Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018

Renewable energy has become an increasingly competitive way to meet new power generation needs. This comprehensive cost study from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights the latest trends for each of the main renewable power technologies. Released ahead of high-profile United Nations energy and climate discussions, Renewable Power Generation Costs in 2018 draws on the latest cost and auction price data from projects around the world.…

Pathways to 2050: Alternative Scenarios for Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy

As part of Climate Innovation 2050, C2ES led a group of companies in a collaborative exercise examining potential scenarios for decarbonizing the U.S. economy. The result is a set of three scenarios for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050. A final report, Pathways to 2050: Alternative Scenarios for Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy, presents the detailed scenarios and a set of key takeaways.…

FY 2020 Energy Innovation Funding: Congress Should Push the Pedal to the Metal

In recent years, Congress has shown remarkable leadership in energy innovation policy. Rejecting the Trump administration’s recommended cuts, lawmakers instead boosted funding for research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) in renewable energy, energy efficiency, carbon capture, and basic energy sciences.1 They supported loan programs for first-of-a-kind projects, including an advanced nuclear plant and a clean methanol production facility. And they are currently debating a flurry of bills to create new programs to accelerate innovation in energy storage, atmospheric carbon removal, and advanced nuclear power.…

Carbon Removal: Comparing Historical Federal Research Investments with the National Academies’ Recommended Future Funding Levels

Carbon removal encompasses a suite of land-based and technological approaches to removing already-emitted carbon dioxide (CO2) from the environment. Carbon removal (CDR) approaches—also referred to as “negative emission technologies” — complement mitigation efforts to protect the environment while opening new opportunities for U.S. businesses in a growing global marketplace as many countries move toward a lower-carbon economy. Several companies around the world have built demonstration facilities for direct air capture, a type of technological carbon removal that involves using machines to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, so it can then be sequestered or converted into commercial products, such as …

Winning the Global Race on Electric Cars

Jumpstarting U.S. production and purchase of Electric Vehicles (EVs) would produce an unprecedented set of benefits, including cleaner air and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; a resurgence of the U.S. auto industry and American manufacturing; the creation of millions of new, good, middle class manufacturing jobs; lower consumer costs for owning and operating vehicles; and the elimination of U.S. dependence on foreign oil. U.S. automakers are already moving toward EVs, but the pace of this transition is lagging behind our foreign competitors. A dramatic expansion of tax credits for EV purchases
could go a long way toward boosting the …

Shining Cities 2019

Solar power is expanding rapidly. The United States now has over 60 gigawatts (GW) of solar photovoltaic (PV) capacity installed — enough to power nearly one in every 11 homes in America. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have invested in solar energy and millions more are ready to join them.

America’s major cities have played a key role in the clean energy revolution and stand to reap tremendous benefits from solar energy. As population centers, they are major sources of electricity demand and, with millions of rooftops suitable for solar panels, they have the potential to be major sources of …

America’s Top Colleges for Renewable Energy

America’s colleges and universities are leading the transition to a 100 percent renewable energy system. Small liberal arts colleges, large public universities and community colleges alike, from every corner of the U.S., are taking the lead in reducing energy consumption, deploying renewable energy technologies, and switching to electric vehicles.

The nation’s leading campuses for clean energy — from the University of Minnesota, Morris to Southwestern University in Texas — are setting a strong example for other colleges and the nation as a whole to follow. More than 40 colleges and universities now obtain 100 percent or more of their electricity …

GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSFORMATION

Increased use of renewable energy, combined with intensified electrification, could prove decisive for the world to meet key climate goals by 2050. This study from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) highlights immediately deployable, cost-effective options for countries to fulfil climate commitments and limit the rise of global temperatures. The envisaged energy transformation would also reduce net costs and bring significant socio-economic benefits, such as increased economic growth, job creation and overall welfare gains.

The report – the second under the Global Energy Transformation banner – expands IRENA’s comprehensive roadmap, which examines technology pathways and policy implications to ensure a …

Energy Storage: The New Efficiency

Massachusetts, a national leader in energy efficiency, has incorporated energy storage as an active demand reduction measure in its 2019-2021 energy efficiency plan. Clean Energy Group has prepared a report describing the process of enabling use of state energy efficiency funds to support the deployment of energy storage with performance incentives offered for demand reduction. This groundbreaking action was supported with original economic analysis by the Applied Economics Clinic, under contract to Clean Energy Group.

The report, “Energy Storage: The New Efficiency ― How States Can Use Efficiency Funds to Support Battery Storage and Flatten Costly Demand Peaks,” explains the …

Role of flying cars in sustainable mobility

Interest and investment in electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (VTOLs), commonly known as flying cars, have grown significantly. However, their sustainability implications are unclear. We report a physics-based analysis of primary energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of VTOLs vs. ground-based cars. Tilt-rotor/duct/wing VTOLs are efficient when cruising but consume substantial energy for takeoff and climb; hence, their burdens depend critically on trip distance. For our base case, traveling 100 km (point-to-point) with one pilot in a VTOL results in well-to-wing/wheel GHG emissions that are 35% lower but 28% higher than a one-occupant internal combustion engine vehicle (ICEV) and …