From Wildfire to Wealth: Growing Resilient Forest Economies in Colorado’s Wildfire-Prone Communities

Colorado is facing more frequent wildfires, a shortage of affordable housing, and limited high-quality job opportunities in rural areas. Businesses that process small-diameter trees (9 inches or less) from wildfire mitigation efforts into mass timber, a class of high performance wood building products, could help tackle these issues while also reducing carbon emissions from the construction sector, which is the state’s third-largest source of pollution.

Challenges to developing a mass timber industry in Colorado include supply uncertainties from federally managed forests and a limited logging and milling infrastructure. However, growing demand for sustainable building materials and updated building codes present …

2025 Commodities Outlook: Power, Metals, Policy Shaping the Future of AI Revolution’s Foundation

The exponential growth of AI has the US energy sector scrambling to respond to historic demand for power from datacenter operators as they add new capacity to support intensifying workloads. Meeting this demand will require a multipronged approach, including upgrading and expanding the aging transmission infrastructure, increasing electricity generation via renewables and reimaging nuclear and fossil fuel power plants.

This will likely lead state policymakers to reassess their approach to decarbonization and clean energy efforts. Adding to this, the US will need to quickly join the international race to secure reliable supplies of critical minerals needed for datacenter expansion and …

Department of Energy Research, Technology, and Economic Security Framework for Financial Assistance and Loan Activities

America’s leadership in science and technology (S&T) is underpinned by the unique
strengths of our open scientific enterprise. As a democratic Nation, our ability to maintain scientific and technological standing is dependent on not only preserving but promoting the openness of our scientific ecosystem. In addition, promoting international collaboration is crucial to maintaining U.S. S&T competitiveness and leadership capabilities. We are an open and innovative society and that is a key driver in what attracts the best scientific talent from across the globe to our country.

At the same time, the actions of certain foreign governments pose unacceptable risks to …

The Impact of China-US Technological Innovation, Transportation, and Power Generation on Energy, Environment, and Economic Growth Sustainability

China and the United States have the highest demand for fossil fuel energy for transportation and power generation, which promotes growth while also damaging the environment. Policymakers, and environmental scientists, are increasingly interested in understanding key strategies to improve energy efficiency to mitigate fossil fuel energy demand and sustain the environment and growth. In this context, this study uses augmented mean groups (AMG) and common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimators to reveal the impact of China-US technological innovation, transportation infrastructure, and power generation on fossil fuel energy demand and fossil fuel energy intensity from 1995 to 2020. Besides, the …

Transportation and Mobility Energy Demand Outlook

Transportation and mobility demand is expected to grow significantly in the coming decades, driven by multiple factors, including population and economic growth, and urbanization. Transportation can be defined as a means of moving people and goods from one place to another using various modes i.e. cars, trains, planes and ships. In contrast, Mobility refers to the ability, affordability, and accessibility of people or goods to move freely across regions and countries using various transportation options.

The demographic shift in the coming decades necessitates enhanced infrastructure development to accommodate diverse transportation options and meet the growing demand for mobility. Urbanization will …

Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report on Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem. This report describes the current state of U.S. biomanufacturing capacity and identifies key factors driving growth. Stakeholders indicated that while the United States has maintained a leadership role in biomanufacturing innovation, we still need infrastructure to scale-up technology and produce in America. The report identifies 11 actions that policymakers could consider in order to sustain the U.S. biomanufacturing capacity that has been catalyzed by the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader Investing in America agenda. This modern industrial strategy supports our climate and clean …

State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors

The materials at the bedrock of the United States’ infrastructure and economy—such as cement, iron, and steel—contribute significantly to today’s climate crisis. The industrial sector accounts for nearly one-third of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, and the manufacturing of construction materials and products is responsible for 15 percent of global GHG emissions annually. Industrial facilities also emit criteria air pollutants and toxic air pollutants that present health risks for communities in the surrounding area. Rooted in the legacy of redlining, communities of color are disproportionately burdened by pollution from industrial facilities. After years of inaction, federal …

World Energy Transitions Outlook 2024

The success achieved this decade in reducing greenhouse gas emissions will determine whether global temperature rise can be limited to 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels this century. IRENA’s 1.5°C Scenario, set out in the World Energy Transitions Outlook, presents a pathway to achieve the 1.5°C target by 2050, positioning electrification and efficiency as key transition drivers, enabled by renewable energy, clean hydrogen and sustainable biomass.

The 2024 Outlook provides an overview of progress by tracking implementation and gaps across all energy sectors, and identifies priority areas and actions based on available technologies that must be realised by 2030 to achieve net …

Reimagining Utility Climate Risk Planning

Today’s grid infrastructure is underprepared for the changing trends in weather- and climate-related disasters. Between 2000-2023, extreme weather accounted for most major power outages in nearly every state. Likewise, utilities are not aligned with a transition to a net zero-carbon economy. Together, such physical climate risks (i.e., risks related to the physical impacts of climate change) and transition climate risks (i.e., risks related to the transition to a zero-carbon economy) threaten the affordability and reliability of clean electricity – the keystone of this future economy.

This insight brief explains how to integrate emerging climate risk assessment frameworks with utility planning …

“Transportation Electrification in the Southeast” Fifth Annual Report

The fifth annual “Transportation Electrification in the Southeast” report, prepared by Atlas Public Policy in partnership with Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE), analyzes the data underlying the electric vehicle (EV) market in SACE’s six-state region from July 2023 to June 2024. The data reveals a continuation of growth trends across six indicators: manufacturing investments, anticipated jobs, EV sales, charging infrastructure deployment, utility investments, and public funding.…