How Data Centers Can Set the Stage for Larger Loads to Come

Many utilities are turning to gas as a solution to address load growth, reporting to add 16.9 GW of new gas generation between 2023 and 2027. However, they have other options. Data center load growth could exceed $100 billion in annual investment directed toward the energy system; this can influence the types of generation, siting decisions, and cost allocations that will be used to meet it. Data centers can help reshape the energy landscape and set a precedent for larger loads to come from electric vehicles (EVs), onshoring industry, manufacturing, and building electrification.
Data centers, due to their growing power …

Transmission Pricing Methodologies for use in the Pan-Arab Electricity Market

The World Bank has engaged with the League of Arab States (LAS) to support establishing the envisaged Pan-Arab Electricity Market (PAEM) and enhance the enabling environment for advancement of trade in the region. Until now, cross-border electricity trade among the countries in the Pan Arab region has been limited, and only 5 to 7 percent of cross-border interconnection capacity is utilized.

Electricity trade in the Pan-Arab region is generally negotiated between governments on a country-to-country basis. Transmission pricing is for the most part ignored, except in cases when third-party transit/ wheeling is involved, like Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. …

Energy Transition Outlook: China 2024

China currently finds itself in a transitional space in terms of its energy profile. It is by far the largest consumer of coal globally at over 50% of worldwide consumption, yet it is also by far the leading installer of renewable capacity. Over the next three decades, renewables will largely replace coal in China’s power mix, helping to elevate it to the top rank of regions in terms of the non-fossil share of its power mix.
The central government sets China’s policy direction and goals and has the power to ensure the party line is upheld, but relies heavily on …

Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Offshore Wind

The U.S. offshore wind (OSW) market is at an inflection point. Offshore wind can deliver tens of gigawatts (GWs) of clean power to East Coast load within this decade, with approximately 250 MW operational, 5 GW under construction, and over 10 GW total approved for construction as of April 2024. In the next few years, an additional 5-10 GW of projects have a path to reach Final Investment Decision (FID) and begin construction. These early mover investments in enabling infrastructure, continued procurement commitments, and experience deploying projects over the next few years will demonstrate and foster the long-term deployment of …

2023 Project Peer Review Report: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office

The Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) within the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy supports the research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of technologies aimed at mobilizing domestic renewable carbon resources for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions across the U.S. economy. BETO systematically prioritizes RD&D into technology opportunities across a range of emerging scientific breakthroughs and technology readiness levels in the subprogram areas illustrated in Figure 1. This approach supports a diverse portfolio while developing the most promising and widely applicable technologies, testing technologies as integrated processes, and demonstrating integrated processes to support scale-up. These technologies …

Assessing Global Urban CO2 Removal

With the aim of supporting the path to achieving net-zero emissions in cities, this report assesses the existing literature on carbon dioxide removal (CDR) at the urban scale, seeking to quantify the potential negative emissions contribution of cities globally. Urban CDR options considered here include the storage of carbon in urban vegetation, soils and buildings, and the capture of CO2 from indoor environments via decentralized direct air capture. Their estimates of carbon storage and capture potentials indicate that deploying CDR options at the urban scale could make a substantial contribution to global mitigation of climate change, alongside supporting the upscaling …

Clean Energy Standards: Securing the Future of the Electric Power Sector

Innovation and deployment incentives are essential for cost-effective decarbonization of the electric power sector—but are they sufficient? Will the combination of clean energy tax credits and Environmental Protection Agency regulations be sufficient to structure a successful energy transition? No, argues EIRP’s chief executive officer, Samuel Thernstrom, in this white paper.

EPA’s Clean Air Act authority is weak and contested, and tax credits can make it economical to build new clean generation but cannot eliminate emissions from the existing fleet. Innovation creates the opportunity for low-cost emissions reductions but a well-designed regulatory framework such as a clean energy standard is necessary …

Clean Energy Standards: Securing the Future of the Electric Power Sector

Innovation and deployment incentives are essential for cost-effective decarbonization of the electric power sector—but are they sufficient? Will the combination of clean energy tax credits and Environmental Protection Agency regulations be sufficient to structure a successful energy transition? No, argues EIRP’s chief executive officer, Samuel Thernstrom, in this white paper.

EPA’s Clean Air Act authority is weak and contested, and tax credits can make it economical to build new clean generation but cannot eliminate emissions from the existing fleet. Innovation creates the opportunity for low-cost emissions reductions but a well-designed regulatory framework such as a clean energy standard is necessary …

Evaluating Community Solar as a Measure to Promote Equitable Clean Energy Access

Rooftop and community solar are alternative product classes for residential solar in the United States. Community solar, where multiple households buy solar from shared systems, could make solar more accessible by reducing initial costs and removing adoption barriers for renters and multifamily building occupants. Here we test whether community solar has expanded solar access in the United States. On the basis of a sample of 11 states, the authors find that community solar adopters are about 6.1 times more likely to live in multifamily buildings than rooftop solar adopters, 4.4 times more likely to rent and earn 23% less annual …

What Do National Hydrogen Strategies Tell Us About Potential Future Trade?

As of April 2024, 58 national hydrogen strategies and roadmaps have been published, while many other countries have mentioned targets. A few strategies (Germany, France, Japan) have already been updated. Most strategies position their country in terms of future trade, including whether the nation is seeking importer or exporter status, the trade medium (whether the product imported or exported will be in the form of hydrogen or a hydrogen derivative), and the value, ranking, or economic benefits the nations expect to achieve. This piece is a comparative analysis of the strategies published, focused on these trade-related aspects. It utilizes CGEP’s …