UKERC EDC: DC: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Home UKERC Energy Data Centre Data Catalogue FAQ

The Data Catalogue provides:

an outward-facing energy data service to the UK energy research community
datasets or pointers to data generated from any source (whether Research Council funded or third party), including national and international sources
long term data curation facilities for data generated by current and future Research Council funded projects (e.g. TSEC, Supergen, UKERC, etc.)
added value to existing data sets by, for example, establishing and supporting long-term data sets, or hosting scenario models and supporting data sets.

Acceptable Use of Data

Access to the Data Archive is provided free of charge. While the UKERC-EDC will continue to make every effort to ensure accuracy of data and description, it cannot be held responsible for any errors; any risks associated with the use of the data remain entirely the responsibility of those downloading it. Users are reminded that they should acknowledge the original data provider and the UKERC-EDC in all cases where the data is used.

Is registration necessary?

It is necessary to register with the UKERC-EDC in order to access some data sets; this is required both to inform data providers of the level of interest in their data and to allow users to be informed if the data set is updated or additional information made available. Registering to use these data sets will be taken as acceptance that the applicant’s name, institution, and e-mail address can be stored and used for these purposes

How to offer new datasets

You can offer us datasets in two ways:

Via the Submit Dataset link
By emailing the UKERC-EDC Data Manager

The EDC team have written a short guide about how data should be prepared for deposit, which gives guidance about the preferred file formats, naming conventions, preferred date/time formats, documentation required, information needed to create a metadata, and finally how data should be transmitted to the EDC. Guidance for Data Providers.

If you already have a dataset published elsewhere and would like the EDC to link to it, we would be pleased to do so if you complete our online submission form

Data Catalogue Energy classification

The Data Catalogue has a simplified version of the Energy Categories used in the rest of the UKERC Energy Data Centre.

Area	Sector
ENERGY CONSUMPTION / ENERGY EFFICIENCY	Industry
	Residential (Domestic)
	Commercial
	Transport
	Other
FOSSIL FUELS: OIL, GAS & COAL	Oil and Gas
	Oil
	Gas
	Coal
	CO2 Capture and Storage
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES	Solar Energy
	Wind Energy
	Marine Energy
	Bio-Energy
	Geothermal Energy
	Hydro Power (large)
	Hydro Power (small)
	Other Renewable
NUCLEAR FISSION and NUCLEAR FUSION	Nuclear Fission
NUCLEAR FISSION and NUCLEAR FUSION	Nuclear Fusion
HYDROGEN and FUEL CELLS	Hydrogen
HYDROGEN and FUEL CELLS	Fuel Cells
OTHER POWER and STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES	Electric Power Conversion
	Electricity Transmission & Distribution
	Energy Storage
NON-TECHNICAL ENERGY DATA	Energy Models
	Energy Economics
	Energy Surveys

Metadata Specification

All data published by the UKERC-EDC is required to have full documentation to facilitate the end-user

The minimum requirement is the Metadata description as specified below

Any other associated documentation which would help the end-user of the data should be listed under the heading “Other information” and submitted with the data.

Identifier:	Description
IDENTIFIER	An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context. Recommended best practice is to identify the resource by means of a string or number conforming to a formal identification system. Examples of formal identification systems include the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) (including the Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and the International Standard Book Number (ISBN). e.g. Identifier=”http://data.ukedc.rl.ac.uk/browse/edc/test_datasetdir_1/testfile.txt”
TYPE	The nature or genre of the content of the resource. Type includes terms describing general categories, functions, genres, or aggregation levels for content. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary (for example, the DCMIType vocabulary). To describe the physical or digital manifestation of the resource, use the FORMAT element. In our system, only two Types are used: Dataset for datasets that we are curating, and Link for datasets held elsewhere e.g. Type=”Dataset”
TITLE	The name given to the resource. Typically, a Title will be a name by which the resource is formally known. e.g. Title=”UK Appliance Energy Efficiency Ratings”
DESCRIPTION	An account of the content of the resource. Description may include but is not limited to: an abstract, table of contents, reference to a graphical representation of content or a free-text account of the content. e.g. Description=”Table of (domestic) appliance type with minimum, maximum, and typical energy efficiency ratings”
DOI	Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned by a registration agency (the International DOI Foundation) to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet. If requested, we can mint DOIs for the datasets that we curate. e.g. DOI=”10.5286/UKERC.EDC.000002”
CREATOR	An entity primarily responsible for making the content of the resource. Examples of a Creator include a person, an organization, or a service. Typically the name of the Creator should be used to indicate the entity. e.g. Creator=”Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford”
PUBLISHER	The entity responsible for making the resource available. Examples of a Publisher include a person, an organization, or a service. Typically, the name of a Publisher should be used to indicate the entity. e.g. Publisher=”UK Energy Research Centre”
RIGHTS	Information about rights held in and over the resource. Typically a Rights element will contain a rights management statement for the resource, or reference a service providing such information. Rights information often encompasses Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Copyright, and various Property Rights. If the rights element is absent, no assumptions can be made about the status of these and other rights with respect to the resource. e.g. Rights=”Access limited to registered users”
ENERGY DATA CATEGORY	Classification by UKERC UK Energy Data Centre Energy Classification, based on the IEA R&D nomenclature at Area and Sector level. These are listed in the previous section of this FAQ.
SECTOR	This is the broad area of application of the dataset. e.g. Sector=“Commercial”
COVERAGE	The extent or scope of the content of the resource. Coverage will typically include spatial location (a place name or geographic co-ordinates), temporal period (a period label, date, or date range) or jurisdiction (such as a named administrative entity). In our system, we have split this into Geographic and Time Coverage e.g. Coverage=“2004-2005”; Coverage=“United Kingdom” In our system, we have separated Geographic Coverage from Tme Coverage e.g. Geographic Coverage = “United Kingdom”
FORMAT	The physical or digital manifestation of the resource. Typically, Format may include the media-type or dimensions of the resource. Examples of dimensions include size and duration. Format may be used to determine the software, hardware or other equipment needed to display or operate the resource. e.g. Format=”image/gif”; Format=”application/Excel”
LANGUAGE	A language of the intellectual content of the resource. e.g. Language=”English”
DATA TYPE	Type of data such as time series; spatial distribution; technical specification e.g. Data Type = “Aggregated”
PARAMETER NAMES	List of parameters measured in the dataset, and their units. e.g. Timestamp(MATLAB days)(Timestamp) Velocity Profile from Beam 1(m/s)(B1) Velocity Profile from Beam 2(m/s)(B2) Velocity Profile from Beam 3(m/s)(B3) Velocity Profile from Beam 4(m/s) (B4) Velocity Profile in instrument streamwise co-ordinates(m/s) (X) Velocity Profile in instrument transverse coordinates(m/s)(Y) Velocity Profile in instrument vertical co-ordinates(m/s)(Z) Amplitude Return Profile from Beam 1(counts) (Amp1) Amplitude Return Profile from Beam2(counts)(Amp2) Amplitude Return Profile from Beam 3(counts)(Amp3) Amplitude Return Profile from Beam4(counts) (Amp4) Instrument Heading(degrees)(Heading) Instrument Pitch(degrees)(Pitch) Instrument Roll(degrees) (Roll) Instrument Depth from Pressure Gauge(m)(pressure)
UNITS	The granularity of measurement e.g. Units = “household”
NUMBER OF UNITS	How many units are covered by this datase e.g. Number of Units = “5” meaning 5 households
NUMBER OF RECORDS	How many records the dataset contains. This can be an approximation to give an idea of scale e.g. Number of Records = “500K” for about 500,000 records
RELATED DATA	Links to Metadata sheets or external reports for related information (e.g. list of other appliance types, device specification, stock information, etc.) e.g. Related Datasets = “CSE's rural fuel poverty website ( www.ruralfuelpoverty.org.uk) is no longer being updated but still contains useful information and data. It focuses on rural fuel poverty particularly in relation to 'hard-to-treat' homes and includes downloadable maps and data. ”
OTHER INFORMATION	Other useful information about the dataset e.g “In March 2008, this gas consumption dataset gained National Statistics status. This status applies to all data from 2005 onwards. Please note that the 2004 data are still classed as experimental. Gas consumption statistics for 2004 (experimental), and 2005 to 2014 (National Statistics) are available below. Included in the dataset are estimates of: sub-national gas sales for all MPRN s in Great Britain number of gas meters in Great Britain domestic gas sales and meter numbers non-domestic gas sales and meter numbers average domestic consumption per meter (at a regional level) average non-domestic consumption per meter (at a regional level)”
SUBJECT	The topic of the content of the resource. Typically, a Subject will be expressed as keywords or key phrases or classification codes that describe the topic of the resource. Recommended best practice is to select a value from a controlled vocabulary or formal classification scheme. e.g. Subject=”Energy efficiency ratings”

Definitions and abbreviations

Metadata	Metadata is the term used to describe summary information or characteristics of a set of data (i.e. the what, who, when, how, and where of the data)
BERR	Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Note this is now the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy - BEIS)
CHP	Combined Heat and Power
DDC	Dedicated Data Centre (NERC)
DfT	Department for Transport (UK)
DOE	Department of Energy (US)
DTI	Department of Trade and Industry (UK)
DUKES	Digest of United Kingdom Energy Statistics (published annually by BERR - previously DTI)
EPSRC	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
ESDS	Economic & Social Data Service
ESRC	Economic & Social Research Council
GIS	Geographic Information System
IEA	International Energy Agency
MARKAL	MARKet AL dynamic optimization model
MLSOA	Middle Layer Super Output Area
NERC	Natural Environment Research Council
NUTS	Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS). NUTS was created by the European Office for Statistics (Eurostat) as a single hierarchical classification of spatial units used for statistical production across the European Union. At the top of the hierarchy come the member states of the EU; below that are NUTS levels 1 to 5, which progress down the scale of administrative units.
O&M	Operations & Maintenance
OECD	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
ONS	Office for National Statistics
SAP	Standard Assessment Procedure (specified by UK Government) for Energy Rating of Dwellings
SUPERGEN	Sustainable Power Generation and Supply (EPSRC managed programme)
TSEC	Towards A Sustainable Energy Economy
TSGB	Transport Statistics for Great Britain (published annually by DfT)

For further detailed information about the UKERC Energy Data Centre please email Jim Halliday, Head of the Energy Research Unit, Science and Technology Facilities Council at EDCManager@stfc.ac.uk

contact us

Whilst UKERC aims to provide a comprehensive coverage of the UK energy research scene, inevitably there will be omissions and errors - we would greatly welcome suggested additions and corrections via email to EDCManager@stfc.ac.uk