Scorecard: Cities Embrace Equity Goals in Climate Efforts, but More Action Needed

Large U.S. cities are increasingly working to center racial and social equity in their climate and clean energy priorities, but there’s a significant gap in translating ambitions for equitable outcomes into specific policies and programs, according to the 2024 City Clean Energy Scorecard. The new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) ranks 75 of the largest U.S. cities on energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and identifies the best-performing cities, the most improved, and those with substantial room for improvement, with recommendations for making progress.

San Francisco topped the Scorecard for the second time and …

Decarbonize and Defossilize: Transformative Policies to Reduce Chemical Industry Carbon Emissions

The chemical manufacturing sector is the largest and most complex portion of the U.S. industrial ecosystem and is responsible for more than 30% of U.S. industrial emissions. The chemical manufacturing sector is also the industrial sector for which the least progress has been made toward setting a path to zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The chemicals sector should form the foundation of domestic industrial decarbonization policy. This paper examines whether existing domestic federal policies are sufficient to make meaningful progress toward 1) shifting chemical feedstocks to non-fossil-fuel alternatives; 2) decarbonizing the chemical manufacturing processes (primarily process heat); and 3) shifting …

Sodium ion Batteries 101

Sodium ion batteries are potentially safer, use more abundant materials than lithium ion batteries, and could become cheaper once manufacturing is scaled up. But their energy density is currently lower than lithium ion cells, limiting their uses to energy storage and certain low-range vehicles. The supply chain for sodium ion batteries also needs to be scaled up. Benchmark analysts explain the supply chain behind sodium ion batteries, and take a look at the potential applications.…

The Future of Resource Adequacy

A clean, affordable, reliable, secure, and resilient power system is a critical priority for the United States. It is essential to American households and communities, and fundamental to the nation’s economy. It is also a key national strategy to address climate change and meet our targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% – 52% from 2005 levels by 2030 and a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

The power system is at a time of rapid change. After a decade of nearly zero growth, electricity demand is increasing and is expected to accelerate over the next ten years due to …

Transforming the Way We Serve Vulnerable Communities: Performance Incentive Mechanisms and Beyond

Each year, nearly 3 million Americans have their power shut off, leaving them unable to heat and cool their homes or access essential services like the internet. Meanwhile, 1 in 7 families live in energy poverty. These families are forced to make difficult choices, often sacrificing necessities like food and medicine to keep their lights on, all while living under the constant threat of having their power shut off. Unsurprisingly, this energy affordability crisis hits low-income communities the hardest, particularly communities of color.

Compounding this issue is the difficulty these communities face in accessing clean energy technologies. Resources like energy …

A Review of Operating Experience Involving Passive Component Material Degrading in Periods of Extended and Long-Term Operation

This publication addresses trends and patterns in material degradation as a function of nuclear power plant ageing, which is a key topic in the regulation of ageing management programmes, codes and standards, reliability and integrity management, and the many supporting research programmes. It documents insights reached from operating experience involving passive metallic components in commercial nuclear power plants during periods of extended operation and long-term operation. These evaluations are enabled by an NEA joint project entitled the Component Operational Experience, Degradation and Ageing Programme (CODAP). Established in 2002, the project has developed a comprehensive database on the operating experience with …

Weather-Related Power Outages Rising

Many types of extreme weather are becoming more frequent or intense because of human-caused climate change. These events put stress on aging energy infrastructure and are among the leading causes of major power outages in the U.S.

The nation’s electrical grid wasn’t built for the present-day climate. Electricity is mostly transmitted and distributed through above-ground transformers, transmission wires, and utility poles that are exposed to extreme weather such as high winds, heavy rain, ice, lightning, and extreme heat. Even in areas where power lines are buried, flooding can lead to loss of power.

Power outages affect millions of people and …

The FSI Benchmark Based on OKBM Experiments to Validate Coupled CFD and CSD Calculations

This report provides the results of the fluid structure interaction (FSI) benchmark, which was developed and performed by the designer and engineering company OKBM as part of NEA and ROSATOM activities. The work to complete the benchmark activity was carried out during the period 2019-2021. The FSI benchmark is aimed at validating the numerical coupled calculations of the flow-induced vibrations of a tube bundle in cross flow by comparing the numerical predictions obtained by different participants with the experimental data.…

Unlocking the Potential of Green Public Procurement in the Indian Economy

Globally, government agencies are one of the largest procurers of steel and cement, primarily for large-scale construction projects. Similarly, in India, public procurement accounts for at least 20% of gross domestic product (GDP). To leverage this significant market size and promote synergies between sustainability and procurement, India has already implemented measures such as the Ecomark Scheme and the Standards and Labelling Scheme. Most of these existing initiatives have a limited scope, focusing on white goods like large home appliances. Green public procurement (GPP) has the potential to align producer and consumer expectations for more low-carbon materials, particularly cement and steel, …

Characteristics of a Trusted Nuclear Regulator

This report is intended to serve as a practical guide to explain the organisational characteristics, attributes and ways of thinking that can help a nuclear regulator build and maintain trust with interested stakeholders and the public. It offers examples of actions and activities that can be taken to demonstrate those characteristics in practice.

The NEA encourages and challenges all established regulatory bodies to use it as a benchmark so that they continually strive to enhance their effectiveness in fulfilling their mission to protect people and the environment. It aims to be a resource for countries with existing, mature regulators, but …