Model configuration

This page describes the environment variables used to configure the model. The configuration of the ebm and ebmgeodist modules is controlled through a set of environment variables. These variables define model execution settings, logging configuration, input and output paths, and other parameters. They can be provided either via the system environment or through a local .env file in the working directory. Unless specified otherwise, the variables are optional and have default values. However, the ebmgeodist module requires additional variables to be set, as described below.

General environment variables

The following environment variables are common for both the ebm and ebmgeodist modules:

General environment variables
Variable	Description	Type	Default
`DEBUG`	Enable debug mode which provides more detailed logging information	Boolean	False
`LOG_FORMAT`	Defines the format for log messages	String	{level.icon} <level>{message}</level>
`EBM_INPUT_DIRECTORY`	Specifies the default directory for input files.	string	‘./input’
`EBM_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY`	Specifies the default directory for output files.	string	‘./output’
`EBM_DEFAULT_INPUT`	Defines the default input file or dataset.	string	None
`EBM_ALWAYS_OPEN`	Automatically opens output files or results after processing.	Boolean	False

EBM geographical distribution specific environment variables

The ebmgeodist extends the ebm module by adding functionality for distributing energy use forecasts at the municipality level. It requires one additional configuration variable related to the container and storage account parameters of the ELhub API.

EBM geographical distribution specific environment variables
Variable	Description	Type	Default
`EBM_GEODIST_ELHUB_CREDENTIALS`	Specifies the location of the ELHUB API credentials for the `ebmgeodist` module.	string	None

Example of a .env file

An example of a .env configuration file is shown below:

# General EBM settings
DEBUG=false
LOG_FORMAT="<green>{time:HH:mm:ss.SSS}</green> | <blue>{elapsed}</blue> | <level>{level: <8}</level> | <cyan>{function: <20}</cyan>:<cyan>{line: <3}</cyan> - <level>{message}</level>"
EBM_INPUT_DIRECTORY=/data/ebm/input
EBM_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY=/data/ebm/output
EBM_DEFAULT_INPUT=baseline_input.csv
EBM_ALWAYS_OPEN=false

# EBMGeoDist module
EBM_GEODIST_ELHUB_LOCATION=/data/elhub/elhub_data.parquet

Note

The variables are case-sensitive and should be defined in uppercase letters as shown.
If a variable is not set, the model will use the default value specified in the tables above.
Ensure that the paths provided for input and output directories exist and are accessible by the model.
The Elhub dataset path must point to a valid Parquet file containing the necessary data for calculating distribution keys.
The logging format used by the EBM and EBMGeoDist modules is based on the Loguru logging framework.
The LOG_FORMAT environment variable allows customization of how log messages are rendered in the console, including timestamps, elapsed time, log level, function name, line number, and message content.

Last Updated on 2025-11-06.

Version: 1.0.1.