Carbon Free Boston

The City of Boston has pledged to be carbon neutral by 2050, with interim goals of a 25 and 50 percent reduction by 2020 and 2030, respectively, relative to a 2005 baseline. As part of its mitigation effort, the City is collaborating with the Boston Green Ribbon Commission (GRC) and the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Boston University to produce a Carbon Free Boston report in 2018. This report will quantify the most effective combination of technologies and policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions across the energy, buildings, transportation, and public service sectors. Carbon Free Boston will also …

50 States of Q4 2018 Quarterly Report & 2018 Annual Review Executive Summary Solar

The purpose of this report is to provide state lawmakers and regulators, electric utilities, the solar industry, and other energy stakeholders with timely, accurate, and unbiased updates on state actions to study, adopt, implement, amend, or discontinue policies associated with distributed solar photovoltaics (PV). This report catalogs proposed and enacted legislative, regulatory policy, and rate design changes affecting the value proposition of distributed solar PV during the most recent quarter, with an emphasis on the residential sector.

The 50 States of Solar series provides regular quarterly updates of solar policy developments, keeping stakeholders informed and up to date on a …

State of Clean Energy Investment

The clean energy investment figures are built up from a proprietary database of more than 100,000 deal and project records collected and maintained by over 100 analysts and researchers based in 17 locations worldwide.

Our research stands out for its comprehensiveness, geographical reach and the level of detail with which investment transactions are tracked. This enables our team to spot and analyze energy industry trends as soon as they emerge.…

Solid Biomass Supply for Heat and Power: Technology Brief

Solid biomass from forests, farms and cities provides a major energy source for heat and power generation, potentially accounting for a fifth of global energy consumption by 2050 amid accelerated adoption of renewables. But wood and crop residues need to be collected from widely dispersed sites and stored for use at the optimal time, and at a cost-effective scale, in district-heating systems, power plants, and combined heat and power plants.

This technology brief from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) examines the multi-dimensional logistical challenges of establishing a steady supply chain for solid biomass.

In many places around the globe, …

Become a Nuclear Safety Expert

Large quantities of carbon-free electricity will be necessary if we are to have a low carbon future, and nuclear power plants reliably do this. However, many people fear nuclear power plants and radiation in general. Therefore it is important for the public and governmental leaders to understand that the radiological and economic risks to the public from nuclear power plants are extremely small and certainly far smaller than many think. There are multiple reasons for this, but one that has not received sufficient attention is the protective role of natural forces. In addition to man-made engineered safety systems, natural forces …

Emerging policy approaches to electrify ride-hailing in the United States

This briefing identifies emerging policy approaches to support the deployment of electric vehicles within ride-hailing fleets, with a focus on the United States. It discusses the adoption barriers unique to ride-hailing fleets and summarizes several policy approaches for states, cities, and utilities to accelerate the transition to electric shared mobility fleets.…

Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide

The IPCC and many scholars agree that achieving a 2 degree C climate stabilization target will be extremely challenging through mitigation efforts alone and will likely require removal of CO2 from the atmosphere at the scale of many gigatons. This number is daunting, but many approaches have been proposed for Negative Emission Technologies (NETs), including land-use techniques, re- and afforestation, bioenergy with carbon capture and sequestration and direct air capture (DAC). The technological status of DAC is very early-stage, with no significant dedicated research, development and deployment (RD&D) programs and only a handful of pilot-scale facilities currently operating.

This roadmap …

Annual Energy Outlook (AEO) Retrospective Review: Evaluation of AEO2018 and Previous Reference Case Projections

The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) produces projections of U.S. energy production, consumption, and prices each year in the Annual Energy Outlook (AEO). The AEO is produced on an alternating cycle: a full AEO (including complete documentation and a large number of alternative cases) followed by a shorter AEO (more limited documentation and only a few alternative cases). Each year that a full AEO is released, EIA also produces the AEO Retrospective Review (AEO Retrospective). The AEO Retrospective compares recent history with the Reference case projections from previous editions of the AEO. The AEO Retrospective shows the relationship between past …

INFRASTRUCTURE LOST Why America Cannot Afford To ‘Keep It In the Ground’

In recent years, anti-energy groups have rallied around a singular theme: “Keep it in the Ground.” Environmental
activists argue that many of our most reliable energy sources – coal, natural gas, and oil – should not be accessed at all, and instead be left deep underground. In support of this agenda, they are actively fighting against as many energy infrastructure and development projects as they can – pipelines and transportation networks, power plants and transmission lines, export facilities, and much more.

This campaign has significant costs: Power plants that are cancelled mean fewer job opportunities for blue collar
workers and …

The Virginia advantage The roadmap for the offshore wind supply chain in Virginia

In 2015, BVG Associates carried out a detailed review of Virginia ports and associated opportunities relating to offshore wind.

This study extends that work through the following actions:

 Review of current and projected market development

 Local engagement and development of tools, to help
build partnerships between developers and suppliers
with regional companies interested in diversifying into
offshore wind

 Port review and update

 Review of Virginia’s business climate and workforce
readiness and

 Evaluation of the strategic fit with the current and
future supply chain.…