State and Utility Climate Change Targets Shift to Carbon Reductions, Technology Diversity

The last twelve months have seen a marked shift in state and utility company energy and climate policies towards ambitious carbon targets and an embrace of diverse technologies to achieve them through “Clean Electricity Standards” (or CES’s). For many years, clean electricity policies focused either on achieving targets for renewable energy through “renewable portfolio standards” or setting emissions caps. Instead, CES’s typically require an increasing percentage of zero-carbon electricity. As opposed to carbon emission limits or pricing, CES’s focus on bringing more clean energy resources to market.…

Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation: Pathways for Deep Decarbonization in California

The Energy Futures Initiative report “Optionality, Flexibility & Innovation: Pathways for Deep Decarbonization in California,’’ analyzes ways the state can meet its aggressive 2030 low-carbon energy goals and outlines the innovation agenda needed for midcentury deep decarbonization.

The report team, led by EFI founder and CEO Ernest J. Moniz, conducted a modeling-informed analysis that included a top-down assessment of California’s deep decarbonization, as well as multiple bottom-up models that approximated how various technologies can contribute to the reduction of emissions.…

The Emergence of Cost Effective Battery Storage

Energy storage will be key to overcoming the intermittency and variability of renewable energy sources. Here, we propose a metric for the cost of energy storage and for identifying optimally sized storage systems. The levelized cost of energy storage is the minimum price per kWh that a potential investor requires in order to break even over the entire lifetime of the storage facility. We forecast the dynamics of this cost metric in the context of lithium-ion batteries and demonstrate its usefulness in identifying an optimally sized battery charged by an incumbent solar PV system. Applying the model to residential solar …

Sour Wind in West Texas

Illegal air pollution from the booming oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin is causing unhealthy air pollution levels in West Texas, but the state has not installed enough air quality monitors there to protect local residents, according to a report by the Environmental Integrity Project.

EIP’s study used industry self-reported pollution data and an EPA-approved computer model to examine the impacts of unauthorized sulfur dioxide emissions in and around Ector County (which has 156,000 residents, including 117,000 in Odessa). The study demonstrates that flaring of “sour” gas is causing dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide pollution in Ector County …

2018 Annual Report

In the RFF annual report you’ll find some of the tangible impacts of our work in 2018:

We reflect on how RFF has transformed the way decisionmakers and the public think about problems—from working with NASA to identify the socioeconomic benefits of satellite technology, to developing new techniques to detect and manage the spread of invasive species.
We showcase how RFF has helped to quantify issues decisionmakers care about, including how we informed a critical ruling by federal energy regulators and evaluated landmark carbon pricing policies across the country.

Finally, we highlight the impact of bringing together policymakers and stakeholders—from …

Innovation Outlook: Smart charging for electric vehicles

Electric vehicles (EVs) hold the key to unleash synergies between clean transport and low-carbon electricity. Just as future transport must be increasingly electrified, future power systems must make maximum use of variable renewable energy sources. Smart charging for EVs minimises their load impact and unlocks the flexibility to use more solar and wind power.

This outlook from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) shows how policy and technological breakthroughs can advance the development of this key enabling technology for renewables. Through smart charging, EV batteries can help to integrate high shares of solar and wind power into existing grids, as …

Why fully liberalised electricity markets will fail to meet deep decarbonisation targets even with strong carbon pricing

Full decarbonisation of the electricity system is one of the key elements to limit global warming. As this transition takes place, the electricity system must maintain system adequacy and remain affordable to consumers. In liberalised electricity markets investors are seen as key actors driving this transition.

Due to the intermittent character of renewable assets, such as wind or solar parks, electricity systems with large shares of renewable electricity will need to become increasingly flexible. Evaluating whether specific market designs provide the right incentives to invest in flexibility, requires the simulation of realistic investor behaviour. Agent-based modelling provides the means to …

The Role of Natural Gas in the Transition to a Lower-Carbon Economy

The evolving role of natural gas continues to be at the forefront of US energy industry developments. This evolution to a lower carbon economy, including how growing renewable power generation and battery storage will affect gas-fired power generation, and the resulting effect on the utilization of midstream natural gas infrastructure is an important consideration for natural gas midstream operators and the value chain supporting the construction and operation of midstream infrastructure.

This study on the role of natural gas in the transition to a lower-carbon economy was undertaken to examine trends affecting energy use in the United States over a …

Actions to Limit Utility Costs and Rates – Annual Report to the Governor and Legislature

Public Utilities Code Section 9.13.1 mandates that investor-owned utilities study and report on measures that they recommend be undertaken to limit costs and rate increases. These submissions include a list of each utility’s proceedings before the CPUC and their expected impact on rates, as well as descriptions of each utility’s expected upcoming revenue requirements. The recommendations from the utilities are summarized below.…

Changes in Awareness of and Support for the Green New Deal: December 2018 to April 2019

From December 2018 to April 2019, public familiarity with – and support for – the Green New Deal shifted dramatically. In particular, Republicans now say they are both much more familiar with the proposal and much more opposed to it. Opposition to the Green New Deal is especially strong among those Republicans who have heard “a lot” about it. In contrast, support among Democrats has remained high regardless of how much they have heard about it. Here, we summarize this rapid political polarization on the Green New Deal and discuss how it may relate to politicized media coverage.…