Why should you try EnerMaps?
EnerMaps is designed to be user-friendly and offer direct access to the open data you need to make decisions, develop effective policies, or become informed about the energy sector.
Energy planners, energy managers, energy consultants, public administration officers, social innovation experts and data providers will each find their own way of using EnerMaps open data tool.
Two search tools will be available on one gateway:
- Searching by publications and datasets produced,
- Searching by location through an interactive map to zoom on the available data.
EnerMaps will support social innovation experts to accelerate a social change towards civil society in the energy field by providing quality energy data and insights without the need for specialised knowledge.
Different energy data will be available:
✔ data related to renewable energy data,
✔ energy efficiency data including building stock data,
✔ data related to energy consumption and production,
✔ data related to emissions and climate,
✔ research and innovation investments data.
50 datasets centralised
EnerMaps project works on 50 datasets carefully chosen for their readability and relevance to energy research.
Quality-check of the datasets
Each selected dataset is quality checked both on its technical accuracy after a thorough analysis of the dataset itself and a comparison with other similar data, as well as its ability to contribute to decision making.
Research and professionals from the field connected
EnerMaps also offers a way to connect the research community with other energy professions. Though the gateway, the research community will be able to communicate and disseminate data efficiently, based on existing large scientific repositories.
We are FAIR data
Have you heard about the FAIR data principle?
FAIR data stands for Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, and Reusable data.
Findable refers to the first step of data search and requires data to be easily found by both humans and computers.
Accessible refers to the way we can access to the data.
Interoperable refers to the way that the data communicates
with applications or workflows.
Resusable refers to the data’s ability to be be replicated and reused easily.
EnerMaps project focuses on the accessibility and the interoperability of the data from former scientific projects at the European level.
50 datasets centralised
EnerMaps project works on 50 datasets carefully chosen for their readability and relevance to energy research.
Quality-check of the datasets
Research and professionals from the field connected
EnerMaps also offers a way to connect the research community with other energy professions. Though the gateway, the research community will be able to communicate and disseminate data efficiently, based on existing large scientific repositories.
We are FAIR data
Have you heard about the FAIR data principle?
FAIR data stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable,
and Reusable data.
Findable refers to the first step of data search and requires data to be easily found by both humans and computers.
Accessible refers to the way we can access to the data.
Interoperable refers to the way that the data communicates with applications or workflows.
Resusable refers to the data’s ability to be be replicated and reused easily.
EnerMaps project focuses on the accessibility and the interoperability of the data from former scientific projects at the European level.
How to use THE EnerMaps tool?
EnerMaps team is organising during the project a serie of workshops and trainings sessions to diffuse the existence of this new open source energy tool.
During those capacity buildings activities, the “action-learning” and “train the trainer” techniques will be used.
That should stimulate a guided and integrated discussion process on the potential use and exploitation of existing open datasets for creating innovation in different target groups and civil society.
Those activities are contributing to make evolve the tool and to make sure that is created ad hoc for the end-users.
FAQ
Here you can find all that you need to know about how to interact and participate in the EnerMaps Project; if your questions remain unanswered or you have other inquiries or comments, please contact: info@enermaps.eu
What should I do to make my dataset appear in EnerMaps?
Zenodo is one of the well-known science data repositories and it is easy to add your data there. By default, the EnerMaps Gateway links all datasets which are uploaded in the Zenodo communities related to energy ; so uploading your data to Zenodo and tagging it as related to energy by registering in a community would be the easier way. You can contact us and discuss how to add your dataset.
Is it possible to interact with Enermaps data directly through the database, e.g. through API calls?
Yes, a REST API is available for expert users, providing a GeoJSON representation of the spatial datasets. For raster data, the URL to the raster file can also be obtained through the GeoJSON files.
Where can we get the API call details? Is there any document that shows the structure of the API implemented?
The use of the API is presented in the wiki.
Can data downloaded from EnerMaps be shared or re-distributed?
Yes, EnerMaps is an open data repository, meaning that all data within EnerMaps is free to use, modify, and share.
Can I find only Open Access research products in the Gateway?
No, the Gateway includes also metadata about research products under embargo, restricted, or closed.
For more, please visit: https://enermaps.openaire.eu/content
What is the advantage of using the EnerMaps Data Management tool instead of the original source data repository?
In most cases, the original data repository does not provide a preview of the dataset, but only the possibility to download it. Through the EnerMaps platform, the user can have a preview of datasets from different sources within the same online mapping platform, thus facilitating your searches.
Why has this very interesting dataset X from the Y project not been included in the EnerMaps Data Management Platform (EDMT)?
We were probably not aware of dataset X from project Y at the time that the initial selection was made. For use in the EnerMaps Data Management Tool, the datasets selected met the following conditions:
- They are distributed as open data;
- They contain spatial data;
- The original data provider does not provide a suitable online visualization platform yet.
Will the datasets in the EnerMaps Data Management tool be updated?
Yes, if the original data source provides a suitable Application Protocol Interface (API) and the dataset is likely to be updated (e.g, it is from an on-going project). The update will take place twice per year, provided that the data schema (e.g., the number of fields) did not change.
Why are some datasets only partially available through the EnerMaps platform?
The purpose of EnerMaps is not to replace the original data repository (notably Copernicus Climate Data Store or Eurostat) respectively, so we limited in some cases the granularity and spatial–temporal extents of the original datasets. For this reason, some large datasets contain only data from the latest 5 years and/or represent continental Europe only and/or with the highest available temporal granularity only (e.g., hourly).
Is it possible to download the data directly from the EnerMaps platform?
At the moment, this is not possible. However, an API is available for expert users. The data can also be obtained through the original source data repository, through the metadata listed in the OpenAIRE gateway.
Are the different knowledge products and trainings available online?
Yes, every event, conference and training is recorded and published on our website and our the EnerMaps YouTube Playlist. If you cannot attend a live event, the training is always available online.
Are different functionalities shown in different trainings?
No, although each training workshop is customised for the respective participating target group. The exercices will be focused on the key functionalities. However, all functionalities are shown and explained in each training.