EERAdata: Towards transparent, re-usable, and integrated data for low carbon energy research

Addressing an ever-growing graveyard of energy databases and data platforms was the starting point for developing the EERAdata project. The project gathered together researchers from different aspects of the low carbon energy transition. Despite the fact that their research areas differed, they shared the same experiences: data are not well documented, distributed across sources, come in varying formats, and are not fit for deploying automated analytical tools. Data needs to be open and FAIR - i.e. F-findable, A-accessible, I-interoperable, and R-re-usable. But why was tackling these problems important? The transition toward a sustainable energy services provision requires the integration of interdisciplinary and complex data. Moreover, only well organised data contribute to transparency and societal acceptance of the low carbon energy transition.

This project explored pathways towards a FAIR and open data ecosystem in the low carbon energy research community. The consortium developed, tested, and implemented FAIR and open data guiding principles in different use cases, which was done in a series of community workshops. The results of their community workshops fed a knowledge base, a platform with FAIRification services, and a number of papers and policy briefs.

While the idea of the high potential of reusable and machine-accessible data is spreading, researchers lack blueprints on how to actually implement them. The consortium explored use cases connected to buildings efficiency, energy communities, materials for energy, and energy policy making. One of the use cases has taken a database and made it FAIR step-by-step. It outlines how to solve practical challenges and where to find detailed information. The FAIRification workflow can be followed by others who have the same task ahead. 

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CORDIS project factsheet

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