Industrial Policy, Trade, and Clean Energy Supply Chains

This report is the first of two examining the potential impact of trade disputes, national security concerns, and industrial policies on clean energy supply chains. The report traces the history of clean energy manufacturing and trade over the last 15 years, focusing on solar photovoltaics (PV), wind, and lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs). It chronicles how governments helped develop these technologies, and how those actions created trade disputes, especially as China’s role in these industries expanded.…

International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure

The International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure set out ten guiding principles that policymakers can follow to help integrate sustainability into infrastructure planning and delivery. They are focused on integrated approaches and systems-level interventions that governments can make to create an enabling environment for sustainable infrastructure.

The principles are complemented by a second publication, Integrated Approaches in Action: A Companion to the International Good Practice Principles for Sustainable Infrastructure.

Together, the publications aim to inform the forthcoming wave of global infrastructure investment. Collectively, they specify and demonstrate how environmental, social and economic sustainability must be integrated right across …

Financing a Greener Planet Volume II: Bridging the Gap between Green Investment and Investors

Given the scale of the issue, Citi GPS has published Financing a Greener Planet in two volumes. This volume, Volume II — Bridging the Gap between Green Investment and Investors — is dedicated to the financial options available to close the massive climate investment gap. Volume I — Catalyzing Private Capital for a Net Zero Emissions World — focuses on the three factors which indicate we are at a tipping point on climate action — policy and regulation, innovation, and green momentum in the investor community.

This volume examines green financing options: from projects to primary and secondary markets draws …

Financing a Greener Planet Volume 1: Catalyzing Private Capital for a Net Zero Emissions World

Given the scale of the issue, Citi GPS has published Financing a Greener Planet in two volumes. This volume, Volume I — Catalyzing Private Capital for a Net Zero Emissions World — focuses on the three factors which indicate we are at a tipping point on climate action — policy and regulation, innovation, and green momentum in the investor community. Volume II — Bridging the Gap between Green Investment and Investors — is dedicated to the financial options available to close the massive climate investment gap.

Section 1: The world is reaching a green tipping point focuses on governments and …

China and the Rare Earth Supply Chain

Rare earth elements are used in the production of high tech devices such as defense equipment (e.g. radar systems and guided missiles) and energy technologies (e.g. electric vehicles and wind turbines). China dominates the supply chain of rare earth elements, having 37 percent of proven reserves, producing 63 percent of global output, and housing about 85 percent of the processing capacity. The United States is much, much more dependent upon China for the rare earth minerals necessary for renewable energy technologies than it ever was on the Middle East for oil imports. The U.S. Department of Defense is funding two …

2030 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Act Plan

The 2030 GGRA Plan sets forth a comprehensive set of measures to reduce and sequester GHGs, including investments in energy efficiency and clean and renewable energy solutions, clean transportation projects and widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and improved management of forests and farms to sequester more carbon in trees and soils. In addition to reducing GHG emissions, these measures will make our economy stronger, create thousands of Maryland jobs, and improve the health of communities throughout the state. The plan advances each of these measures with an eye toward how they can best benefit overburdened and underserved communities and address …

Climate Insights 2020: Synthesis Report

The synthesis report of the Climate Insights 2020 survey, a joint effort to examine American attitudes on climate change by researchers at Stanford University, Resources for the Future, and ReconMR, provides insight into what Americans think about climate, electric vehicles, natural disasters, and more.…

Have We Reached Peak Carbon Emissions?

Has the world reached peak carbon emissions?

Depending on how nations manage their COVID-19 stimulus plans, the answer may well be “yes.”

The thought-experiment itself is revolutionary given that up until a few months ago all we could see were a few states and countries making progress with the backdrop of a world still exponentially increasing in greenhouse gas pollution. COVID-19, of course, opens the opportunity to not only take advantage of the drop in emissions, but to #BuildBackBetter, namely with renewable energy and not fossil-fuel infrastructure.…

Assessing the Long-Term Impacts of COVID-19 on Electricity Consumption

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, sending the United States economy reeling. In 11 months, the virus has spread to every corner of the country. Public safety guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, interstate and international travel bans, and local restrictions on public gatherings have fundamentally changed the daily lives of Americans, reshaping the way we use energy. As the U.S. recovers from the pandemic, it remains to be seen which changes rebound and which leave permanent marks on the energy landscape and electricity consumption.

This report …

Clean Energy Standards: Selected Issues for the 117th Congress

For many years, policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have been of interest to Congress. Congressional and constituent interest continues in the 117th Congress. One option to reduce GHG emissions from electricity generation is a clean energy standard.

A clean energy standard (CES), sometimes called a clean electricity standard, is a policy that requires a minimum share of electricity to be generated from eligible “clean” sources. No universal definition of clean energy exists, and proposals differ in what technologies are included. Some proposals, usually referred to as a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), include only certain renewable energy sources (e.g., …