Exploring Techno-Economic Landscapes of Abatement Options for Hard-to-Electrify Sectors

Approximately 20% of global CO2 emissions originate from sectors often labeled as hard-to-abate, which are challenging or impossible to electrify. Alternative abatement options are necessary for these sectors but face critical bottlenecks, particularly concerning the availability and cost of low-emission hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, and non-fossil CO2 for synthetic fuels or carbon-dioxide removal. In this study, the authors conduct a broad techno-economic analysis, mapping abatement options and hard-to-electrify sectors while addressing associated technological uncertainties. The findings reveal a diverse mitigation landscape that can be categorized into three tiers, based on the abatement cost and technologies required. By requiring long-term …

Development Trajectory of China’s Virtual Power Plants Industry

Virtual power plants (VPP) enhance grid stability, adaptability, and efficiency while scaling renewable energy integration. China urgently requires a robust assessment framework to advance VPP development as a significant energy consumer. This study constructs an innovative multidimensional quantitative evaluation framework, addressing the gap in the quantitative evaluation of the VPP industry and offering novel research insights. First, the development status of the VPP industry is systematically analyzed across six dimensions using the political-economic-social-technological-environmental-legal (PESTEL) model. Second, a rigorous evaluation indicator system is established by integrating the PESTEL model with Principal Component Analysis and Correlation Screening. Finally, a novel dynamic multidimensional …

Exploring the Nexus of Industrial Production and Energy Consumption on CO2 Emissions in Bangladesh through ARDL Bounds Testing Insights

Elevated CO2 emissions are a primary cause of the sustainability challenges, including rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns, faced by Bangladesh and the world. This study examines the intricate relationship between CO2 emissions and various economic and industrial factors in Bangladesh, using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bound test. By analyzing data from 1971 to 2020, the research identifies both short-run and long-run dynamics influencing CO2 emissions. The findings reveal that industrial production and non-renewable energy consumption have a significant positive impact on CO2 emissions, while agricultural activities and fertilizer consumption exhibit a negative effect.…

Clean Energy Investment in Every State

Clean investment has been accelerating since the 2022 passage of the Inflation Reduction Act which offers incentives for investments in clean technologies.

But reaching the U.S. climate goal (to cut heat-trapping emissions 50% below 2005 levels by 2030) will require further acceleration. Clean investment is an integral part of the nation’s strategy to meet this goal.

While clean investment dollars are not directly linked to emissions reductions, these investments can stimulate the clean energy transition by making clean technologies more available and affordable. …

2024 U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs Report

Based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and supplementary surveys of tens of thousands of U.S. energy sector employers, the U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) is a comprehensive summary of national, state and county-level energy jobs, reporting by industry, technology, and region with data on unionization rates, demographics, and employer perspectives on growth and hiring. The USEER began in 2016 to better track and understand employment within key energy sectors. The study combines surveys of businesses with public labor market data to produce estimates of employment and workforce characteristics.…

Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Concentration as Fuel Gauge

Climate change skeptics like to point to the high atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration in paleo records as “proof” of the exaggeration of the climate change agenda. Instead of debunking these arguments, the present paper represents a thought experiment that considers the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration in the past as a proxy for fossil fuel reserves and interprets the contemporary rise in carbon dioxide concentration as a fuel gauge to estimate the exhaustion of the remaining fossil fuel reserves under different energy consumption scenarios. The resulting conclusion is that the dangers of exhausting the remaining fossil fuel resources are likely on …

Principles and Actions for More Effective Transportation Policy

Affordable, reliable transportation is the backbone of American prosperity, touching everything from family budgets to national competitiveness. This white paper explains how a modernized, innovation‑friendly policy framework can both strengthen supply chains and accelerate environmental progress. Drawing on the sector’s track record of dramatic pollution cuts—cars and trucks are now 99 percent cleaner than they were in 1970—the authors argue that market‑driven advances such as AI‑optimized logistics, cleaner fuels, and autonomous technologies can further decouple growth from emissions while keeping costs in check. ​

The authors set out a clear, technology‑neutral path for lawmakers: streamline outdated regulations, empower private capital …

The Transition Finance Nexus

Transition finance has rapidly emerged as a key concept for banks seeking to reach their net-zero targets and support real-economy decarbonization. This has relied on and contributed to a growing ecosystem of transition-related processes and approaches. In this primer, RMI introduces the “transition finance nexus” as a new way of conceptualizing the connections among transition pathways, transition plans and planning, transition assessment, and transition finance.

While transition finance guidance often refers to these different elements, little attention has been paid to the interconnections between them. Here the authors address this gap and add nuance to the transition narratives in the …

Clean Investment Monitor: The State of US Clean Energy Supply Chains in 2025

Since the US enacted the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), manufacturing has emerged as the fastest-growing segment of investment in clean energy technologies. Quarterly investment in clean manufacturing more than tripled—from $2.5 billion in Q3 2022 to $14.0 billion in Q1 2025—primarily driven by the electric vehicle supply chain. Companies have announced 380 clean technology manufacturing facilities since the bill was signed into law on August 16, 2022, nearly half of which were operational as of March 31, 2025.

This rapid buildout reflects an intensifying global competition to onshore clean technology supply chains and boost domestic manufacturing. The Section 45X Advanced …

Preventing Public Participation

As explained in Part I, agencies cannot use good cause broadly to rescind regulations that they now purport to be unlawful, without first going through notice-and-comment rulemaking. Simply because an agency believes a prior rule is improper does not mean there is not extensive value in public comments, as comments may shed light on relevant legal issues, highlight important factual issues or reliance interests that the agency must consider, or propose alternatives short of full repeal that the agency must assess. This is confirmed by judicial caselaw, which interprets the good cause exception narrowly and finds it does not apply …