Hydrogen Combustion in Power Plants: Costs, Risks, and Drawbacks

The sustainable production of alternative combustion fuels is at the forefront of many industry conversations around decarbonization. Green hydrogen and green ammonia are touted as potential replacements for fossil fuels, but their actual environmental benefits are questionable. This fact sheet looks at the risks of hydrogen combustion, such as nitrogen oxide and greenhouse gas emissions, intensive water use, expensive storage and transport, and its potential to increase costs for ratepayers.

Utilities in at least 18 states have built or are developing “hydrogen-ready” fossil-fuel power plants. These plants currently run on natural gas, but in the future, they could combust a …

Regulatory Perspectives on Analytical Codes and Methods for Advanced Reactors

Analytical codes and methods play a critical role in the design and safety analysis of nuclear reactors, helping to evaluate complex systems against potential severe events. This NEA report addresses the regulatory requirements for these tools and their application in reactor design and safety analysis.

Informed by a comprehensive survey of experts drawn from the NEA Working Group on the Safety of Advanced Reactors (WGSAR), the report highlights key areas such as verification, validation, and uncertainty estimation. It discusses differences in regulatory approaches, particularly in code certification and user qualifications, and the necessity for simulation tools to address Generation IV …

Advanced Dynamic Programming for Optimal Microgrid Energy Management Under RER Intermittency

This article explores energy planning and management in microgrids using Advanced Dynamic Programming (ADP) to address uncertainties in solar and wind power generation. Probability Distribution Functions (PDFs) are employed to accurately estimate the fluctuations of renewable resources, ensuring a stable and efficient energy management strategy. The proposed approach focuses on optimizing the logistical management of batteries and distributed generation, enhancing microgrid efficiency in power integration while maintaining economic feasibility. MATLAB-based simulations validate the effectiveness of this method, demonstrating key benefits such as reduced curtailment of renewable generation and improved system reliability. A major advantage of ADP is its rapid implementation, …

Leveraging Transition Pathways

Transition pathways are an essential tool for financial institutions conducting corporate transition assessments. Such pathways can contextualize the ambition and feasibility of corporate plans, identify key technologies, and more. No single pathway can answer every question a financial institution has about a client or investee. Ultimately, approaches that deploy a diverse range of complementary pathways will provide the most granular and actionable results for a corporate assessment.
Despite their value, pathways remain underutilized, due to both the complexity of selecting one from the wide range available and the resource demands of working with existing options. This paper offers a structured …

How to Fully Operationalize Article 6 of the Paris Agreement

Article 6 of the Paris Agreement introduced a framework for voluntary cooperation between countries to reduce emissions, primarily using carbon markets, but putting it into practice has been difficult. While one transfer of carbon credits between two countries has occurred and there is broad agreement on key methodologies, such as for what constitutes additionality, further action is needed to close operational, governance, and capacity gapsFor a carbon credit market to become viable and scale up, high environmental integrity and investor protection is required, which necessitates establishing enforcement authority as well as capacity building for emerging economies’ participation, among other steps.…

IEF Comparative Analysis

OPEC sees global oil demand growth of 1.3 mb/d in 2025, with OECD demand rising by 0.1 mb/d and non-OECD demand by 1.2 mb/d. In 2026, demand increases by 1.4 mb/d, split between 0.2 mb/d in the OECD and 1.2 mb/d in the non-OECD. Growth in the OECD is concentrated in the Americas, while Other Asia, China, and India drive the non-OECD expansion.

EIA projects global liquid fuels consumption to rise by 0.9 mb/d in 2025 and 1.3 mb/d in 2026, driven primarily by non-OECD countries. Non-OECD demand rises by 1.0 mb/d in 2025 and 1.1 mb/d in 2026, while …

The NEA Small Modular Reactor Dashboard

All low-carbon solutions will be required to achieve the world’s net zero targets. Nuclear energy has a role to play in meeting this need. A wave of innovation in small modular reactors (SMRs) is advancing quickly with the potential to help decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors. Progress is real and is positioned to accelerate pathways to net zero. SMRs could replace coal on-grid, fossil fuel cogeneration of heat and power for heavy industry, diesel at off-grid mines, as well as producing hydrogen and synthetic fuels.

Looking beyond technical feasibility, The NEA SMR Dashboard defines criteria for assessing real progress in six dimensions …

2025 Transportation Electrification in the Southeast Report

This year’s report provides a snapshot of the electric vehicle (EV) market at a particularly pivotal political inflection point. Produced by Atlas Public Policy in partnership with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), the report examines data from July 2024 through June 2025 for six states across the Southeast — Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — across six market indicators: manufacturing investments; anticipated jobs; EV sales; charging infrastructure deployment; utility investments; and public funding.…

Interregional Transfer Capability Study (ITCS)

The North American grid is a complex machine that has evolved over many decades and integrates a network of generation, transmission, and distribution systems across vast geographic areas. 5 As a result of the changing resource mix6 and extreme weather, interregional energy transfers play an increasingly pivotal role. More than ever, a strong, flexible, and resilient transmission system is essential for grid reliability. NERC, as the Electric Reliability Organization (ERO), remains focused on assuring reliability throughout this energy transformation. As evidenced during recent operational events, more needs to be done to support energy adequacy8 to be able to continuously meet …

National Nuclear Security Administration: Additional Steps Needed to Improve Cost Estimates for Fixed Price Subcontracts

NNSA spends millions of dollars on hundreds of construction projects each year to maintain and modernize the research and production infrastructure at its eight nuclear security enterprise sites. NNSA relies on M&O contractors at its sites to manage the day-to-day activities associated with these construction projects. For less costly projects, M&O contractors may use fixed-price subcontracts to procure the services of subcontractors.

The report accompanying the Senate bill for the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2024 includes a provision for GAO to review NNSA’s use of fixed-price construction subcontracts. This report examines (1) the extent to which M&O contractor …