Financing low carbon, climate resilient infrastructure: The role of climate finance and green financial systems

Over the next 15 years (2015-2030) the world will need to build on the order of US $75-$86 trillion in infrastructure—approximately double the estimated $50 trillion stock of infrastructure. This increases to $116.55 trillion once investments in energy efficiency and primary energy are included. Around 70 percent of these infrastructure needs will be in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDCs).

Yet, approximately 70 percent of greenhouse gas GHG emissions come from infrastructure such as electricity generation, transportation, industry and buildings. Infrastructure is also central to how societies adapt to climate change. As a result, building the same infrastructure as before—high …

Risk Management in Critical Infrastructure Protection: An Introduction for State Utility Regulators

This is a paper about risk management: what it is, how regulators can use it, and how they can ask questions to explore its use by the regulated utilities and other stakeholders they interact with. Regulators are increasingly advised to rely on decisions based on risk management – that’s often good advice, but to take advantage of it, state commission officials may want to become more familiar with what risk management is and how it is employed. Many regulators are familiar and comfortable with risk-based processes and the qualitative and quantitative methods for understanding risk, but many are not. If …

Office of Energy Projects: Energy Infrastructure Update

-Transco received authorization to place into service the remaining facilities of its Leidy Southeast Expansion Project which will provide an additional 395 MMcf/d of capacity (totalling 525 MMcf/d) from receipt points in Clinton County, PA to Transco’s Station 85 Pooling Point in Choctaw County, AL.
-Transwestern received authorization to place into service compression facilities which will provide 22 MMcf/d of capacity in a westerly direction on its Panhandle Lateral beginning in Chaves County, NM and terminating in Hemphill County, TX.
-American Midstream received authorization to construct and operate its Natchez Pipeline Project which will provide 48.3 MMcf/d of capacity in …

Financing Change: How to Mobilize Private-Sector Financing for Sustainable Infrastructure

In 2015, an international architecture for sustainable development began to take shape. Building on the United Nations’ Financing for Development Agenda in Addis Ababa and then the formal adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in September, the year culminated in the Conference of Parties (COP) 21 in Paris. Almost 190 countries, accounting for more than 98 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions, agreed to a global climate-change strategy. Each country submitted a voluntary plan, or intended nationally determined contribution (INDC), that set out how it will move its economy onto a lower-carbon growth pathway. Signatories have agreed to update their progress in …

Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Solar Water Heaters

This guide is part of a series prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the field of quality infrastructure (QI) for small-scale renew­able energy technologies. Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Solar Water Heaters analyses the challenges and offers recommendations for developing QI for solar water heaters (SWHs), as well as highlighting the experiences of several countries in developing and implementing QI for SWHs. The SWH guide concludes by applying guidelines for incrementally developing QI to the particular case of SWH markets.…

Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Small Wind Turbines

This guide is part of a series prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the field of quality infrastructure (QI) for small-scale renew­able energy technologies. Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Small Wind Turbines analyses the challenges and offers recommendations for developing QI for small wind turbines (SWTs), as well as highlighting the experiences of several countries in developing and implementing QI for SWTs. The SWT guide concludes by applying guidelines for incrementally developing QI to the particular case of SWT markets.…

Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Guidelines for Policy Makers

This guide is part of a series prepared by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in the field of quality infrastructure (QI) for small-scale renew­able energy technologies. Quality Infrastructure for Renewable Energy Technologies: Guidelines for Policy Makers explains the essential concepts, along with the benefits of developing and implementing QI, and provides guidance on how to incrementally develop QI in support of national renew­able energy technology markets.…

Ensuring New Infrastructure is Climate-Smart

About US$90 trillion in infrastructure investment is needed globally by 2030 to achieve global growth expectations, particularly in developing countries. To achieve this, infrastructure investment needs to be both scaled up, and, due to climate risk, integrate climate objectives.

Infrastructure investment has become a core focus of international economic cooperation through the G20 and also for established and new development finance institutions. Integrating climate objectives into infrastructure decisions will increase resilience to climate change impacts1, avoid locking in carbon-intensive and polluting investments, and bring multiple additional benefits, such as cleaner air and lower traffic congestion. Shifting to low-carbon infrastructure could …

Impacts of the Clean Power Plan on U.S. Natural Gas Markets and Pipeline Infrastructure

The AEE Institute contracted with ICF International to perform an assessment of the potential impacts of the EPA Clean Power Plan (CPP) on required gas pipeline capacity. This report responds to concerns raised by some stakeholders, including the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC), that states might rely heavily on natural gas generation for compliance with the CPP, creating stress on gas pipeline capacity and ultimately impacting electric system reliability. These parties have suggested that addressing the concerns might require expensive expansion of natural gas infrastructure over a challenging timeframe.

Using assumptions provided by the AEE Institute, ICF International modeled …

Critical Infrastructure Readiness Report: Holding the Line Against Cyberthreats

Technology and security professionals in North America and Europe profess a great deal of confidence in their cyberdefenses, despite the current spate of high-profile breaches worldwide, according to a new survey made possible by the Aspen Institute Homeland Security Program and Intel Security in advance of the 2015 Aspen Security Forum.

According to McAfee® Labs reports, critical infrastructure organizations are under constant cyberattack, yet no publicly apparent, massive outage has occurred so far. Energy producers, financial services, transportation companies, telecommunications companies, and governments are all potential targets. This report looks at the challenges facing these critical infrastructure organizations in France, …