-to-use format: integrated into the main Analysis View as a tab in the lower right-hand part of the screen. This format makes the tool available all the time, avoiding the need to open and close a separate window. It includes a new toolbar that checks your expressions in real time as you type, and also provides instant context-sensitive documentation of the functions in your expressions as you navigate from branch to branch in the tree. This new format also supports creation of expressions by dragging-and-dropping branches from the main tree. The previous pop-up Expression builder has been retained for those with smaller screen resolutions.

Expression Elaboration has been improved and moved to a new tab in Analysis View. This tab shows two lists: the variables referenced by the current expression and the variable which themselves reference the current expression. Double-clicking on any item in these lists will make the display jump to the listed branch/variable.

Integrated Help: LEAP contains hundreds of pages of help which have been significantly revised for this new version; yet few users ever open the separate context-sensitive help window. To address this, a new help tab has been added in Analysis View that gives immediate access to the help system for whatever variable the user is working on.

Improved Charting: Charts have been improved in various ways. Two new types have been added: radar (spider) charts and step charts. Also, you can now click on series in either tables or charts to have both simultaneously highlighted. Other new charting features include new color palettes, a new “invert axis” button on the chart toolbar, and on single year charts, the option to show the year printed in large letters as a background image of the chart. Finally, a new advanced settings option gives fine control over a huge number of chart settings.

New "Split" Results View: A “Split” tab has been added and is the new default in the Results View. This view shows both a chart of the selected results and the matching table of values in a single split-screen.

New Web-browser style Back and Forward buttons in Analysis view to make it easy to step back to the previously visited branch/variable.

Miscellaneous Improvements:

Improved View Bar. When the view bar is hidden a mini view toolbar is now displayed under the tree.

Improved Compatibility with Windows Vista: Significant additional testing has been done on Windows Vista and various Vista-specific issues have been addressed such as display problems with the Expression Builder. A new Vista-aware installation tool has also been adopted.

Key Assumption results (as well as Indicators) can now be viewed in the Results View.

Show/Hide Area branch in Analysis View. To facilitate dragging and dropping of branch/variable references into expressions, the root Area branch can now be shown or hidden in Analysis view. To do this, right click on the tree and toggle the Show Area Branch option.

Improved Registration screens to give easy access to the LEAP web site licensing page.

Updated event scripting to reflect the new multi-region calculation algorithms.

Improved importing from older data sets. Code improvements to resolve problems opening some older data sets.

More Flexible User Variables: User variables can now be assigned to additional branch types including non-energy sector branches, and indicator branches.

Improved Editing of Units and Scaling Factors: In the past units and scaling factors could only be edited in Current Accounts. They can now be changed while editing any scenario. LEAP gives a one-time reminder that changes will affect all scenarios.

Improved Exporting of Results: Tables exported to Excel now contain additional header information for a more complete documentation of exported results. In addition tables can also now be exported to .CSV text files.

Updated and Improved Help: The help system has been updated and improved to reflect all of the new features in LEAP2008.

Bugs Fixed:

Occasional Access Violation errors when pressing the Save button – e.g. when editing environmental effect branches.

Fixed pasting of text into data entry tables including when pasting year/value data ranges.

Improved handling of invalid expressions. In previous versions the data entry table would sometimes behave unpredictably or expressions would be arbitrarily deleted after an invalid expression was entered.

Access violation when using Area: Open on PCs not connected to the Internet.

Resource variables: for some resource variables, charts and tables were not being shown.

Unit conversion problems and no graph display on resource costs.

Fixed various bugs in the General: Units screen including fixing the missing delete and rename options and adding code to prevent deletion of a unit that was being used.

Fixed bug in the Check for Updates feature that enabled the Get Update button before a server connection had been made. If pressed too quickly by the user this generated an error.

Fixed bugs in load shape and time slice screens. Adding or deleting a time slice could cause an error. Also improved error checking of load shape data in calculations.

Fixed bugs when copying and pasting ranges from Excel into LEAP. LEAP now properly supports Excel data containing currency symbols and thousand separators. These get stripped-out when pasting into LEAP.

Fixed bug in expression builder: scrolling the function help text would cause the functions list to freeze-up.

Fixed various bugs that prevented downloading and opening of older format data sets.

Improved checking of data files to more robustly handle potential problems during installation and startup.

Fixed bug in Overviews screen affecting display of axis labels.

Fixed duplicate ALT key shortcuts.

Various other minor bug fixes.

Changes in Algorithms

All of the methodological changes are designed to incrementally add capabilities without changing the results generated from existing analyses. There is one exception to this. This change affects LEAP’s discounting algorithm. Previously, costs were always discounted to the monetary unit year. But in cases where the study base year lies after the monetary unit year this did not make sense. Now LEAP discounts to the monetary unit year unless the base year is after the monetary unit year, in which case it discounts to the base year. In most analyses these two years are one and the same, so this change will not affect results. Note also that the discounting year is also now listed in reports to make discounting more explicit and transparent.

2006.0045: 8/02/2007

Bug fix: Corrected a problem with opening older format data sets.

2006.0044: 7/31/2007

Bug fix: On PCs not connected to the Internet, the Open Area button and menu option would fail with an access violation error.
Bug fix: Using "Save" on some data entry screens would cause an access violation error.

2006.0042: 4/25/2007

Bug fix: Fixed a problem with charts with a large number of series not showing colors correctly.
Bug fix: Fixed a problem with calculation of modules requirements. These were not being correctly tracked when a module produced outputs surplus to requirements. This affected how requirements were displayed and also affected the module balance chart.

2006.0041: 4/16/2007

Bug fix: Fixed a problem with the Tree: Insert Branches from Folder command.

2006.0040: 3/24/2007

Bug fix: Fixed a problem where LEAP would not properly see zipped areas.

2006.0039: 3/11/2007

Better Handling of Invalid Expressions. The way LEAP works when an invalid expression is entered has been changed. Previously the bad expression was erased and reset back to the last known good expression. This was frustrating to users since long expressions with just one or more bad characters would be erased. Now LEAP allows bad expressions to be entered, but highlights any them in red italic text. Use LEAP's integrated debugging features during calculations to find and fix bad expressions.
Bug fix: Fixed occasional "numeric error" error messages when using LEAP on PCs with non-English number formatting.
Bug fix: Fixed outstanding problems in opening older format data sets when LEAP is using new Vista folder structure.
Bug fix: Fixed bug in load curve screen. If an invalid expression was entered in the load curve screen an error message was displayed but you could not return to the load curve screen to fix the problem.

2006.0037: 2/14/2007

Corresponding heat rate values now calculated and displayed in Analysis View when entering Transformation efficiencies (also efficiencies displayed when entering heat rate data).
Improved code to check for invalid list, decimal and thousand separator symbols.
Bug fix: Scale button not always displaying correctly in Results View.
Bug fix: Switching between Transformation process-level results (e.g. generation) and module-level results (e.g. reserve margin) did not always correctly update selected branch in Results View.
Bug fix: fixes some problems when importing Excel data in the Time-Series wizard.

2006.0036: 2/06/2007

Bug fix: EDBEngineError (when opening a zipped area).
Bug fix: Range check error when calculating an area with stock-turnover modeling.

2006.0035: 1/30/2007

Pasting Numbers into LEAP: LEAP can now automatically paste a block of numbers as a standard time-series function (Step, Interp, etc.). This makes it much easier to get data out of Excel and other programs and into LEAP. For more information see the Help topic on Pasting Arrays of Numbers into LEAP.
Bug fix: Opening older format areas could fail when LEAP uses the new folder structure.

2006.0033: 1/23/2007

Bug fix: Overviews view broken in last release.

2006.0032: 1/17/2007

Windows Vista: Reorganization of code and location of data files to make LEAP compatible with Windows Vista. By default, LEAP areas are now stored under the "My Documents\LEAP Areas" folder. In Windows Vista this is simply the "Documents\LEAP Areas" folder. Previously areas were stored under the "Program Files\LEAP" folder. Note: this change only affects new installations of LEAP. If you are upgrading, LEAP will continue to work with the Areas in their old location. To summarize: here are the old and new folder structures in LEAP.

Old Folder Structure:

+ Program Files
+ LEAP           (EXEs, help files and settings)
    + _Default     (Default data)
    + _Dictionary (LEAP's data dictionary)
    + _Backup      (Backups of saved areas)
    + _Scripts     (Scripts that automate LEAP)
    + _Work        (Working copy of area being edited)
    + HTML         (Web pages used in TED)
    + Freedonia    (Sample area)
    + ...other areas

New Folder Structure:

+ Program Files
+ LEAP        (EXEs, help files, etc.)

+ My Documents ("\Documents" in Vista)
+ LEAP Areas
    + _Scripts
    + _Backup
    + _Work
    + Freedonia
    + ...other areas

+ Documents and Settings
+ All Users
    + Application Data ("\Program Data" in Vista)
      + LEAP Settings
        + _Default
        + _Dictionary
        + HTML

Added new functions to LEAP's expressions including a "CumulativeValue" function and a StepLookup function. The CumulativeValue function calculate the cumulative value of a variable from the base year to the year immedaitely before the current (calculation) year. The StepLookup function lets you lookup the value of one dependent variable based on the value of another dependent variable. It works similarly to the existing Lookup function but uses a step function rather than interpolating between points on a curve. The existing lookup functions has also been extended to better support modeling of cost curve functions.
Various minor changes:
- Areas using stock turnover calculations and with multiple historical Current Accounts years were not being calculated correctly. Also improved display of the "stock" variable to reduce confusion. LEAP only use the base year value of this variable. Stock in subsequent years is calculated through LEAP's stock turnover calculations.
- Expressions that referred to result variables were not calculating consistently. Also improved error checking to ensure that only lagged result variables can be referenced in expressions.
- Some menu options were disabled after the mouse hovered over them.
- Fixes to some API functions that were broken after recent changes to expression handling
- Improvements to the Internet update option. Now uses a "wizard" to take you through updates and lets you opt out of downloading optional components such as the help file.
- Button layouts in dialogs have been standardized to improve usability.

2006.0031: 12/23/2006

Bug fixes: Addresses various problems introduced in v30. Some data sets could become corrupted after updating to v30. If you have had this problem, you can restore an older data set using the Area: Manage Areas menu option. Alternatively, free free to contact us for support at leap@sei-us.org.

2006.0030: 12/18/2006

Expression Handling Improved. Variable references in expressions now include the scaling factor and units of the referred-to variables. These are displayed in square brackets written immediately after the branch: variable reference, such as "Industry: Activity Level[Billion Dollars]". You can also edit the scaling factor and unit used in the expression and LEAP will return a value to the expression in the appropriate units. This change has been made to make variable references more intuitive and flexible and to remove ambiguity about unit conversion factors. Note: if you edit a unit in an expression, you must use a unit of the same class as the unit used in the referenced variable. For example, if the reference variable has a mass unit (e.g. kg) then you may edit the reference to use any mass unit (tonne, pound, etc.).
Bug fix: Improper handling of inherited expressions in endogenous capacity screen.
Units: Revised and expanded list of units (mass, volume, energy and distance).
Bug fix: incorrect display in General: Units screen.
References to this Variable. Added a new pop-up list to show the branches and variables that depend on any other particular branch and variable. This list appears as a menu item labeled "References to this Variable" under the "Expression" button attached to each expression field in Analysis View. Select one of the listed dependent items to go directly to that branch and variable.
Improved Lookup function. Now supports 2, 3 or 4 pairs of independent and dependent variables.
Revisions to some icons for a more consistent color scheme.
Note: LEAP has not yet been tested on the new Windows Vista operating system. We do not expect any major issues in running LEAP on Windows Vista. However we will be testing in the coming few months and will make any changes necessary to optimize LEAP for Windows Vista in the very near future.

2006.0029: 10/22/2006

Bug fix: Chinese translation was not displaying properly.

2006.0028: 10/15/2006

Optimization: LEAP now automatically checks and updates the "BDE" database engine configuration. For large data sets this will yield significantly faster LEAP calculations.
New functions: Various new functions added to the expression handler...

BaselineGrowth/AvgBaselineGrowth: Calculates the growth rate of a variable in a baseline scenario.

ParentScenarioGrowth/AvgParentScenarioGrowth: Calculates the growth rate of a variable in the "parent" scenario of the current scenario.

These functions are normally used in conjunction with the Growth function and are especially useful if you want to enter growth rates in a "policy" scenario relative to the rates of change of a variable in another non-policy scenario (e.g. a baseline) . For example if a new policy will cause energy intensities to decrease 1%/year faster than in a baseline scenario, you would write:

Growth(BaselineGrowth-1%)

Renamed functions: Some functions have been renamed for better overall naming consistency. Your expressions will automatically reflect these changes. No editing of expressions is needed.
- HGrowth is now HistoricalGrowth
- BaselineScenario is now BaselineValue
- ParentScenario is now ParentScenarioValue

2006.0027: 9/04/2006

Fixed crash in Diagram view (bug introduced in last version).
Added new function LaggedValue(BranchVarName, Years) to allow for referencing of values lagged by more than one year.

2006.0026: 8/24/2006

Improved checking of circular branch/variable references. This should reduce the chances of "stack overflow" errors, thereby improving reliability.
Stricter checking of branch, fuel and effect names. LEAP now checks all branch names whenever opening or calculating an area. You may notice that some names change when opening older data sets. For example he characters "(", ")" and "-" will be changed to "[", "]", and " ". This change has been made to reduce potential errors when evaluating expressions.
For stock turnover calculations, the number of year over which devices are vintaged is now a user-defined variable. Previously it was fixed at 25 years. You can edit this value on the General: Basic Parameters: Stocks screen.
Fixed a recently-introduced bug in the Summaries view that was preventing cost results being reported.
Fixed handling of default currency unit on Currency page of General: Units screen.

2006.0025: 8/6/2006

Bug fix: Importing data as links from Excel was not working correctly if the user had non-US/English style number formatting.
LEAP has been made more robust in handling Excel spreadsheet references in expressions. For example, LEAP will now correctly recognize "AB12" as a cell reference. Earlier version required spreadsheet range references to include the sheet name. Error handling while getting data from Excel has also been improved.
New function added "Excel(Excelfilename, CellReference)" Allows any single value to be extracted from Excel. See help page.
New function added "GrowthFromYearXL(Excelfilename, RangeName)". This allows variables to be projected directly using growth rates stored in Excel.
Help updated and improved, with new page describing how to specify Excel file names and range names for entering time-series data.
Improved Refresh key (F9) to allow refreshing of screen after an open Excel spreadsheet has been edited and then saved. The Refresh option is now available from the popup menu attached to each expression.
Fixed problem in results charts and tables when showing results with negative values in Percent format.
When exported to Excel, table titles now note whether results are differences versus another scenario.

2006.024: 7/28/2006

Installation routines updated to include Windows script control (required on older Windows 98 PCs, but preinstalled on recent Windows versions).

2006.023: 7/24/2006

User-Defined Functions in Expressions. You can now create your own user-defined functions that extend LEAP's expressions. Functions are called using the CALL function and can be written in Visual Basic (VBScript). LEAP also includes a functions editor for editing user-defined functions.
Browse to Open Areas: A new menu option has been added on the Area: Open menu to allow you to browse for and restore a zipped area stored in any folder on your PC or on a network drive. Once selected the area will be opened and added to the list of available areas in the Area: Open menu.
Two Other New functions Added.

HGROWTH calculates the historical annual average growth rate for the current branch. Use this function to project values based on the annual average growth rate in the historical data as specified in Current Accounts. To do this, enter: Growth(HGrowth).

VALUE(year) returns the historical value of the branch in some specified year.

Time-Series Wizard Improved. A new button has been added that opens Excel and previews the range selected in the time-series wizard. Error handling in the wizard has also been improved.
Foreign Exchange Cost Calculations. In addition to considering the total costs and benefits of energy scenarios it can often be important to consider how costs are split between domestic and foreign exchange costs. In many developing countries, where US dollars or other foreign exchange is in short supply, least-cost energy policies may not necessarily the best if they place undue strain on a nation's limited supplies of foreign exchange. Thus, LEAP now lets you optionally examine the foreign exchange fraction of all costs. Also added optional ability to NOT annualize Transformation capital costs.
The View Bar is now temporarily disabled during save and calculation operations, to eliminate errors caused by inadvertently clicking buttons during saving or recalculating an area.
Bug fixed in simple transformation calculations where LEAP sometimes reported that no output fuel was specified (even if a fuel was specified).
Fixed problem with base year values in useful energy calculations.

2006.021: 5/30/2006

Overviews: You can now set the order in which charts and tables are displayed in the Overviews screen. Use the Up and Down buttons at the top of the screen to do this.
The Overview Manager screen has also been reorganized for better management of Overviews. It includes functions for adding and deleting overviews, for adding and deleting favorites from a particular overview, and for reordering favorites within an Overview.

2006.018: 5/1/2006

New Variable: Additions to reserves, under the Resources branch for fossil fuels. Allows the for additional finds of fossil resources after the base year.

2006.016: 4/18/2006

Reserve Margin Calculations: In previous versions, LEAP would endogenously add capacity to maintain a user-defined planning reserve margin, which was set exogenously for each Transformation module. If you set this value too low, the module would not be able to fully meet peak power requirements. Conversely, if you set it too high then LEAP would build more capacity than was actually required to meet the peak. Now you can opt to have LEAP calculate and set the required planning reserve margin endogenously so that it builds sufficient but not excessive capacity to meet peak requirements. Required reserve margin is calculated based on the system peak load, and the percent availability of the available power plants in the system. You can enable endogenous reserve margin calculations through a check box on the properties screen for each Transformation module.
LEAP also now reports additional Transformation results categories:
- Power Requirements Not Dispatched (to indicate where processes were unable to fully meet the peak requirements).
- Required Reserve Margin: the reserve margin needed to fully meet peak requirements.
- Actual Reserve Margin. The actual reserve margin due to LEAP making capacity additions (previously reported as "reserve margin"). NB: since capacity additions are discrete ("lumpy"), the actual reserve margin will generally be greater than or equal to the actual reserve margin (assuming that endogenous capacity additions have been enabled).
Results View: Data variables can now be accessed in the Results View alongside results variables. In the "Show" selection box, an extra category of variables is listed marked "Data variables". Data variables can be accessed using all the reporting capabilities of the Results View including the ability to store "favorite" charts and tables and make collections of favorites in the Overviews view. A new selection box lets you show results for branches below the current tree branch (the previous behavior) or at the current branch only. This is useful when you want to show values for a particular Transformation process or demand device. So for example you could show energy demand results separately for household, industry, services, agriculture, and transport sectors or show the total at the Demand branch.
Overviews: Overviews now include a table showing all the values in the Overviews charts. The chart and table views are accessed via tabs at the top of the screen. You can also customize an Overview to pick a consistent dimension for all X-axes and legends, thereby overriding the dimensions stored with each "favorite" chart. A button has been added to let you export all Overview charts to PowerPoint with a single click. Another button lets you apply a consistent color palette to all of the charts. Finally, labeling of Overviews and chart legends has been improved.
Charts and diagrams are now exported as resizable vector drawings (Windows metafile format) rather than as bitmaps. This makes them scaleable and so look better in reports. They are also transparent for better placement in PowerPoint slides.
Color palettes can now be applied to the diagram view.
Markers showing values and labels can now be displayed in charts. A new option has been added to the chart toolbar for selecting markers in charts.
Icons added to chart, table, notes and map tabs.

2006.006: 3/12/2006

Additional error checking before switching views.
Color palette menu now previews color changes as you scroll between menu options.

2006.005: 3/09/2006

New functions added for use in expressions.
Regions screen improved. New buttons for checking All or No regions. New button for reordering regions alphabetically.
Help files reorganized to reduce duplication. Web and PDF versions of User Guide updated.

2006.001: 2/24/2006

Application Programming Interface (API): LEAP can act as a standard "COM Automation Server," meaning that other programs can control LEAP directly: changing data values, calculating results, and exporting them to Excel or other applications. Currently, LEAP's API provides functions for getting information about data structures, for getting and setting data and for getting results values. For example, you could write a short script that could run LEAP calculations many times, each time with a different set of input assumptions. LEAP's results could then be output to Excel or processed in the script and used to drive subsequent LEAP calculations. In this way LEAP's basic accounting calculations could be coupled with other models such as goal-seeking or optimizing tools.
Script Editing Tool: To help you use the new API, we have added a new script editor tool. This is used to edit, interactively debug and run scripts that automate LEAP. The script editor uses Microsoft's Windows Script technology which directly supports scripts written in both VBScript and JScript. A few sample scripts are included and we will be adding additional scripts in the coming months. We also encourage users to share any scripts they create with other users by posting them on the LEAP web forum.
Event Handler: A new event handler allows you to specify scripts that can be run at various times before, during and after LEAP's calculations: doing additional calculations or performing additional processing of data or results.
Analysis View: Now supports concurrently editing all scenarios and all regions. A new variable selection box has been added. This duplicates the function of the data tabs, which can now optionally be hidden to reduce screen clutter. Finally, the lower chart/table/notes pane can temporarily be hidden to make more space on screen, which is especially useful when editing all regions or all scenarios.
Faster: On larger data sets, LEAP's calculation times are reduced by 30-40%.
Improvements to Expression Handling: New functions for statistical analysis and time-series manipulation, and more flexibility for analyzing time-series data. In particular you can now store a time-series in one place (e.g. under Key Assumptions) using the Data function and then make references to it from other branches using alternative time-series function such as Interp, Step and LinForecast.
Updated Help

2005.036: 12/06/2005

Code made more robust on restart after a crash.
Various improvements for hiding/ordering tree branches in multi-region areas.

2005.035: 11/30/2005

Added two new functions for use in expressions: FirstScenarioYear and InterpFSY. These functions provide better support for interpolating when using a first scenario year that is after the base year. See the help file for more information.
Updated help and added new credits page, listing some of the people and organizations who have contributed to LEAP over the past 20 years.

2005.034: 11/19/2005

New Transformation Results Category: Module Balance. This new type of report summarizes the balance between the various energy requirements and products of a module. Requirements and exports are shown as negative values while outputs, imports, co-production and unmet requirements are shown as positive values.

In most circumstances, the positive and negative values will exactly counter-balance each other. However, bear in mind that in cases where there is surplus production (e.g. when dispatching a process to its full capacity regardless of requirements or when producing co-products regardless of requirements) then the outputs (positive) will be greater than the requirements (negative). Note also that outputs + imports may be less than requirements. In this case a further category will appear showing "unmet requirements". Bear in mind that requirements that remain unmet in one module may ultimately be met by a module lower down in the tree.

This report can be a useful debugging report for understanding the behavior of a module. In particular, you may find it useful to show this report as a chart in two different arrangements: Fuel by Balance Category (for a given year) and Balance Category by Year (for one or all fuels)

2005.033: 10/19/2005

Optimization: improved performance when accessing lagged results variables in expressions (This option is switched off by default in the General: Basic Parameters: Calculations screen).

2005.029: 10/06/2005

Improved debugging: When editing expressions the Unknown Function Identifier message (which occurs when LEAP cannot identify some part of your expression as a function or variable) has been improved. The error message now reports which part of the expression it is unable to identify. This can be helpful if you have misspelled a function or variable name. For example. If you typed an expression "10+abcde" and "abcde" was not not a branch or variable name then the error will report Unknown Function Identifier: "abcde".
Multi-line Expressions. In the Expression Builder you can now enter and edit multi-line expressions. This can be useful for complex expressions and for those that include logical "if" functions. In the main Analysis View data-entry grid, multi-line expressions are compressed to fit on a single line, and the line breaks are represented by the tilde "~" character. The line breaks are restored if you view the expression in the Expression Builder. For example:

1+
2+
3

is written as:
1+~2+~3

Manage Areas: Added ability to create backup version within Manage Areas screen.

2005.028: 9/12/2005

Mapping of Results: This version includes the ability to display results on a GIS map in Results View for multi-region areas. GIS Mapping components must be downloaded and installed separately and are available from the LEAP web site. Click here for notes on using the new mapping features in LEAP.
Improved results reporting for Transformation input fuels. Reports can now be subdivided into feedstock and auxiliary fuel use.
Fixes for display issues on Windows 98 computers.

2005.024: 8/8/2005

Better support for importing expressions from Excel in Current accounts.

2005.023: 7/22/2005

Better Support for Historical Data: In previous versions of LEAP, all scenarios were assumed to start in the year after the base year. However, in some cases you might want to specify a time-series of historical data in Current Accounts (e.g. using an Interp function) and then have the scenarios start in a later year. For example, imagine you have historical data for 1980-2000 and you then want the scenarios to run from 2001-2030. Specifying this was difficult in earlier versions of LEAP because the scenario expressions would be used to generate values for 1981-2030. (i.e. the scenario expressions would overrule the historical data).
In the new version of LEAP a new variable called "First Scenario Year" has been added on the Years tab of the General: Basic Parameters screen. In the above example, the Base Year would be set to 1980, and you would set First Scenario Year to 2001. Now, when LEAP gets results for scenario years it uses the Current Accounts expressions for the years from the Base Year to the year before the First Scenario Year (1980-2000). It uses the Scenario expressions for the years from the First Scenario Year onwards (2001-2030). By default, First scenario year is set to the year after the base year, so existing data sets will work the same as before.

Note that Growth functions used in scenario expressions will be applied to make values grow exponentially from their values in the year before the First scenario year.

The display of charts and tables in Analysis View has also been improved to reflect this new approach. Now, if First Scenario Year is more than one year after the base year, the Analysis View/Current Accounts charts and tables will show time-series for all of the historical years (base year to first scenario year-1). If First Scenario Year is left set to the default value of Base Year+1 the charts and tables will display information for just the base year (as in previous versions of LEAP).
Endogenous Capacity Variable Now Available in Current Accounts: LEAP now also allows endogenous capacity expansion to occur in historical years.
Two new Transformation Results Added: Capacity Additions and Capacity Retirements. These show the capacity added and retired in any particular year. Previously you could only see the total capacity existing in any year (which could sometimes hide simultaneous additions and retirements).
Cancel Calculations: A cancel button has been added to the calculation dialog, letting you escape from a calculation that is taking too long.

2005.022: 7/19/2005

Some Transformation process variables renamed to reduce confusion...
- Max Capacity Factor is now renamed Max Availability
- Capacity Value is now renamed Capacity Credit.

2005.020: 6/20/2005

Energy Balance Table: Can now be shown for one or all fuels (when columns set to years or regions).
General: Basic Parameters: Calculations: Additional options for checking iterative calculations of systems with feedback flows.

2005.018: 6/01/2005

Updates to Chinese and French translations. Now more complete.

2005.011: 5/10/2005

Seasonal/Time of Day Variations for Electric Loads: Different load shapes can now optionally be specified for each demand device so that the overall system load shape is endogenously calculated across all demands. The affect of demand side management policies on the overall load shape can then be explored in scenarios. The previous exogenously defined load curve has been retained but made more precise with additional data points (10 instead of 7). Two new supporting screens on the General menu let you edit the time slices into which each year is divided and also let you edit a library of load shapes that can be applied to each load.
Dispatch Simulation: Electric sector dispatch simulation has been improved. Different processes within a single module can now have different dispatch rules. Previously, one rule was set for a whole module. This gives more flexibility in simulating dispatch. For example, wind and other renewables can now be dispatched by percentage fraction to meet a specified renewable portfolio standard, while other plants are dispatched by merit order. When using the endogenously calculated load curves, power plants can also be set to dispatch differently in different seasons. For example, a hydro plant could be set to operate as base load in a wet season and peak load in a dry season. Plant availability (the maximum capacity factor) and merit order can now both be varied between different dispatch periods. The General: Time Slices screen lets you specify how a year is divided into different time slices and dispatch periods.
Better Historical Dispatch: Previously, historical dispatch of processes could only be specified for the base year. Now, historical dispatch can be used up to any future year. A new variable, "first simulation year", indicates when to stop using historical dispatch and to start using the dispatch rule. This year can be different for each different process.
Reporting of Demand Loads and Power Dispatched: Demand loads and power plant dispatch can now both be reported in the Results View, showing how they vary across branches, years and season/time of day.
New Chinese Translation (Draft): Many thanks to Zhou Nan at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab in California for creating this!
Better Looking User Interface: New, better looking and more colorful icons have been used. However, they are similar to the old icons, so they should be immediately familiar to current users.
Improved Results View: including easier selection of results categories and a slider control for animating results across different years.
Improved Exporting to Excel: Now remembers selections and shows names of branches and variables for better context. Excel exports can also now be sent to a new worksheet (i.e. adds a tab to an existing workbook) or, as before, to a new workbook. Worksheet tabs are given default names reflecting the result or data exported. Exporting to Excel has also been greatly speeded up.
New Tab Showing All Variables at a Branch: In the Analysis View, a new tab lets you edit all variables at one branch in a single table. This special tab is shown highlighted with a blue dot.
Improved Memory Management: LEAP now takes up much less memory when running, especially for more complex data sets (apx 25-30 MB instead of 40-50 MB or more). It should now run comfortably on PCs with 64MB of memory.
Automatic Versioning: LEAP now saves multiple versions of areas, in case you decide you want to go back to a previous version of your data. Backup versions of Areas are automatically created when the area is saved. You may also manually create a version from the Area: Make Version menu option with an optional comment. LEAP will never automatically delete a version with a comment. Treat these versions as milestones. For example, once you have finished entering the Current Accounts for an Area, you may create a version with the comment "Current Accounts complete." As another example, suppose you had just finished a study and written a paper, you might create a milestone version, with the comment "Data set corresponding to March 2005 paper." The Manage Areas screen has been updated with tools to let you manage backup versions.
Statistical Differences and Stock Changes: These are no longer limited to the base year only. They can now be specified in any future year. They can also now be reported in the Results view.
Vary Branch Structures in Different Regions: In multi-region data sets, you can now hide tree branches in regions. Hidden branches are not included in a region's calculations.
Easier Data Sharing: You can now email an area directly from the main screen.
Improved Navigation: A web-like "breadcrumb" toolbar shown in the Analysis, Results and Notes views shows you which branch is currently selected and lets you navigate to other branches without having to use the tree. This replaces the "back" and "forward" buttons used in the Analysis view in earlier versions.
Copying/Cutting and Pasting of Tree Branches. This had previously required three special shortcut keys (ALT-C, ALT-X and ALT-V), but now uses the standard Windows keys (Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X and Ctrl-V).
Demand and Transformation Properties Screens Simplified: to make adding branches easier. New icons have been introduced to highlight branches where different demand analysis methodologies (activity, stock and transport analyses) are used.

2004.040: 1/31/2005

Analysis View: Import from Excel improved. When importing from spreadsheets containing data values in columns, LEAP will now by default only overwrite constant, INTERP and STEP function expressions. GROWTH, REMAINDER and other complex expressions will not be overwritten by default. This does not affect imports from spreadsheets that are used to directly enter or edit LEAP expressions. This change was made so that complex models can be better preserved when importing data from spreadsheets.
Analysis View: Import from Excel improved. You can now optionally export a spreadsheet containing data values for all years in columns
Analysis View: Importing from Excel. LEAP now tests for invalid spreadsheet cells during imports (e.g. cells showing the #REF or #ERROR messages). Attempting to import values from these cells will show an error message containing the invalid cell formula. This helps to debug data sets.

2004.037: 12/02/2004

Export to Excel: The Excel export/import feature has been greatly improved. Previously, you could only export a single variable across a single region. You can now export all of the tree-related data across all branches, regions, scenarios and variables with just a few mouse clicks. In addition, exporting has been optimized and is now much faster. LEAP now creates an Excel spreadsheet and then "auto-filters" it to make the data much easier to review and edit. Importing from Excel has also been improved You can now import both expressions and also units and scaling factors that have been edited in Excel. This function is accessed through the Analysis menu in the Analysis View. For more information please see the online help for Export to Excel and Import from Excel. NB: the format of spreadsheets exported from Excel has changed. Existing spreadsheet templates will need to be edited before they can be imported into LEAP. Contact Charlie if you need assistance with this.

2004.036: 11/22/04

Scenario Manager: This screen has been redesigned to make it easier to check and uncheck the scenarios to be calculated. Checkboxes are now shown on the scenario tree so you can immediately see which scenarios results are to be displayed. Two additional buttons at the foot of the screen let you quickly check All or None of the scenarios.
Energy Flow Diagram: LEAP now includes a diagram showing the energy flows through an area. The new Energy Flow Diagram is similar to the Reference Energy System shown in the Diagram View. However, unlike that view it shows energy flow quantities for any given scenario or year, making it a much more useful view of results. Energy flows are displayed as colored boxes, with the width of the box proportional to the annual flow of energy.

The Energy Flow Diagram is accessed as a tab on the Energy Balance View.

Somewhat similar to a standard energy balance table, the energy flow diagram (shown below) displays the flows of energy through an area from primary resources (indigenous production and imports), through each Transformation module, to final demand and exports. Typically, energy flows are displayed for each fuel or fuel grouping. Each fuel or fuel grouping is displayed as a column, while major resource, Transformation and final demand categories are displayed as rows. You can also use the flow diagram to display total energy flows for each region or year (summed across all fuels). Unlike a standard energy balance table, the diagram shows exports as a class of final demand, rather than as a class of primary production. The diagram also indicates outflows of energy from the area as empty boxes. Empty boxes are shown in 4 situations:

1. Where losses occur in a Transformation module (e.g. losses during electric generation or transmission and distribution).
2. Where a fuel is consumed as a feedstock or auxiliary fuel in a Transformation module (e.g. crude oil is consumed in an oil refining module).
3. Where a fuel is exported from the system.
4. Where a demand remains fully or partially unmet.

In the diagram, the boxes decrease in size from one module to the next (reading down) where one of the above situations occur, but increase in size in the following 2 situations:

1. Where a new fuel is produced as a result of a module operating (e.g. electricity is produced in an electric generation module).
2. Where a fuel is indigenously produced or imported into the system.

2004.035: 11/05/04

The display order of Processes and Outputs in Transformation branches have been switched to better reflect how energy physically flows through a system from resources to demands (Outputs are now shown above processes).
Charting behavior has been improved in the Results View. When selecting a new results category, charts now default to line or stacked bar charts depending on whether results categories are stackable.

2004.034: 09/23/04

Allocation of Emissions Back to Demand branches: A new category of reports has been added in the Results View that shows you the global warming potential (GWP) of all energy sector emissions allocated back to Demand Branches. In this type of report emissions from sectors that generate secondary fuels such as electricity are allocated back to the demand-side branches in which electricity is finally consumed. Similarly, emissions from oil refining are allocated back to the demand-side branches where oil products are finally consumed. Transformation emissions are allocated to demands based on the fraction of the total final fuel consumption that occurs at each demand branch. GWP emissions that occur directly at demand branches are also included. This type of report can be useful for seeing the full lifecycle emissions of various demand sectors. This results category is, by definition, only available at demand branches. NB: this type of report is only available if you have checked "Allocate primary energy and Transformation emissions back to demands" in the General: Basic Parameters: Scope screen.
Updates to Effect GWP values/Added new effects for gases with high GWPs: The effects database has been updated to reflect the latest IPCC recommended values. This was a long overdue change to reflect the latest IPCC scientific report (Climate Change 2001). LEAP also now has GWP factors for both a 100 year and a 500 year time horizon, and you can switch between these two sets of GWPs in the Results view. For example, methane has a 100 year GWP of 23, but a 500 year GWP of only 7. Finally, I have also added entries for the most important non-energy sector gases with high GWPs (SF6, CFCs, HCFCs and HFCs). These gases often need to be accounted for in climate inventories.

2004.033: 09/08/04

French Translation: LEAP can now be used in French. The help file has not been translated. To switch languages, choose menu option Areas: Language. Thanks to Libasse Ba at ENDA-TM in Senegal for creating the translation!
Energy Balance: The energy balance now works better in multi-regional data sets. When showing the balance for "all regions", imports are the sum of imports from beyond the area, exports are the sum of exports beyond the area, and indigenous production if the sum of indigenous production in each area plus the sum of net imports into each region from other regions within the area.

2004.032: 08/12/04

Total energy consumption can now be shown directly in the Analysis view in chart or table format using a pull down menu while editing energy intensity or activity level data. Currently this only works while creating an activity level analysis. It does not work for a transport stock turnover analysis.
Added new units for fuel economy variable in transport analysis (km/m3 for gasoline, CNG and LPG).

2004.031: 08/12/04

Removed intermediate calculated variables from being displayed as tabs in Analysis view (e.g. total activity Level, stocks, sales) . Instead, those variables can now be selected from a selection box immediately above the chart/table in the Analysis View. All of the same variables can still be accessed but this change reduces the number of variable tabs and makes the user interface more consistent (i.e. the variable tabs now always show you where data can be edited).

2004.026: 08/08/04

Major Update to Data File Structures: This new version of LEAP uses a reorganized data file structure with far fewer files. The new structure simplifies the source code, making it easier to maintain and enhance. It also yields reduced calculation times. In most cases you should see calculation time reductions of around 30-50%. LEAP remains backwards-compatible with earlier versions. When you open an area, it will automatically be updated to the new structure. However, because of the major change to the data structure, I strongly suggest that you back up your areas before using the new version.
New Variable: “Mileage Correction Factor”: for use in Transport stock turnover analyses. This factor can be useful if you wish to create a model that examines driving rebound effects in which the miles driven in ALL vehicles (not just new vehicles) are responsive to certain variables such as the cost of gasoline. For backwards compatibility, this variable has a default value of 1.0. See help file for more information. Also the variable previously named “Fuel Economy Degradation Factor” has been renamed “Fuel Economy Correction Factor”.
Added Ability to Model “Internal” and “External” Imports and Exports for Multi-Regional analyses: In multi-regional analyses you can specify what percentage fraction of imports and exports are internal (within the regions of the area) or external (beyond the area). Then, when viewing results summed across all regions, you can see the net imports and exports beyond the region by summing across the external import and export results categories. This feature is only valid for multi-regional data sets.
Improved CO2 Tracking for Non-Energy Use of Fossil Fuels: A new variable “Non Energy Fraction” has been added to final energy demand analyses. Use this to specify the fraction of a fuel that is consumed for non-energy purposes. For backwards compatibility, this fraction is set by default to 0%. Fuels consumed for non-energy purposes are not subject to the (combustion) emissions factors specified in the environmental loadings tab. Instead, CO2 emissions are calculated based on the fraction of the fuel used for non-energy purposes, the fuel's carbon content (%) and the fraction of the carbon that is permanently stored when the fuel is used for non-energy purposes (%). These last two variables are specified on the fuels screen. LEAP has default values for carbon storage for each fossil fuel, and you can edit these values to match the situation in your own area. The amount of CO2 emitted from fossil fuels used for non-energy purposes is calculated as follows:

CO2 = (Activity Level x Final Energy Intensity) x (Non Energy Fraction/100) x (Fuel Carbon Content/100) x (1-(Carbon Stored/100)) x (44/12)

Where the product of activity level and energy intensity is assumed to be specified in weight terms, and 44/12 is the factor that converts from Carbon to Carbon Dioxide terms.

Primary Energy Calculations Made Optional to Reduce Calculation Time: The recently introduced feature that calculates the primary energy requirements of or more demand branches has been made optional since it significantly slows down calculations. By default, this calculation is now switched off. You can switch it back on by going to the General: Basic Parameters: Scope screen, and checking “Calculate Primary Energy Allocations”.
Results Reporting Every N Years: You can now opt to have results written every N years (e.g. every 2, 5 or 10 years). This can greatly reduce calculation time, especially in very long range analyses. By default LEAP writes results every year, but you can set the value of N by going to the General: Basic Parameters: Years screen. Note that some calculations such as transportation stock turnover and tracking of fossil fuel reserves require that results are reported every year.
Updated and Improved Help: Help has been updated to reflect the latest changes. Also, new pages of help have been added: one for each category of results in the Results View. A new toolbar button has been added to show those pages in the Results View.
Improved Results View: LEAP now remembers settings when switching between Results View and other views. This helps reduce clicking.
Improved Main Toolbar: You can now open areas directly from a button on the main toolbar.
Added Toolbar in Analysis View: A new toolbar shows the full path of the currently highlighted tree branch. This helps show where you are when editing in the Analysis View.
Improved Drag and Drop/Copy and Paste for Tree Branches: These features now also work for Transformation modules and processes. Previously these features only worked for Demand branches.
Fixed “Insufficient disk space” Bug: A bug in the Borland Database Engine (BDE), which is the software used by LEAP to access data files, could cause LEAP to report that your PC was out of disk space whenever there was an exact multiple of 4.0 GB of free disk space. This bug has been fixed for Windows NT/2000/XP systems. Unfortunately, there is currently no fix available for older Windows 95/98/ME systems.

2004.023: 06/21/04

Portuguese Translation: LEAP can now also be used in Portuguese. The help file has not been translated. To switch languages, choose menu option Areas: Language. Thanks to Flavio Pinheiro in Brazil for creating the Portuguese translation!

2004.022: 05/30/04

Spanish Translation: LEAP can now be used in Spanish and English. Most elements of the user-interface have been translated. Data items, such as user-editable tree branch names, fuel names, unit names and effect names are not translated since they can be edited by the user. The user guide is also currently being translated and will be available soon. The help file has not been translated. To switch LEAP into Spanish choose menu option Areas: Language: Spanish. You can switch between English and Spanish at any time. Thanks to Nicolas Di Sbroiavacca and the team at IDEE/Fundacion Bariloche in Argentina for creating the Spanish translation!
Eliminated 250 character restriction on expression length. The maximum length of an expression is now approximately 32,000 characters.
Improved error reporting when expressions refer to missing branches.
Improved Import in Analysis view. Now warns you if no expressions are imported.

2004.020: 05/13/04

Supply Calculations Improved: Primary energy requirements are now allocated back to demand-side branches so that you can see the primary energy implications of consumption levels. Under the "demand" category in Results view, in addition to "net final energy demand" you will now see an additional option "primary energy requirements". So for example, under "net final energy demand" you may see results for electricity consumed in a refrigerator. When you choose "primary energy requirements", you will see instead the feedstock fuels used to generate this amount of electricity, accounting for all generation, transmission and distribution losses. You will also see how this mix of fuels changes over time. Note that LEAP assumes that each final fuel gets a proportion of the average mix of supply side processes in each year. In other words it does not distinguish between demand side technologies that operate at on and off peak, perhaps with a different mix of supply side technologies.

2004.016: 04/15/04

Transport Modeling Improved: A new "fuel economy degradation factor" variable has been added. Fuel economy data can now be entered as the theoretical "rated" value for new vehicles (which is how the data is commonly published). LEAP then calculates the "on-road" fuel economy by applying the degradation factor to the calculated stock average "rated" fuel economy. Note that the degradation factor can change over time but is applied uniformly across the total stock in each year. When upgrading from older data sets, the fuel economy degradation factor is initially set to a value of one, so it will have no effect on your calculations. If you don't want to use this feature simply enter a fuel economy degradation factor of one.

2004.015: 04/07/04

Charts improved: the "patterns" button has been replaced with a new color palette button, that lets you choose among a variety of different chart color palettes. The palettes include one that is similar to the palette used in Microsoft Excel, and another that uses patterns that are suitable when printing in black and white. Also, a scrollbar has been added to chart legends with large numbers of items. Chart formatting options are now accessible via a toolbar "Chart" menu in both the Analysis view and Results view.

2004.005: 01/27/04

Iterative calculations improved in Transformation. Production from later modules can now be used to meet requirements in earlier modules.

2004.001: 01/20/04

Multiple Regions: LEAP now allows you to specify multiple regions within an area. A region might be a country (for a multi-country analysis) or a different state or province within a country (for a national analysis). Regions are a specific data dimension, so you can enter data and models for each region and view results either for one region or summed across regions. Regions can also be grouped for reporting purposes. For example, if you create a global analysis, you can specify each country as a region and then specify regional groupings for Europe, North America, Africa, Latin America, Asia, etc. This new feature also allows expressions to be inherited from one region to another. For example, you might specify that region "South" inherits most of its technical data (emission factors, energy intensities, etc.) from region "North". You then only need to enter data for region South where it differs from region North. This can greatly simplify data entry and model management. Use of regions is optional. If your data set contains only one region (which is true of any data set created in older versions of LEAP), then the region dimension will not appear in the results or energy balance reporting views. Two new options on the General menu have been added to allow you to create and edit Regions and Region Groupings. A very simple data set called "Diversia" has also been created to illustrate the use of regions. It can be downloaded from menu option Area: Open: Download from Internet. Make sure you update to the latest version of LEAP (using Help: Check on Internet for Updates) before trying to open this area.
Translatable Version: The user interface of the new version of LEAP can now be translated into different languages. We are still in the process of creating the first two translations (into French and Spanish) so for now this feature will not affect users. However, we will shortly be uploading a new tool to the LEAP web site to allow users to create their own translations. Please check the site for news or contact Charlie (leap@tellus.org) if you can volunteer to create a translation.
New fuels can now be created as copies (with a new name) of an existing fuel. This option is available when creating a new fuel in the fuels database screen.

2003.063: 12/21/03

Support For Internet Proxy Servers: A new Update tab has been added under General: Basic Parameters to support the use of LEAP's Internet Update feature for those who access the Internet via a proxy server. Typically this is only needed by users who access the Internet via a local area network (e.g. in a university or some other large organization). NB: this feature is largely experimental. Please let me know if you have any problems with it.

2003.053: 11/01/03

Total Activity is now shown as an extra tab in the Analysis View for Demand activity level analyses. Total Activity shows the result of multiplying down each of the Activity Level branch chains. A simple example is shown below. This has been added to make it easier to immediately see the implications of the data you enter for Activity Levels.

Branch	Activity Level	Total Activity
Households	8 million	8 million households
Rural	50% share	4 million households
Refrigeration	20% saturation	800 thousand households

Optimizations: Various internal reorganization and simplification of code giving improved screen refresh speed in Analysis View, and calculation times reduced by between 15% and 30%.
Error Reporting Improved: Internet communication problems could sometimes cause the error reporting screen or other email features to lock-up the whole of LEAP. This part of the code has been changed to work in the background so that control almost immediately returns to LEAP, even before the email is sent.

2003.052: 10/12/03

Optimization: Links to excel spreadsheets are now cached on disk between LEAP sessions, so that Excel itself only has to be opened by LEAP if the spreadsheet has been edited. This greatly reduces calculation times for Areas with many links to Excel spreadsheets.
Tip: If working with areas that contain links to Excel spreadsheets, we suggest leaving a copy of Excel running on your PC. Otherwise, LEAP has to open and close Excel as well as opening and closing individual spreadsheets.

2003.047: 09/03/03

Reporting of Environmental Loadings: Environmental reports in Results view now have an extra dimension: fuels.
Data links to TED improved: in addition to copying data from TED for emission factors you can now establish links to the data in TED that will be updated whenever the data in TED is updated.
Automating LEAP: The latest version of LEAP includes an experimental new feature that lets you automate LEAP from any standard Windows programming language such as Visual Basic or Delphi (which LEAP itself is written in). LEAP can also be automated using most standard scripting languages such as Visual Basic for Applications, which is built into Word, Excel and other parts of Microsoft Office. The system is experimental and currently only supports a few commands, but if there is sufficient interest the number will be increased in the future. For more information, please see the LEAP Help files under topic: Automating LEAP.
Updating improved. The built-in update system has been changed to use a passive rather than an active FTP protocol. This make the system work for those using LEAP behind an Internet firewall.

2003.046: 08/27/03

Export to Excel improved. Export now has a new configuration screen, which allows you to set all of the export options. Two new options have been added. The first lets you either export all expressions, or not export inherited expressions. The second lets you export all branches for either the current scenario or for all scenarios.
Import to Excel improved. Blank expressions in Excel will now cause the corresponding LEAP expression to be cleared. This is particularly useful if you wish to reset large numbers of expressions to their inherited expressions.

2003.045: 08/05/03

Optimization: screen refresh speed improved when entering data and navigating the tree in the Analysis View.

2003.044: 07/29/03

Email Connectivity: Emailing no longer requires that you have an email client such as Outlook Express or Netscape installed and configured on your PC. Sending emails is now handled by LEAP on its own. It only requires that your computer has a live Internet connection.
Error logging and reporting: Serious errors can now optionally be sent to SEI-Boston to help resolve them. When an error occurs, if you have a live Internet connection, LEAP will give you the option of sending an email report to SEI-Boston along with your own message and a screen-capture showing what was happening in LEAP when the error occurred.

2003.042: 06/30/03

Charts: added ability to show line charts with X axis cutting the Y axis at the minimum value (instead of only at zero).
Excel Links: When linking to live Excel spreadsheets, LEAP now automatically refreshes Analysis view data if Excel has been edited, and also automatically recalculates LEAP before showing results, even if no expressions have been edited.

2003.033: 06/11/03

Moved this "What's New" page out of the Help file to reduce need for downloading updated help files.

2003.030: 05/20/03

Splash-screen updated to match new design for LEAP web site.
Links to Technical Support Forum updated to point to new forum (http://forum.seib.org/leap).
Optimization to improve speed of rendering fuel economy reports.

2003.029: 05/15/03

User Variables: In addition to the many variables defined by LEAP, you can now also create up to ten of your own User Variables. Once defined, each variable will appear as a new tab in the data entry screens of the Analysis View.
Smart Help Added to Expression Builder: The expression builder will now automatically show the help topic associated with the function highlighted in the edit box in the bottom part of the builder screen. As you click on a word in the edit box or move the edit cursor, the help topic displayed in the top half of the screen will automatically update.
New BaselineScenario & ParentScenario Functions: New functions have been added for use when constructing alternative policy scenarios in expressions. These let you refer to the value of a variable in the baseline or parent scenario, which is useful if you want to enter changes in values ("deltas") with respect to another scenario rather than having to enter absolute values.
New ExpInterp Function: A new function has been added that performs an exponential interpolation between specified data points. This function is similar to the Interp function that performs a linear interpolation, and takes the same parameters as that function.
Driver Variables category on the tree has been renamed. It is now called Key Variables. The old wording had caused some confusion to those doing transportation analyses!
Calculation Progress Dialog now displays calculation time in seconds and disables clicking on main form during calculation.

2003.026: 05/02/03

New Results Variable: Average fuel economy can now be reported when using LEAP for Transportation analyses.

2003.024: 03/30/03

Calculations Improved: A new type of Transformation module has been added to deal with cases where you wish to have multiple independently dispatched processes, each of which has its own output fuel. To create this type of module, choose simple, un-dispatched module on the Transformation Module Properties screen. This type of module is useful when you want to represent transport losses in a number of different fuels. Previously, this had required a separate module for each fuel, which was cumbersome to create and made for quirky-looking energy balances. For this new type of module, the output fuels folder is not used. Instead, you pick the output fuel for each process on the efficiency or loss tab. The Transformation Module Properties screen has also been updated and redesigned to accommodate this change. For more information, see the new schematic diagrams of simple modules and standard modules.
Export to Excel/Import From Excel Improved. In addition to importing and exporting data and expressions, these now also import and export the scaling factor and units associated with most variables. This can be useful if you wish to change the scale or units of many branches at the same time (e.g. if changing the currency unit for a whole study). All you need to do is (1) export a variable from LEAP to Excel, (2) change the units by copying and pasting ranges of cells in Excel, then (3) re-import the spreadsheet.
Charts and Tables Enhanced. When branch names are displayed in charts and tables, they will now be shown in the same order as they are listed on the Tree. Previously, branches were ordered alphabetically. Tip: you can use the Up and Down buttons on the tree toolbar to set the order of branches. In addition charts now split long axis labels into two or more lines of text.
Sort Branches: A new option has been added to the Tree menu and pop-up, which lets you automatically sort branches alphabetically.
Technical Support Group: added a new menu option in LEAP to allow users to automatically register for the free LEAP Technical Support Group.

2003.021: 03/18/03

Calculations: LEAP no longer forces you to recalculate results after all edits to data. It still tells you when results need to be recalculated to ensure that results are up-to-date, but it now gives you the option of avoiding calculations and seeing previously-calculated results instead. Use this feature with care: previously calculated results may not reflect the latest edits to data.

2003.020: 02/28/03

References Improved. References can now be imported from Excel. Requires a currently active spreadsheet with one reference per row and minimally labeled "Year", "Author", "Title" and "Publisher" columns. Each record must be unique with respect to its year and author.

2003.019: 02/25/03

Installation Software Changed. Recent changes to LEAP caused problems when installing on older Windows 98 PCs, which in turn have prompted us to adopt a newer version of the InstallShield installation program. The latest version uses the standard Windows Installer, which should make installations more reliable. It also checks the target PC to ensure it has the required operating system (Windows 98 or later) and RAM before installation begins, and can also be used to repair LEAP installations.
New Result Variable: Transformation/Unmet Requirements. Shows any requirements that remain unmet after the dispatch of a module. Note that subsequently dispatched modules or, ultimately, imports may meet these unmet requirements.
Energy Balance Improved to show any fuel requirements that remain unmet after dispatch of all Transformation modules and after resource dispatch. This information appears as an extra row at the bottom of the balance table.
Handling of Unmet Requirements Improved: Previously any unmet requirements for secondary fuels after the dispatch of all modules could be simulated in only two ways: either (1) assuming that imports were available to meet those requirements, or (2) by adding those unmet requirements to demand and iterating the Transformation calculations to simulate systems with energy flow feedbacks. This has now been changed to allow for an additional case (3) in which the requirements are simply left unmet. Use the Resource Properties screen to set the properties of each resource to one of these three settings.
Improvements to Summary Reports. Now handles reports in which all units are the same more elegantly and allows absolute as well as indexed charts.

2003.016: 02/10/03

Useful Energy Analysis for Combined Heat and Power (CHP). When conducting a useful energy demand analysis, technologies can now optionally be set to produce a co-product. For example, a demand for heat in buildings could be met through a combination of conventional furnaces as well as combined heat and power units that consume natural gas at one efficiency, while producing electricity at another efficiency. Use the Demand Branch Properties screen to specify the co-product. Note that only technologies created under a useful aggregate energy branch can have co-products. Reporting has also been improved to let users examine both net final energy demand (consumption minus co-production), gross final energy demand (final consumption only), and co-production only.
Internet Updates Improved: The Internet-based update feature has been completely revamped to improve its reliability and to reduce the size and time of downloads. Updates have been split into separate files that allow typical program update downloads to be reduced from about 5.3 MB to about 1.4 MB. In situations where only help files or data files need to be updated, the download size will be even smaller. Also, by splitting the update into separate files the new system should work better with frequently-dropped connections, all of which should make updating LEAP easier for those with slower modem-based Internet connections. In addition the updated files are now loaded on a faster server for improved speed. For those with an always-on Internet connection, LEAP will automatically check for and notify users of available updates periodically.
Note: because of the changes in the Update system, when first updating to version 2003.016 the download will be approximately 8 MB in size. Subsequent updates will be as small as 1.4 MB. If you do not wish to download such a large file, you can order a copy of LEAP on CD-ROM from the LEAP web site for a nominal charge.
Improved Interface: The interface has been updated to support Windows XP user interface conventions. This does not affect users of Windows 2000 and earlier operating systems. A new menu option (View: Themes) lets you switch between standard Windows XP and Office XP-style menus.

2003.001: 10/28/02

Improved Environmental Modeling Capabilities: Emission factors can now be entered as expressions just like other variables. This has several key advantages:

Emissions factors can now be dynamic (i.e. change over time and vary by scenario).

You can directly add to, override or delete emission factors within LEAP, instead of simply linking en masse to the factors specified in TED. So for example, you might first link to the IPCC factors for greenhouse gases and then add your own country- or technology-specific factors for other air pollutants.

For those doing transportation modeling (see below) you can now specify emission factors per unit of vehicle-distance traveled (e.g. grammes per vehicle-mile). . Previously all emission factors had to be specified per unit of energy consumed or produced. This new approach better reflects how most pollutants are regulated for vehicles. Furthermore, emission factors can now be specified either as average values for the whole stock of devices or as the values for newly added devices, in which case LEAP will internally calculate the stock-average values across vehicles of all ages, based on its internal stock-turnover calculations (see below). Finally, you can now specify lifecycle profiles that indicate, for a given vintage of devices, how emission factors degrade as devices age.

New Transport Modeling Capabilities: In addition to the standard activity level x energy intensity methodology, the new version introduces a new demand-modeling methodology for those doing transportation analysis. With this new methodology, energy consumption is calculated as the product of the number of vehicles, the annual average mileage (i.e. distance traveled) and fuel economy (e.g. liters/100 km or the inverse of miles/gallon). Base year stocks of vehicles are either entered directly, or are calculated from vehicle sales and a lifecycle profile describing survival rates as vehicles age. In scenarios, you enter projections for future sales of vehicles, and for future levels of fuel economy, vehicle mileage and environmental loadings of newly added vehicles. Other lifecycle profiles are used to describe how mileage, fuel economy and environmental loadings change as vehicles age. LEAP then calculates the stock average values for fuel economy, mileage and environmental loadings across all vintages and hence the total level of energy consumption and environmental loadings. Unlike the other demand modeling methods, which only allow emission factors to be specified per unit of energy consumed or produced (e.g., kg/TJ), the transport analysis methodology also optionally allows you to specify emission factors per unit of distance traveled (e.g. grammes/vehicle-mile). Finally, the new transport methodology also optionally allows you to specify how government and business fleets of vehicles get "rolled over" into the private vehicle stock after a set number of years. Fuel economy data can be entered in any unit including miles/gallon (US and UK versions) and liters/100 km. LEAP automatically converts from one unit to the other.
Supply Curve Modeling in Transformation: You can now use the Endogenous Capacity screen in conjunction with the new Maximum Built Capacity variable to specify a supply curve in which one process is built first (up to its maximum built capacity) and thereafter other processes are added. Typically, currently available and/or cheaper technologies will be built first. For example: you might have a number of different classes of wind resources each with ascending costs, and each with different amounts of resource available. You can specify each as a separate process in LEAP, then add them all to the endogenous capacity screen. All will have the same addition order, but will be arranged in ascending build order to reflect their increasing costs. Then in LEAP's calculations, the lowest cost resource will be built up to its maximum built capacity, followed later by the other increasingly costly technologies.
Improved Modeling of Marginal vs Average data in Transformation: Transformation modeling has been improved to allow you to optionally specify technical data (efficiencies, emission factors, maximum capacity factors) for new additions rather than as average across the whole stock of installed plants.
Stock-Turnover Modeling Capabilities: A third demand modeling methodology has also been added (superseding a similar approach in earlier versions of LEAP). In this Stock Analysis method, energy consumption is calculated by analyzing the current and projected future stocks of energy-using devices, and the annual energy intensity of each device, based on the equation: energy consumption = stock of devices x energy intensity per device. With this approach you specify the current stock of devices and the historical energy intensity and environmental loadings of newly added devices. In scenarios, you project future additions (sales) of devices and the energy intensity and environmental loadings associated with those newly added devices. LEAP then calculates the stock average energy intensity and environmental loadings across all vintages and hence, ultimately, the overall level of energy consumption and environmental loadings.
Scenario Templates: You can now create a "scenario template" to give easy access to the key parameters used in your scenarios. This template is used by LEAP to let you quickly review the key parameters of existing scenarios of quickly specify a new set of parameters for a new scenario. You can specify any number of key parameters in a scenario template as well as constraints on the maximum and minimum value of each parameter.
New Excel Import/Export Feature: Two new menu options allow you to import and export large amounts of data between LEAP and Excel. The export option exports all of the data describing a single variable for a given scenario across all branches of the tree into a standard format "template" spreadsheet in Excel . The expressions used in LEAP are converted into year by year values, each of which are placed into an Excel cell. The import option performs the reverse operation. It takes the data from an Excel "template" spreadsheet and generates interpolation or step expressions to match in a LEAP scenario.
Downloading Areas From The Internet: An extended Open Area option now allows those with an Internet connection to automatically download and open additional example data sets stored on SEI's FTP server. To use this feature, first make sure you have a live Internet connection, then select Area: Open and choose Download from Internet. LEAP will contact the SEI web site and obtain a list of available Areas, from which you can choose one to download. Downloading each data set will take a few minutes. We are in the process of creating a range of different examples, so this feature will give access to an increasing number of Areas over time.
Improved Reporting: In the Results view, charts and tables can now be displayed showing year-on-year differences in values, or indexed values normalized to Current Accounts values (base year=1). Percentage values can now be shown in both charts and tables. Results can also now be grouped to aggregate smaller value items. This can be useful when there are so many items that the chart legend would otherwise be too tall to fit on screen. Finally, multiple pollutants can now be displayed on screen simultaneously as indexed or growth rate values.
Improved Expressions: In previous versions of LEAP, expressions could include logical tests using logical functions (lessthan, greaterthan, and, not, etc.). However the nomenclature of these functions made them difficult to write and understand. For example to test if one value was less than another you had to write: LessThan(VariableOne, VariableTwo). The new version of LEAP now supports these tests using standard mathematical operators "<, <=, = , <>, >, >=". So you can now write VariableOne < VariableTwo. LEAP also supports use of the keywords AND, OR and NOT as standard operators. In addition, two new functions True and False have been added which return values one and zero respectively. These changes are intended to help you write simpler and more readable expressions. The older format of logical functions has been retained for backwards compatibility, with the exception of the OR, AND and NOT functions which have been renamed fnOr, fnAnd and fnNOT. These functions will automatically be renamed when opening older data sets.
Improved Printing of Tree and Expressions: the option to print expressions has been improved and merged with the option to print the tree structure. You can now print out the tree structure, including the branch icons and all expressions for either the current variable or for all variables for the current scenario. The new option will also display the units for each variable. The print preview gives the option of printing a report, exporting it to Excel or Word or the Windows clipboard or saving it to file in a variety of standard file formats (RTF, TXT, CSV, XLS).
Improved Summary Reports: Summaries reports can now be displayed as charts. Previously they could only be viewed as tables.
Improved Time-Series Wizard: The linear and exponential forecast methods now have the option to force the estimated regression through the known base year value. Two new corresponding functions have been introduced.
Improved Links to Excel: When linking your LEAP data to Excel, the specified Excel ranges can now be specified as either 2 columns x many rows or 2 rows x many columns. Previously the data had to be arranged as columns of data (years and values).
Branch Locking: The new lock button () on the tree menu is used to lock or unlock a branch and optionally any branches below it. Once locked, a branch cannot be edited.
Calculations Optimized: Calculations are roughly three times faster than the previous version in spite of the new and more complex calculations.
Various User Interface Improvements:

Menu Change: A new "Analysis" menu has been added to reflect the new Excel Import and Excel Export functions, and to give easier access to the important Expression Builder and Time-Series Wizard options. These two options are now also accessible as buttons on Analysis View toolbar.

Demand Branch Properties screen has been reorganized to make it less confusing and to provide more guidance on the selection of different analysis methods.

Automatic Calculation: To make data entry more responsive, it is now possible to switch-off the automatic updating of charts and tables in Analysis View. To do this, select menu option: Analysis: Automatic Calculation. When automatic calculation is switched-off, you can press the F9 key to manually update charts and tables, or select menu option Analysis: Calculate Now.

Chart Legend Ordering: Charts showing branch names are now ordered in the same way as the branches in the tree. Previously, branches in charts were ordered alphabetically.

Scenario Manager: Scenarios can now be selected within the scenario manager. When exiting the scenario manager, the scenario selection in the analysis view will also change.

Data Entry Tables now use an indicator in the left hand column corresponding to the item on the tree that is highlighted, making it easier to understand the relationship between data shown in the grid and the tree.

Smarter Help in Expression Builder: The Expression Builder now shows a page of help for the first function used in an expression.

Reset to Inherited pop-up menu options makes it easier to reset an expression to the expression entered in the parent scenario (or Current Accounts).

Easier Reordering of Branches: two new buttons let you reorder branches, moving them up and down one branch at a time. Previously, reordering required dragging and dropping of branches.

Automatic Splitter Resizing: to maximize size of charts and tables in Analysis View.

"Hot Spot" buttons on splitters so that panels can be quickly hidden: particularly useful when working on low resolution screens.

2000.0076: 03/08/02

Growth Function Extended so it can now accept 4 or 5 different growth periods. Previously it was limited to a maximum of 3 periods.

2000.0075: 03/04/02

Default Fuels Database Expanded to include additional fuels (methanol, CNG and propane). Data and notes also updated for ethanol and hydrogen.

2000.0073: 02/19/02

Improvements to Iterative Calculations: You can now customize the criteria for detecting convergence of Transformation Calculations on the General:Basic Parameters screen. Diagnostic messages for iterative calculations have also been improved to show scaled values.
New Tip of the Day feature. LEAP will now optionally show you a short usage tip each time you start. You can then navigate backward and forward through other tips. In addition, you can get a tip at any time by selecting Help:Show Tip. Currently, there are about 50 tips. Please email Charlie if you have any tips on using LEAP you would like to share with other users.

2000.0070: 02/12/02

Password Protection: You can now specify a password to prevent an area from being opened and/or edited. Passwords can be added to existing areas using the Manage Areas option, or they can be specified when creating new areas. Areas that have edit protection can still be opened, but changes cannot be saved.
Manage Areas Screen Redesigned to include additional information about areas including the user names of those who created the area and most recently saved data and the date when the area was last saved and last backed-up. In addition, the screen displays information on the password protection status of each area.
New Log in option on the Area menu, can be used to log in to the current area. The option is only enabled for password-protected areas in cases where the user has not already entered the password.
Diagnostics Improved: Because of LEAP's demand-driven calculations, the data specified in the Base Year Outputs tab, may not exactly equal the calculated outputs of a process. This can be due to problems in demand or transformation data. LEAP now generates a new warning diagnostic message whenever the data you enter differs from the calculated value by more than 2%. For more information on resolving such errors, refer to Base Year Outputs.

2000.0065: 01/22/02

Printing/Copying/Exporting of Charts to PowerPoint improved. A new Chart Options dialog box gives you the chance to review the text, fonts and visibility of a chart's title, subtitle, and axis labels, as well as the visibility and font of the legend. Scaling of charts has also been improved, leading to better looking chart printouts.
New Find Fuels option on the Tree menu (Analysis View only) lets you search the branches of the Tree for all branches consuming or producing a selected fuel. The results are shown as a list of branch names, one of which can be clicked to jump directly to that branch in the main tree display.

2000.0057: 01/11/02

Improved Error Reporting: Following a failed calculation, LEAP now gives you the opportunity to view diagnostic messages that can help to identify problems. Previously, diagnostics were only available if calculations were successful. This can be especially useful when trying to identify why iterative calculations are not converging.

2000.0054: 12/20/01

Transformation Feedstock Fuels Reorganized. These now appear as separate branches under each process under a category labeled "feedstock fuels". Fuel shares can now be specified using expressions, which allows them to vary from year to year (NB: when a process has only one feedstock fuel this share should always be 100%). In previous versions, feedstock fuel shares were static variables specified on the process properties screen. Data entered in older versions of the software will automatically be converted to the new format. In addition, unlike in previous versions, you can now specify separate environmental loadings for each feedstock fuel.
Auxiliary fuels can now be specified for Transformation processes. Auxiliary fuels are a useful of way of representing subsidiary or own-use energy consumption in a Transformation process, such as electricity used in an oil refinery or own-use of electricity in a power plant. Auxiliary fuel use is specified as energy consumed per unit of energy consumed or produced in a process. Unlike feedstock fuels, auxiliary fuels are not converted in a process, and hence their energy content is not included in how the overall energy efficiency of the process is calculated. For each auxiliary fuel you can also specify environmental effects, through links to the TED database.
Energy Flow Feedbacks: To accommodate the more complex energy supply systems that can now be designed, Transformation calculations have been improved to allow for energy systems with energy flow feedbacks. For example, an oil refinery might produce diesel for use in power generation, while the oil refinery itself might consume some of the generated electricity.

2000.0051: 12/10/01

Results View interface improved to make it more intuitive, less cluttered and more compact. Selection of scale and units is now done by clicking buttons placed directly on the chart or table axes. Also, advanced options such as cumulative values and scenario differences have been placed on a separate toolbar that is only displayed when a "More..." button is clicked. These changes were made in response to feedback from some users who indicated that the number of options in this view was rather daunting.
Denominator Variables in Results View. This allows additional reports to be created such as energy demand per dollar (of GDP), carbon emissions per capita, emissions per vehicle-mile, etc. To select a denominator, click on the denominator button on the chart or table axis, you will then be asked to choose a variable to use as the denominator. Typically, you will choose one of your Driver variables. To better support this feature, you can now specify scaling factors for key variables separately from their basic unit of measurement. You may wish to edit your key variables to reflect this change for better reporting. For example, if you have a GDP key variable with unit "billion dollars" you should change the unit to dollars and select "billion" for the scaling factor. Then, when showing a result denominated by GDP (e.g., emissions per unit of GDP), LEAP will show the results as emissions per dollar rather than per billion dollars.
Links to Excel improved. Now allows Excel spreadsheets to be stored in area folder so that spreadsheets can be backed-up along with other LEAP data.

2000.0043: 11/07/2001

New Summaries View. A new summaries view supersedes (and includes) the old cost-benefit summary report. This new view lets you create and save any number of your own customized summary report tables. Each row of the table can be any combination of a tree branch and either a data or result variable. The columns of each report can be either years (for a given scenario) or scenarios (for a given year).
Revised Demand Costing Methodology: A number of users had commented that the costing methodology in earlier versions was rather obscure. Costs of Saved Energy (CSE) had to be entered using a special expression and could not be seen on screen in the Analysis view. Demand costing has now been revised, making it more transparent and at the same time more flexible. CSE can now be entered directly without the need for a complex expression. A new screen display lets users pick the units and the baseline scenario against which a CSE value is to be measured. In addition, two new costing options have been added: (1) costs per device sold (based on the stock turnover data described above); and (2) total costs.
Non-Energy Sector Effects: While its focus remains the energy sector, LEAP now optionally lets you create inventories and scenarios for non-energy related effects. Typically you can use this feature for including inventories and scenarios of non-energy sector greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as a complement to the analysis of energy sector greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation measures conducted in the other parts of LEAP.
Lagged Results Variables in Expressions: Expressions in previous versions of LEAP could only reference the value of other data variables. You could not reference calculated results. So for example, electricity demand could be a function of an (exogenous) fuel price variable, but fuel price could not be a function of how much electricity is generated or what power plants are built. This new version introduces the ability to reference lagged result variables, giving you the ability to introduce these kinds of relationships.
Printing of Charts/Tables etc.: a new printing system has been introduced for previewing and printing charts, tables, the RES diagram and the LEAP and TED tree structures.
Export Reports to PowerPoint Slides: Charts, and the Diagram View can now be sent to a PowerPoint slide with a single click of a button.
Improved Diagram View: The diagram view is now automatically sized to best fit the screen. It can also now be printed and exported to PowerPoint. Copying of the diagram to the Windows clipboard has also been improved.

2000.0040: 8/30/2001

Energy Demand in Primary or Final Equivalent Units: When displaying energy demand results, a new checkbox allows you to display fuels in either final or primary energy units. This has been added at the suggestion of researchers at the U.S. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory China Energy Group who suggest that electricity consumption should always be displayed in terms of the equivalent amount of primary energy required to produce it. When displaying in primary energy units, LEAP uses a special set of conversion efficiencies that can be edited in the Fuels database. These values do NOT automatically reflect the actual generation, transmission and distribution efficiency of your LEAP scenarios, so you may want to edit the default value to reflect the average efficiency in your Area.
Insert Branches from Folder: This feature now requires you to map scenario and fuel lists created in separate sectors into a common overall set of scenarios/fuels. Now also optionally imports Key Variables data and properly updates branch references in expressions.
Improved Handling of Errors in Expressions: When a branch referred to by an expression in another branch is deleted. The expression will now appear with the word "!ERROR!" in the expression (similar to how Excel handles references to deleted cells). Also, this error is now properly trapped and reported when calculating LEAP.

2000.0038: 8/17/2001

Useful Energy Results in Results View: Use this feature with care: at higher branch levels: useful energy results only show sum of branches at which useful energy analysis has been specified. Results can be misleading in data sets where most branches are analyzed using final energy intensities.

2000.0037: 8/14/2001

Parts of an Analysis can be Disabled to Reduce Calculation Time: Go to General: Basic Parameters: Scope to optionally disable Transformation & Resources, Stock Changes & Statistical Differences, Costs, and Environmental Loadings. Disabling an option does NOT delete any data, but simply hides the relevant data entry and reporting screens and reduces the scope of calculations. If you are initially concentrating on demand, disabling all these components will reduce calculation times by about 2/3.

2000.0031: 7/5/2001

Base year statistical differences and stock changes. New checkbox on basic parameters screen invokes use of base year stock changes and statistical differences. Each appears as a new top-level category in the tree, subdivided into primary and secondary fuels. Below that, one branch is shown for each fuel. List of fuels is automatically updated to reflect fuels used in your system. Results appear in the energy balance.

2000.0027: 6/05/2001

What's this? help added to main screen - makes it easier to get help on a particular part of the screen.
New "Self-sufficiency" result variable showing percentage of resource requirements met by indigenously produced resources.

2000.0026: 6/04/2001

Multi-level results reports can now be grouped by name of bottom level - e.g. lets you see totals for cooking, heating, lighting, summed across multiple subsectors. Use the "levels" spin control in combination with the "Group branches" check box.

2000.0023: 5/31/2001

Improved Diagnostics: During calculations LEAP looks for common errors such as (a) whether all fuels in your demand analysis are produced by your Transformation analysis; (b) whether Transformation is producing fuels for which there are no requirements, (c) whether Transformation modules are incorrectly ordered (e.g. if Transmission & Distribution is placed below Electric Generation), and (d) whether Demand branches are not fully defined.
Improved TED Data Entry: Environmental Effects can now be converted into other units on the Environmental Loading Factors screen (e.g. convert from kg/TJ of coal to lb/mmBTU of coal to kg/GWhr of electricity). For road vehicles also lets you convert from effects per unit of energy to effects per unit of distance traveled (e.g. from kg/liter to kg/veh-km).
Improved Overviews: including new Overview Manager to simplify selection of "favorite" charts for display in Overviews.
Resource Analysis: added new variable to reflect accessibility of biomass resources.

2000.0020: 5/07/2001

Chart series can now be clicked on and off using check boxes in the chart legend.
Additional chart types: grouped bar and column charts.
Improved energy balance charts so now displayed as a single chart: refresh is now much faster and can now be copied to clipboard and printed.
Favorites feature enhanced to make saving and updating of favorites easier (remembers last favorite name).
Improved chart axis formatting to remove unwanted decimals, and to split long labels over 2 lines.

2000.0015: 3/27/2001

Calculation Speed: Now between 2 and 3 times faster (vs. 2000.014) - more when using larger number of scenarios.

2000.0014: 3/16/2001

Made more robust in cases where system closed down improperly. After improper close-down, LEAP now prompts you to select area to open.

2000.0012: 02/26/2001

What's New? help added. Shows what has changed in recent updates (i.e. displays this text file).
Variable O&M costs can now be specified per unit of energy consumed or produced.

2000.009: 02/07/2001

Energy units can be selected on energy intensity, and other energy denominated data charts.
Energy balance can now be viewed with years as columns.
Improvements to tables - now only shows row/column sums where appropriate, and allows copying to clipboard and selection of fonts.

2000.006: 01/24/2001

First full release version.

Note: The above list has been edited to reduce its length, by removing older bug fixes and minor cosmetic changes. All changes are cumulative. Not all versions were widely distributed.

What's New