Energy as a Source of Economic Growth and Social Mobility

The CSIS Energy Program assessed the existing academic literature, commissioned new research papers, convened an expert summit, and compiled the findings to produce Energy in America: Energy as a Source of Economic Growth and Social Mobility. This report analyzes the ways energy contributes to the challenges and opportunities facing ordinary Americans, covering the impacts of production, distribution, and consumption of energy products in the United States.

The report highlights the new, extra-energy objectives that energy policy is increasingly expected to advance and evaluates their historical efficacy. We conclude that while deliberate U.S. energy policy interventions have hitherto achieved mixed results, …

An Integrated Assessment of Oil and Gas Release into the Marine Environment at the Former Taylor Energy MC20 Site

In September of 2004 hurricane Ivan, a category 3 storm at the time, passed through the northern Gulf of Mexico. Severe wave action attributed to the storm triggered a subsea mudslide that toppled Taylor Energy Company’s (TEC) oil Saratoga production platform A at Mississippi Canyon block 20 (MC20). The superstructure, also known as the jacket, came to rest on the ocean floor approximately 210 m southeast of the original location. The collector bundle containing the original 28 well pipes was also dragged in the direction of the collapsed jacket, breaking off and being buried by deposited sediment at the northwest …

Variable and Assured Peak Electricity Production from Base-Load Light-Water Reactors with Heat Storage and Auxiliary Combustible Fuels

In a low-carbon world (nuclear, wind, solar, and hydro) there is the need for assured dispatchable electricity to replace the historical role of fossil fuels. Base-load reactors can provide variable electricity to the grid by (1) sending some of their output (steam) to storage at times of low electricity prices and (2) using stored heat to produce added peak electricity at times of high electricity prices. Heat storage (steam accumulators, sensible heat, etc.) is less expensive than electricity storage (batteries, hydro pumped storage, etc.). The added cost of incrementally larger or standalone turbine generators for peak electricity production is small. …

Compendium of Scientific, Medical, and Media Findings Demonstrating Risks and Harms of Fracking (Unconventional Gas and Oil Extraction)

For this sixth edition of the Compendium, as prior ones, we compiled findings from three sources: articles from peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals; investigative reports by journalists; and reports from, or commissioned by, government agencies. Peer-reviewed articles were identified through databases such as PubMed and Web of Science, and from within the PSE Healthy Energy database. Our entries briefly describe studies that document harm, or risk of harm, associated with fracking and summarize the principal findings.

The studies and investigations referenced in the dated entries catalogued in Compilation of Studies & Findings are current through April 1, 2019.

In our …

Renewables 2019 Global Status Report

The Renewables 2019 Global Status Report (GSR 2019) marks 15 years since Bonn2004, the landmark international conference that gave rise to REN21. Then, a “coalition of the willing” came together with one objective in mind: to support and accelerate the development of renewable energy. From the outset, REN21’s mandate has been to collect, consolidate and synthesise a vast body of renewable energy data to provide clear and reliable information on what is happening in real time. This mandate still holds today.…

Reducing Regulatory Barriers to Carbon Capture Investment

Carbon dioxide is the fourth-most common chemical in the Earth’s atmosphere and is integral to life. However, if concentrations become too high, the climate can become overwarm and cause severe damage to ecosystems. For this reason, ways to capture carbon in order to prevent such negative environmental effects have increasingly become a topic of debate among those who wish to address the problem of global warming.…

Deloitte Resources 2019 Study Energy management: Balancing climate, cost, and choice

Most businesses and residential consumers surveyed realize the need to address climate change. But while businesses are upping the ante in managing resources, some residential consumers are still held back by cost and complexity.

Business and residential consumers of electricity generally agree on the need to address climate change and reduce their carbon footprints. And both segments are interested in new and evolving technologies and applications to help them manage resources and use cleaner energy sources. But beyond that, the two groups diverge. Residential consumers are circling in a holding pattern, sometimes stymied by costs (time- and budget-related) or by …

Maintaining Electric Reliability with Wind and Solar Sources: Background and Issues for Congress

The share of wind and solar power in the U.S. electricity mix grew from 1% in 2008 to 8% in 2018. Wind and solar are variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. Unlike conventional sources, weather variability creates uncertainty about the availability of VRE sources. This uncertainty could potentially result in a lack of reliability.…

State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2019

This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments and how they could accelerate the delivery of long-term mitigation goals. This edition also discusses the relation between policies that put an explicit price on carbon and policies that put an implicit price on carbon.…

Energy Perspectives 2019: Delaying climate action increases the challenge

Current climate actions are far from enough to put the world on a path to keep global warming well below 2 degrees. Global emissions increased in 2018 to reach an all-time high – and the longer this continues, the stronger measures will be necessary to reach common goals. The need is ever more urgent for rapid and significant change.

These are some of the findings in the 9th edition of Energy Perspectives, a report published by Equinor to provide a global review of possible macroeconomic and energy market developments towards 2050. The report particularly focuses on the challenges and opportunities …