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 …

Lessons from the Nuclear Waste Negotiator Era of the 1990s for Today’s Consent-Based Siting Efforts

This report, part of a series of publications on nuclear waste policy at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, reveals lessons learned from the experiences of the two prior negotiators that could benefit a recent, congressionally directed effort at the Department of Energy (DOE) to begin a “consent-based” siting program for nuclear waste. Those individuals were authorized to negotiate terms and conditions—including financial and institutional arrangements—with a state or tribe in a written agreement that would then have to be approved by Congress. Importantly, a state or tribe was assured it could explore the potential of …

Fact Sheet: Green Hydrogen’s Impact on Water Supplies

Clean hydrogen has received a lot of interest for its potential use as a tool for decarbonization but has also prompted a lot of concerns. Hydrogen production and use can have serious consequences on water supplies, particularly in areas already facing water scarcity. The production of green hydrogen, as well as certain end uses, can be very water intensive. This 3-page fact sheet outlines green hydrogen’s impact on water supplies.…

China Steel Case Study

RMI collaborated with the China Automotive Technology and Research Center (hereinafter referred to as “CATARC”) to launch a nine-month pilot project calculating the carbon footprints of steel products used by four major automotive manufacturers in China. The pilot utilized the methodology introduced by RMI’s Steel GHG Emissions Reporting Guidance (hereafter “Steel Guidance”). Eight companies participated, including the steel enterprises Baosteel, Angang, HBIS, and Baotou Steel, which account for ~12% of the world’s steel supply. Four automobile enterprises, Volvo, NIO, Dongfeng Nissan, and one unnamed manufacturer also participated as downstream buyers and data receivers.

RMI developed an Excel calculation tool for …

Air Quality Life Index Colombia Fact Sheet

Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) in 2022 shortens the average Colombian resident’s life expectancy by 1.1 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organisation (WHO) guideline of 5 µg/m³ was met. Colombia is the eighth most polluted country in Latin America¹ —with air pollution shortening lives by as many as 2.8 years in the country’s most polluted regions.…

Air Quality Life Index Thailand Fact Sheet

Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) shortens the average Thai resident’s life expectancy by 1.6 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 µg/m³ were met. In the most polluted parts of the country, such as parts of the Saraburi, Chiang Rai, and Phayao provinces, pollution is shortening people’s life expectancy by more than 2.5 years.…

Air Quality Life Index Democratic Republic of the Congo Fact Sheet

Fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) shortens the average Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) resident’s life
expectancy by 2.9 years, relative to what it would be if the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline of 5 µg/m³ was
met. DRC is the most polluted country in the African continent—with pollution shortening people’s life expectancy by
as much as 4.4 years in the country’s most polluted regions.…

Energy After Fire: The Shift From Primitive Heat to Modern Work

Our energy system is stuck in the past. Fire has been our primary source of energy for over a million years, providing the essential heat needed to survive. This reliance on fire made sense when our principal energy needs were purely for heat. However, today’s energy demands have evolved far beyond this primal necessity. Unlike in past millennia, we now require more work than heat: we desire mobility, motors, electrical appliances, and data processing in greater quantities than we do warmth. Despite this transformation over the past century from heat demand to work demand, our fundamental energy supply methods have …

Hydrogen for Ammonia

Ammonia production is one of the main uses of hydrogen today. The Haber process reacts hydrogen with nitrogen from the air at high temperatures and pressures with a catalyst to make ammonia. Nearly 90 percent of ammonia is in turn used to make chemical fertilizers, with the remainder used to produce other compounds like explosives, plastics, and synthetic fibers. Ammonia demand may grow considerably for use as a carbon-free fuel in sectors like marine shipping. However, this overview will highlight ammonia’s use for fertilizer.…

Hydrogen for Refining

Refineries take crude oil extracted from the ground and refine it into fuels that can be used in vehicles, aircraft, and other equipment. The process of transforming and separating out other molecules also results in a variety of products that can be burned on-site for energy or sold to the chemicals industry. These petrochemicals are a small share of overall refinery output but can be a significant part of their revenue and total petrochemical output.

Refineries are one of the top consumers of hydrogen today, using it to remove sulfur from crude oil and as part of other processes like …