Forests: Carbon Sequestration, Biomass Energy, or Both?

There is a continuing debate over the role that woody bioenergy plays in climate mitigation. This paper clarifies this controversy and illustrates the impacts of woody biomass demand on forest harvests, prices, timber management investments and intensity, forest area, and the resulting carbon balance under different climate mitigation policies. Increased bioenergy demand increases forest carbon stocks thanks to afforestation activities and more intensive management relative to a no-bioenergy case. Some natural forests, however, are converted to more intensive management, with potential biodiversity losses. Incentivizing both wood-based bioenergy and forest sequestration could increase carbon sequestration and conserve natural forests simultaneously. We …

Boom and Bust 2020: Tracking The Global Coal Plant Pipeline

For the fourth year in a row, most leading indicators of coal power capacity growth declined in 2019, including construction starts, amount of capacity permitted for construction, and amount of capacity in pre-permit development, according to the Global Coal Plant Tracker.

With climate concerns dominating headlines, builders of new coal plants face an increasingly adverse business environment, including widening restrictions by over 126 globally significant banks and insurers, as well as commitments to phase out coal and accelerate a transition to clean power by 33 national and 27 subnational governments.…

Reconsidering US Nuclear Cooperation Agreements

Despite having played a central role in the creation of the international nuclear commercial sector, today the United States is increasingly on the outside looking in when it comes to civil nuclear projects. The United States now accounts for a relatively small number of new reactor builds, both at home and abroad. There are a few rays of sunshine for the US nuclear industry, especially when it comes to new technology. In fact, many of the new reactor builds that are underway do involve US technology and intellectual property, even if others are performing the construction. To take advantage of …

Natural Gas: A Bridge To Climate Breakdown

The rush to build more than 60 gigawatts of natural gas plants and pipelines risks tens of billions in investment and a trillion dollars in consumer costs by 2030. This report outlines these evolving risks for shareholders, lays out investor strategies to accelerate the clean energy transition, and shows how clean energy cuts utility investment risks from over-reliance on natural gas while providing new growth opportunities supporting decarbonization.…

2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report

First published in 2016 and 2017 by the U.S. Department of Energy, the 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report offers unique insights into the people who meet the country’s energy needs, and identifies important trends and skill sets for the 21st Century energy workforce. It serves as an important and consistent tool for policymakers at the state and federal level, trade associations, labor unions, and other key stakeholders. The 2020 USEER includes an exclusive section on five-year trends.…

A Green Stimulus to Rebuild Our Economy: An Open Letter and Call to Action to Members of Congress

As a nation we face three con­verg­ing crises: the COVID19 pan­demic and the result­ing eco­nomic reces­sion; the cli­mate emer­gency; and extreme inequality.

Unem­ploy­ment is ris­ing at the fastest rate since the 2008 crash, and could even­tu­ally reach 20% — twice as high as the Great Reces­sion. We needimme­di­ate and sus­tained inter­ven­tion to pro­tect people’s health and eco­nomic well-​​being, with a spe­cial focus on the most vul­ner­a­ble. We must also begin plan­ning our eco­nomic recov­ery in a way that pro­tects us from the impact of cli­mate change and lifts up work­ers and front­line communities.

Many other groups are focused on the …

LEANING IN: MOVING AHEAD OF REGULATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS EMISSIONS

The natural gas industry is facing a number of headwinds. These challenges include decarbonization, electrification, and digitization. More recent pressure stems from low and volatile prices, supply gluts, heavy debt loads, and a nascent oil “war”. One of the key areas challenging the gas industry is methane and VOC emissions. The IEA reports that methane emissions from the oil and gas sector reached close to 80 million tons in 2017, or nearly 6% of global energy sector greenhouse gas emissions. To manage emissions and ensure the success of the industry, there are several emerging technologies for quantifying and identifying leaks. …

Policy Topics and Background Related to Mining on Federal Lands

The 116th Congress is considering multiple proposed changes to U.S. mineral policy. Currently certain types of mineral production on federal lands provide the federal government and some states and industries with sources of revenue, while other production does not generate similar revenue. Proposed changes to federal mineral policy could impact these revenue streams, industries, and states in a variety of ways.

The processes and requirements to mine on federal lands vary by mineral category, surface/subsurface management agencies, and estate ownership. Three main statutes create the three categories of minerals applicable to mining on federal lands. The General Mining Law of …

Motivations and Options for Deploying Hybrid Generator-Plus-Battery Projects within the Bulk Power System

Growth in U.S. utility-scale hybrid battery projects suggests potential advantages currently outweigh disadvantages. Today’s 4.6 GW of hybrid capacity is accompanied by 14.7 GW in the immediate development pipeline, and 69 GW in select interconnection queues. Analysis using wholesale market prices finds that additional revenues from adding a 4-hour battery to solar can exceed additional costs. However, realizing hybrid projects’ full value depends on nascent strategies for integrating them in current/future wholesale market design paradigms.…

A Green New Deal for City and Suburban Transportation

The transportation sector is now the largest source of carbon emissions in the U.S. To decarbonize in time to prevent the worst climate change scenarios, we need to provide Americans with better transportation options than sitting in traffic. A Green New Deal for City and Suburban Transportation, a joint report authored by TransitCenter, Transportation for America, Data for Progress and the Ian L. McHarg Center for Urbanism and Ecology, lays out federal policy recommendations for reducing emissions from the transportation sector in cities and suburbs while making communities healthier, more equitable, and prosperous.…