Decarbonizing Low-Temperature Industrial Heat In The U.S.

Industrial facilities use low-temperature heat (up to 165 degrees Celsius) in numerous manufacturing processes, contributing 7 percent of U.S. energy-related carbon emissions. New Energy Policy Simulator modeling finds shifting from fossil fuel combustion to industrial heat pumps for low-temperature process heat would reduce industry emissions by 5 percent in 2030 and 16 percent in 2050, while adding $42 billion to the economy in 2030 and $8 billion in 2050 and creating 275,000 jobs in 2030 and around 75,000 jobs in 2050. This report recommends federal policies to accelerate the deployment of industrial heat pumps in the U.S., including financial support …

Understanding China’s Global Power: 2022 Update

China has financed electric power plants around the world for several decades and its involvement in the global power sector is of growing importance in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and continued attention to the social, environmental and economic impacts of China’s overseas economic activity. This policy brief tracks findings from the 2022 update of the China’s Global Power (CGP) Database. The CGP Database tracks power plants outside of China financed through Chinese foreign direct investment (FDI) and loans from China’s two policy banks, the China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China. …

The Electric Ceiling: Limits and Costs of Full Electrification

Electrification is a centerpiece of global decarbonization efforts. Yet there are reasons to be skeptical of the inevitability, or at least the optimal pace, of the transition. We discuss several under-appreciated costs of full, or even deep, electrification. Consumer preferences can operate in favor of and in opposition to electrification goals; and electrification is likely to encounter physical and economic obstacles when it reaches some as-yet-unknown level. While we readily acknowledge the external benefits of decarbonization, we also explore several under-appreciated external costs. The credibility and eventual success of decarbonization efforts is enhanced by foreseeing and ideally avoiding predictable but …

Clean Jobs North Carolina 2022

Clean jobs in North Carolina grew by over 4 percent in 2021, more than double the growth rate of the state’s total workforce for the year. That growth also demonstrates the clean energy economy’s strong recovery from the COVID-19 economic downturn and sets North Carolina up for even more clean energy job opportunities in the years to come — especially with the right policies in place.…

Department of Energy Funding for Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Programs

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Hydrogen Program, led by the Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) addresses the development of applications that use hydrogen in place of today’s fuels and technologies that provide modern energy services. DOE programs also consider hydrogen as an established chemical feedstock, for example, in petroleum refining. The DOE programs include over 400 projects of research and development (R&D), systems integration, demonstrations, and initial deployment activities performed by universities, national laboratories, and industry. These programs cover the hydrogen energy value chain starting with producing …

Transmission For All

ACEG released a fact sheet on the benefits of increased transmission in marginalized communities that have long experienced high rates of energy insecurity and health impacts of pollution. Low-income communities and communities of color are significantly more likely to live near polluting power plants. 

Increased transmission can reduce pollution by replacing power sources like coal and oil with clean energy resources distributed via transmission. An expanded grid will also improve reliability, preventing power outages that disproportionately hit marginalized communities, and reduce personal energy costs.…

How Would The Energy Independence And Security Act Work In Practice?

ACEG released a factsheet exploring how the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA), proposed by Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) could impact a real transmission project. The permitting reform contained in the EISA could provide for more efficient environment reviews for energy projects and greater regulatory certainty for transmission projects designed by DOE as in the national interest. It would also establish cost allocation for projects that FERC deems in the national interest.

ACEG explores how one actual project — Gateway South — would benefit from more efficient environmental reviews. Gateway South could have been completed nearly a decade earlier, …

Accelerating Vehicle Electrification in Michigan

The public and private sectors in Michigan are aligned behind goals of building out electric vehicle charging infrastructure and supporting consumer purchases of electric vehicles. Yet at the local level, physical and regulatory infrastructure build-out is only just beginning and faces challenges to meet the scale and pace of the growing market. Utilities, municipalities, site hosts, and other stakeholders are striving to balance short-run action with long-term needs for system-wide coordination and strategy. Simultaneously, massive shifts in supply chains, as well as assembly and production lines, are on the horizon. These changes, along with job opportunities in the installation and …

Turning Off the Gas: Stronger and Coherent EU Policy to Accelerate the Fossil Gas Phaseout

Rapidly and consequently phasing out fossil gas demand has become a top priority in Europe. Existing European legislation is expected to achieve only moderate reductions by 2030. Proposed laws under negotiation are expected to go further, yet more ambitious targets and a unified policy approach could achieve potential reductions currently left on the table.

Our analysis finds that even with full implementation of the REPowerEU plan, by 2030 natural gas demand in Europe will remain at around 150 bcm, roughly equivalent to Russian gas imports in 2021. These reductions can be faster and deeper. A stronger energy efficiency target in …

A Best Practice Guide for EVSE Regulations

While many localities around the country are beginning to plan for EV growth, research has revealed that most states and localities that were surveyed had little to no policies at all respecting public EV charging. This is expected to change quickly in the next several years as states and localities recognize the need to prepare for the rise in electrification and receive funding from different sources. Many state and local officials for the first time will have to consider developing and implementing policies to expand infrastructure.

This report harnesses the vast market experience of key stakeholders to identify those policies …