Four Essential Assumptions for Future-Ready Grid Modeling

Integrated resource planning (IRP) is becoming more complex due to increasing renewable energy integration, retirements of fossil fuel plants, growing customer-sited and distributed energy resources, and impacts of climate change. Traditional grid modeling assumptions, once acceptable for modeling grids supported by centralized fossil fuel plants, are becoming outdated and risk undervaluing the role of renewables, energy storage, and demand flexibility in grid planning. This creates a challenge and opportunity for utilities, which perform grid modeling in IRP, and regulators, who are tasked with evaluating utility modeling assumptions, methodologies, and outputs. As grid dynamics evolve, accurate modeling is essential for ensuring …

The Impact of Rapid Demand Growth

New sources of clean electricity supply could theoretically meet demand growth. But there are significant constraints to building new generation resources, including an electric grid in need of upgrades and lengthy processes to complete energy projects.

Left unchecked, demand growth coupled with the constraints to adding new electricity supply could slow the transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. Using their renewable energy analytics platform, EnergyInsite, they measured and mapped electricity demand growth and supply constraints across the U.S. to identify the most acute challenges and provide utility planners and customer program leaders with practical steps to navigate the road …

Benchmarking Infrastructure Development: PPP Regulatory Landscape

Despite its intrinsic relevance and policy makers’ efforts to address the infrastructure gap, progress has been limited. A confluence of challenges from macroeconomic shocks and political instability to weak institutional capacity has hindered the capacity of countries to develop infrastructure that meets demand. Increasing efficiencies in delivering infrastructure services is at the core of addressing the gap. Numerous countries have turned to private sector participation in infrastructure development to achieve these efficiencies and catalyze private capital investments.

Although there are different modalities to procure infrastructure, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been extensively used by many countries to deliver successful programs. This …

Energy Storage Equity: An Assessment of Three Massachusetts Programs

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a national leader in clean energy policy. In recent years, it has adopted ambitious energy storage procurement targets supported by innovative policies and programs, which are entering a period of internal review. The Commonwealth also has a long-held commitment to equity in its clean energy programs.

Against this backdrop, Clean Energy Group contracted with the Applied Economics Clinic to provide an analysis of the equity provisions in three Massachusetts energy storage programs: ConnectedSolutions, the SMART solar program, and the Clean Peak Standard. The resulting analysis, Energy Storage Equity: An Assessment of Three Massachusetts Programs, concludes …

From Mines to Markets in the Middle East and Central Asia

Around the world, countries are making commitments to reduce consumption of fossil fuels to address climate change: The leaders of countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia are cognizant of these efforts, and some have plans to diversify their economies and reduce carbon emissions. Toward that end, many countries are looking to produce and procure clean energy technologies, but these technologies are reliant on critical minerals. Strategic and economic competition between the United States, Russia, and China has been the driver of many so-called de-risking policies, which aim to diversify critical mineral supply chains.

The authors of …

Research Areas for Climate Litigation

Legal action related to climate change is more relevant than ever before—and scientists have a critical role to play.

Like all cases, climate-focused litigation requires evidence. And courtroom-ready evidence requires the engagement of scientists capable of conducting and interpreting rigorous litigation-relevant research.

To advance that work, the authors interviewed 19 legal practitioners and scholars and identified eight research needs for climate litigation. Of these, we highlight three as research priorities: attribution science, climate change and health, and economic modeling. They also describe five other strategic research areas: legal and financial accountability, disinformation and greenwashing, policy and governance, environmental and social …

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge: Tracking Metrics and Mid-2024 Dashboard

Since its announcement in September 2021, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge has had a significant impact in accelerating the acceptance and growth of SAF as a primary strategy in aviation decarbonization.

Since the SAF Grand Challenge was announced, annual SAF domestic production and imports have grown from 5 million gallons in 2021 to 52 million gallons through the first six months of 2024. Fifty-two million gallons corresponds to more than 300,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions reductions.

Based on a database of active projects, between 2.6 and 4.9 billion gallons per year of SAF may be produced by …

Contaminated Excess Facilities: Use of Key Practices Would Strengthen DOE’s Disposition Planning Efforts

Effective management of DOE’s contaminated excess facilities could reduce the U.S. government’s
environmental liability, which is on GAO’s High Risk List. Deactivating and decommissioning such facilities is crucial for reducing risks and costs as the condition of facilities worsens over time. Since 2016, DOE has been required by statute to regularly plan for deactivating and decommissioning contaminated excess facilities.

Senate Report 118-58 includes a provision for GAO to evaluate DOE’s efforts to develop a plan for deactivating and decommissioning contaminated excess facilities, which is due March 2025 and every 4 years afterward. GAO examined DOE’s approach to deactivating and decommissioning …

Making Decarbonization Financing Work for Homeowners and Contractors

Decarbonizing single-family homes is crucial to meeting US climate goals, as these homes account for 58 percent of the country’s building greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, high up-front costs for electrification, such as heat pump installations, present a significant barrier. In Making Decarbonization Financing Work for Homeowners and Contractors, RMI identifies five key elements that can reshape financing programs to make decarbonization more accessible and appealing to households across America. These include eliminating up-front costs, offering same-day approvals, and ensuring upgrades prioritize efficient electric alternatives over fossil fuel equipment such as gas furnaces and water heaters.

Why is this needed now? …

Building Grids Faster: The Backbone of the Energy Transition

In its Briefing Note, Building Grids Faster: the Backbone of the Energy Transition, the ETC outlines the critical role of power grids for global decarbonisation and highlights the challenges in their development. The note calls on policymakers and industry to fast-track building power grids in order to deliver the energy transition at the pace and scale required to limit warming well below 2°C.

Clean electrification is the backbone of global decarbonisation, meaning power grids, which link the generation and use of electricity, will play a central role. Under net-zero scenarios, the total length of grids must grow by over 50% …