The Impact of Renewables in ERCOT

This report quantifies the impacts of renewables in ERCOT on wholesale clearing prices and avoided fuel costs, water use, and emissions by comparing how the market would have performed with and without wind and solar from 2010 to August 2022. This analysis found that  the build out of renewables from 2010 and beyond has yielded significant benefits and savings to Texans in the ERCOT service area, cumulatively worth as much as $106 billion. …

Annual Coal Report 2021

The Annual Coal Report (ACR) provides information about U.S. coal production, number of mines, productive capacity, recoverable reserves, employment, productivity, consumption, stocks, and prices to a wide audience, including Congress, federal and state agencies, the coal industry, and the general public. We publish this report to fulfill data collection and dissemination responsibilities under the Federal Energy Administration Act of 1974 (Public Law 93-275), as amended.

Coal production, number of mines, employment, and productivity are based on the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration’s Form 7000-2, Quarterly Mine Employment and Coal Production Report. Productive capacity, recoverable reserves, and …

Equity in State 100% Clean Energy Legislation and Executive Orders

For this report, the author reviewed currently enacted 100% clean energy legislation and executive orders in 20 US states and the District of Columbia. The legislation and orders are analyzed through an equity and environmental justice lens. The report provides a summary of how equity has been included in the legislation and executive orders. However, it does not assess the quality or effectiveness of any particular policy. By condensing information from many states in one place, we hope the report will make it easier for various stakeholders to understand what has been done so far and will inform future policy …

Beyond Hydrogen: Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) & Deep Decarbonization

Renewable and clean gas options that are available today represent a tiny fraction of the overall market for fossil gas. To achieve ambitious decarbonization goals set forth by countries, states, municipalities and corporations, alternative fuels need to scale quickly.

Download this free paper to explore:

– Current and future market prospects for RNG, including essential policy drivers – How RNG can complement and help drive the coming green hydrogen boom – Benefits and long-term implications of an RNG project – Lessons for RNG that can be drawn from the growth of solar & battery energy storage

Economic, Reliability, and Resiliency Benefits of Interregional Transmission Capacity

The United States electric grid is in a state of transition. The country is shifting towards lower carbon sources while facing more frequent extreme weather events that challenge the ability to keep the lights on. Greater grid flexibility is the key to reliable decarbonization in the face of uncertainty. One of the most cost-efficient forms of flexibility while maintaining resiliency is greater reliance on interregional imports and exports of electricity.

GE Energy Consulting (GE) knows the value of interregional flexibility from its own study experience. Back in our 2010 Western Wind and Solar Integration Study, GE and the National Renewable …

Climate-Tech to Watch: Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) will play the most significant role in meeting President Biden’s goal of a zero-carbon aviation sector by 2050, but significant progress must be made to scale up production and bring down costs. …

A National Roadmap for Clean Buildings

America’s built environment consists of 124 million residential and 5.9 million commercial buildings, which together generate toxic amounts of air pollution and account for 13 percent of national carbon pollution. For the Biden administration to meet its ambitious climate goals, the White House must now implement rigorous pollution and efficiency standards to swiftly transition America’s buildings to efficient, clean appliances like heat pumps and induction stoves.

The first two years of President Joe Biden’s administration have included historic progress for climate action, but there remains so much more to do. In order to meet his target of a 50-52 percent …

Gas Market Report, Q4-2022

This year’s winter gas season opens with extreme natural gas price levels and volatility, caused by unprecedented uncertainty of supply as Russia steeply curtails its pipeline deliveries to Europe. The result is considerable market tension in alternative sources of supply. Security of supply has become a top priority in Europe and other importing regions as a total cut-off in Russian flows to Europe cannot be ruled out, creating further tensions and demand destruction for all competing LNG importers.

The gas crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has caused a series of market adjustments. European buyers have …

U.S Electric Utility Adaptation to Natural Disasters Shocks and Green Power Mandates

Access to electricity is a crucial determinant of quality of life and productivity. The United States has a highly reliable electricity grid but it faces new resilience challenges posed by more intense natural disasters and rising state level green power requirements. Using a U.S electric utility panel dataset from 2013 to 2020, we document that natural disaster exposure disrupts service, but utilities have made some progress in adapting to such shocks. Over the last decade, there has been a tradeoff between achieving local carbon mitigation goals and offering reliable power access.…

Electrification on the Path to Net Zero: A Comparison of Studies Examining Opportunities and Barriers in the United States

There is a strong and growing consensus that a simultaneously growing and decarbonizing electricity sector is necessary to meet declining greenhouse gas emissions targets. Rallying cries to “electrify everything” have captured the focus of many headlines and policy forums in recent years. However, there are important questions that remain unanswered about the electrify everything movement, including the technical, social, and political feasibility of the approach, as well as the affordability and equitability of implementation. While reducing emissions is paramount in mitigating the negative impacts of the energy system to the environment and human health, it is also critical that changes …