Hydrogen for Primary Steel

Most primary steel (i.e., high-quality steel originating from iron ore) is made today from the combination of a blast furnace (BF), responsible for 93 percent of global ironmaking, and a basic oxygen furnace (BOF), responsible for 71 percent of global steelmaking. The two processes are often integrated in a single system (BF-BOF) and rely heavily on coal. A loweremitting method involves using natural gas to purify iron ore via the direct reduced iron (DRI) process, then using electricity to make steel in an electric arc furnace (EAF). Hydrogen can replace natural gas in the DRI process, providing a near-term path …

Fact Sheet: Blue Hydrogen’s Impact on Water Supplies

Clean hydrogen has received a lot of interest for its potential use as a tool for decarbonization but has also prompted a lot of concerns. Hydrogen production and use can have serious consequences on water supplies, particularly in areas already facing water scarcity. The production of blue hydrogen, as well as certain end uses, can be very water intensive. This 3-page fact sheet outlines blue hydrogen’s impact on water supplies.…

Hydrogen for Petrochemicals

This overview describes how electrolytic hydrogen can obviate the need for fossil fuels in making most petrochemicals. It focuses on the carbon embodied in feedstocks, which get “chemically transformed and become part of the output products,” rather than fuels, which are burned for heat or electricity and immediately release carbon as CO2 (with these functions covered in separate overviews). While temporarily fixed, the carbon in feedstocks eventually is released into the atmosphere (such as when plastics are incinerated); thus, the carbon must ultimately come from a net-zero source rather than fossil fuels.

This fact sheet is part of an Energy …

An RTO for the West: Opportunities and Options

Over the next few years, many current and prospective political developments have the potential to impact the cost, reliability, and environmental profile of electric power service in the western United States. The formation of a regional transmission organization (RTO) represents the most transformative prospective development. Over the next few years, key decisions about the potential RTO will reshape the region’s electricity landscape. This report aims to illuminate current developments in western power markets and outline what western stakeholders can learn from existing RTOs.

RTOs integrate real-time energy markets with electric transmission grid operations, aligning economic motives with the engineering realities …

India at 2047: A Vision for Energy Independence in the Mobility Sector

India has set a vision for energy independence by 2047, as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan (self-reliant India campaign). This, along with national goals such as achieving net-zero emissions by 2070, are setting a course for the country to transition away from a fossil-fuel based, import-reliant energy system to one of domestically produced, renewable sources. Since 18 percent of India’s current energy demand comes from the transport sector, ensuring that India transitions to a clean mobility system will be critical to achieving energy independence.

RMI’s India at 2047 report analysis indicates that to reach energy independence in the mobility …

Offshore Wind Workforce Safety Standards and Training Resource

On March 29, 2021, the Biden administration announced its goal to deploy 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy projects in the outer continental shelf by 2030, demonstrating support for the future growth of the industry. To ensure the deployment goals are met, the developing industry will need to have a workforce that is not only adequate in numbers but also properly trained for the unique needs of offshore wind energy development. Safety is a top priority for the offshore wind energy industry; however, there has been uncertainty surrounding what unique safety standards and training will be needed and how …

Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings Program Guidebook for Utilities

The objective of the Grid Interactive Efficient Building Program Guidebook for Utilities is to help small- to midsize electric utilities learn about grid-interactive efficient buildings, the types of benefits they offer to customers and the utility, and how this new way of managing building energy use relates to customer programs that utilities may already offer.

Getting to grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) is a journey that will take time, and many utilities are just getting started. This guidebook also outlines how utilities can begin the process of establishing or even combining the basic building blocks of GEBs to prepare for the …

Offshore Wind Energy Workforce Manufacturing and Supply Chain Resource

The job opportunity for component manufacturing facilities and their suppliers could be a significant portion of the offshore wind energy workforce (see the U.S. Department of Energy’s wind energy career map). Average annual employment levels (full-time equivalent [FTE]/year) from 2024 to 2030 are estimated at 12,300 and 49,000 based on 25% and 100% domestic content scenarios, respectively, to fabricate and assemble components to reach 30 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind energy by 2030. The extent to which domestic jobs are realized depends on the building of U.S. manufacturing facilities and those facilities leveraging a U.S. supply chain to source subassemblies, …

Harvesting Sunshine: How Productive Uses of Minigrid Electricity Make Farmers Richer and Energy Cheaper

Income-generating productive uses of energy (PUE) allow rural entrepreneurs to utilize clean electricity to support their businesses and increase their incomes. PUEs also boost revenues for rural utilities struggling to achieve profitability and maintain reliable energy services because of limited demand. The Energizing Agriculture Programme (EAP) recognized PUE’s potential to transform livelihoods and improve the economics of energy access. It brought together Nigerian energy and agriculture companies to design and test business models that deliver affordable PUE equipment to rural customers.

The EAP confirmed the value proposition of PUEs. By switching from fossil fuel-powered equipment to electric PUE alternatives, agribusiness …

The State of Managed Charging in 2024

The industry has seen tremendous shifts since SEPA began writing about managed charging in 2017. Why are we still discussing managed charging seven years later? While EV adoption has increased significantly, with more than three million EVs on the road today, managed charging has not scaled proportionally. At scale, implementing managed charging is complex because it is both a programmatic solution involving customer enrollment, incentivization, and billing and a technological solution requiring extensive data and communication exchanges across several devices and platform systems. The newest edition of the State of Managed Charging series highlights the challenges associated with managed charging …