The Compound Benefits of Greening School Infrastructure

Across the country, more and more students are returning to their classrooms after what has been, for some, nearly a year of online learning. The school closures brought on by COVID-19 have underscored how critical the physical environment is to student well-being and educational success. And yet, for large populations of students—particularly those in communities with fewer resources and in Black, Latino, and other communities of color—going back to school means going back to broken-down facilities with poor insulation and outdated ventilation systems.

This report will review the need for federal school infrastructure funding, the benefits of both immediate and …

A National Roadmap for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings

Since Thomas Edison threw the switch at the world’s first commercial power plant in 1882 to power 400 lamps, buildings have consumed the lion’s share of U.S. electricity, and today account for three-fourths of the total and even more at peak. Yet, buildings consume power indifferent to grid conditions, blind to the high costs and threats to reliability posed by high peak demand and grid stress; inflexible to opportunities offered by variable, carbon- free renewable power sources; and senselessly missing the smart and connected technology revolution.

Grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) can remake buildings into a major new clean and flexible …

2021 Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Readiness Strategy (EVRS)

Cadmus worked with the City of Alexandria to develop its 2021 Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Readiness Strategy (EVRS) – a plan that identifies charging needs of City residents, workforce members, and visitors between today and 2040. Cadmus conducted a geospatial analysis, implemented two public engagement surveys, and forecast vehicle population and electricity load impacts. The EVRS culminates in a set of 31 detailed, evidence-based recommendations for advancing electric vehicle charging infrastructure, placing the City of Alexandria at the forefront of municipal electric vehicle planning.

The Alexandria Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Readiness Strategy (EVRS) provides a framework for advancing electric vehicle …

Climate Mayors Green and Equitable Recovery

The United States faces a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address the challenges of rebuilding economies, promoting racial justice, and reducing emissions while building for a more resilient, sustainable future. But it will take careful policy and planning to make this a reality. This Climate Mayors report, co-authored by RMI, lays out proven solutions for a green and just economic recovery in cities across the United States, while highlighting examples of local success.

Climate Mayors Green and Equitable Recovery presents key policy priorities in the mobility, buildings, and electricity sectors, as well as exploring nature-based solutions. This includes success stories from cities …

The Geopolitics of Renewable Hydrogen

The transition to a low-carbon energy system will likely shake up the geopolitical status quo that has governed global energy systems for over a century. Policymakers need to rethink the role their country could play in a new energy world.

Renewables are widely perceived as an opportunity to shatter the hegemony of fossil fuel-rich states and democratize the energy landscape. Virtually all countries have access to some renewable energy resources (especially solar and wind power) and could thus substitute foreign supply with local resources. Our research shows, however, that the role countries are likely to assume in decarbonized energy systems …

Renewable Energy Market Update: Outlook for 2021 and 2022

Renewables were the only energy source for which demand increased in 2020 despite the pandemic, while consumption of all other fuels declined. Will renewable energy source uptake therefore expand more quickly as the global economy recovers from the crisis? In exploring recent market and policy developments, the Renewable Energy Market Update forecasts new global renewable power capacity additions for 2021 and 2022. It also provides updated biofuel production forecasts for these years, as the sector suffered significant losses with declining transport demand during the pandemic.…

Reaching Climate Objectives: the Role of Carbon Dioxide Removals

This ETC Consultation Paper aims to provide a conceptual framework for assessing the role of carbon dioxide removals in meeting emissions reduction and climate objectives. The goal is to gather perspectives and insights from stakeholders in industry and the climate science community to consult on the appropriate and feasible role of carbon dioxide removal in net-zero pathways to limit warming to 1.5°C. Ultimately, it aims to inform the way net-zero targets are set by countries and corporates. One of the underlying assumptions is that emission reduction targets are essential to get to net-zero in 2050, and that carbon dioxide removals …

More than the Sun: Solar’s Digital Future

The growth in solar PV capacity needed to meet climate and clean energy targets around the world will require large increases in the annual deployment of solar plants beyond what we have observed in any market to date.This increase will be enabled, in part, by lower component costs and improved component performance. However, we need to minimize potential barriers to development, design, finance and operation of solar projects at scale to accelerate deployment. Efficient solar software and data tools, as well as enhancements in digital workflows, can further speed deployment and reduce costs across both capital expenditures and operating expenditures …

A Regulatory Framework for Autonomous Vehicle Deployment and Safety

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) promise significant improvements in safety, productivity, efficiency, equity and national security – but fully realizing these benefits hinges on safe and responsible deployment that builds public trust. Safety is therefore a critical metric of AV regulation and deployment, but in the absence of a federal framework for AVs industry has faced uncertainty as a patchwork of state regulatory approaches fill the vacuum.

SAFE, with the support of Intel Corporation, asked O. Kevin Vincent, former Chief Counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and current Associate General Counsel at Lucid Motors, to provide an overview of the …

Colorado Energy Policy Simulator Insights: Current Emissions Trajectory, 1.5°C Scenario

Research using the Colorado Energy Policy Simulator developed by Energy Innovation and RMI evaluates the state’s current climate policies, finding the state will fall short of its greenhouse gas reduction goals with emissions likely to decrease just 18 percent by 2050 unless additional policies accelerate Colorado’s clean energy transition. Implementing additional policies across the transportation, buildings, industrial, land, and agricultural sectors would put Colorado on the IPCC’s recommended pathway to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. By 2050, the policies in this package would reduce emissions more than 95 percent, create more than 36,000 job-years, and add $7.5 billion to …