The Key Role of Sufficiency for Low Demand-Based Carbon Neutrality and Energy Security Across Europe

A detailed assessment of a low energy demand, 1.5 ∘C compatible pathway is provided for Europe from a bottom-up, country scale modelling perspective. The level of detail enables a clear representation of the potential of sufficiency measures. Results show that by 2050, 50% final energy demand reduction compared to 2019 is possible in Europe, with at least 40% of it attributable to various sufficiency measures across all sectors. This reduction enables a 77% renewable energy share in 2040 and 100% in 2050, with very limited need for imports from outside of Europe and no carbon sequestration technologies. Sufficiency enables increased …

Turning Data Centers into Grid and Regional Assets: Considerations and Recommendations for the Federal Government, State Policymakers, and Utility Regulators

Over the last two years, America’s demand for electric power has surged thanks to the resurgence of U.S. manufacturing and the emergence of—and demand for—generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), which relies on power-hungry data centers. The emergence of these two substantial new electric loads is unprecedented, and policymakers must address this dual challenge rather than viewing industrial growth and data center growth as competing priorities that require choosing one over the other.

A promising solution is to transform data centers into grid and regional assets that offer flexible demand powered by carbon-free electricity. These centers can reduce energy consumption during grid …

Demanding a Better Grid: How Demand Management Can Accelerate the Phase-Out of New York City’s Peaker Power Plants

This report highlights ways to address New York City’s growing electricity demand and accelerate peaker plant retirement through robust demand management solutions that harness the flexibility of customer devices, such as smart thermostats, heat pumps, electric vehicle chargers, solar, and battery storage, to reduce stress on the electric grid. The report includes best practices for centering equity in demand management program development, with a focus on demand response and virtual power plants, as well as establishing a regulatory framework for implementation.

While demand management cannot necessarily address the entire projected energy generation deficit New York currently faces, it is a …

Electrifying European Industry

Industrial heating is a major climate challenge. Heat constitutes over two-thirds of all energy demand in the industrial sector globally, yet only a small fraction of this demand is met by renewable energy sources, with fossil fuels being the dominant source of energy. In Europe, natural gas is the dominant fuel used in the industrial sector. Decarbonizing the industrial sector and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels will require shifting heat production towards cleaner sources, including electrification technologies powered by low- or zero carbon electricity.

In this report, the authors analyze the electrification potential for industries in Europe, focusing on …

Electrifying European Industry

Industrial heating is a major climate challenge. Heat constitutes over two-thirds of all energy demand in the industrial sector globally, yet only a small fraction of this demand is met by renewable energy sources, with fossil fuels being the dominant source of energy. In Europe, natural gas is the dominant fuel used in the industrial sector. Decarbonizing the industrial sector and reducing reliance on imported fossil fuels will require shifting heat production towards cleaner sources, including electrification technologies powered by low- or zero carbon electricity. In this report, they analyze particular industrial processes that could be directly electrified in the …

Delivering on the UAE Consensus

A key aspect of the text of the Outcome of the First Global Stocktake was the explicit recognition of the role of renewable energy in rapidly and drastically reducing global greenhouse gas emissions to align the world with a 1.5°C-compatible pathway. To this end, the text called on all Parties to the Convention to contribute to efforts to triple renewable energy capacity globally and double the global average annual rate of energy efficiency improvements by 2030.

Following COP28, the COP28 Presidency designated IRENA as the custodian agency for tracking and reporting on these goals each year through 2030. This report …

Decarbonizing Industrial Heat: Measuring Economic Potential and Policy Mechanisms

While the US has made progress in reducing economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions, there remain significant gaps between current levels of emissions and the levels necessary to achieve compliance with federal and international targets. One sector that faces significant challenges to decarbonization is industry. The heterogenous nature of the industrial sector has made analyzing potential emission reductions more difficult than in other major sectors of the economy. Given the imperative to substantially decarbonize the economy within decades, there is an immediate need to identify where opportunities exist and how to overcome barriers to decarbonization in the industrial sector.

Natural gas is …

How Utilities Can Ensure Energy Reliability and Affordability

The U.S. is making strides toward decarbonization by electrifying transportation, heating and cooling, and more. But the push to electrify raises several questions for utilities: Where will all the electricity needed to power the electrified future come from? How will policy and regulations impact state and federal decarbonization goals? How will grid reliability be affected, especially in regions that could face an energy shortage?

New England is a perfect case study for these questions. In looking at demand forecasts — and potential supply shortfalls due to a range of factors — ISO New England has turned to co-optimized planning of …

Closing the Climate Finance Gap: A Proposal for a New Green Investment Protocol

International legal agreements protecting foreign investment are much criticized for standing in the way of governments regulating to address climate change, but in fact, investment law must be a core pillar of climate finance and, particularly, derisking private climate finance flows. To do so requires linking the international legal regimes governing investment and climate.

This report examines the interplay of the international legal protection of foreign investment and the global effort to finance climate adaptation and mitigation, concluding that international investment law can be a potent tool to incentivize cross-border private climate finance flows.

To achieve that goal, the digest …

U.S. Offshore Wind Market Report (2024 Q3)

Oceantic Network releases its U.S. Offshore Wind Quarterly Market Report in April, July, October, and January. Each builds off our U.S. Offshore Wind Annual Market Report and provides key analysis of both federal and state government activities impacting the U.S. offshore wind industry. Quarterly Reports ensure companies are informed on offshore wind industry developments affecting their business.

The U.S. Offshore Wind Market Report (2024 Q3) is now available! Learn about project development updates, including information about the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project and Revolution Wind, which are undergoing installation activities on the East Coast. Additionally, in Q3, work began on …