Federal Incentive for Alternative Fuel Refueling Infrastructure, IRC § 30C

The Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005 (PL 109–58, § 1342, 26 USC 30C) created an income tax credit equal to 30 percent of the cost of installing alternative fuel refueling equipment including equipment used to dispense natural gas and hydrogen. To qualify for the credit, the fueling equipment also must be used to refuel motor vehicles, which are defined as vehicles that have been manufactured primarily for “use on public streets, roads, and highways.” Over the years various improvements have been enacted by Congress.

Most recently, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 (PL 117–169, § 13404) amended section …

Green Iron Corridors: Transforming the Steel Supply Chains for a Sustainable Future

To reduce emissions and meet increasing global demand, we must shift our approach to making steel. The steel sector currently produces 11% of global CO2 equivalent emissions, and demand is expected to increase between 12% and 36% by 2050. To meet new demand while reducing emissions, we must ramp up renewable hydrogen-based ironmaking this decade.

Green iron corridors can offer significant benefits along the supply chain including cost savings, increased efficiency, and economic opportunity for both importing and exporting countries. Restructuring half of primary steelmaking to use green iron could save $25 billion annually across the 10 highest priority importers …

Technology Availability, Sector Policies and Behavioral Change are Complementary Strategies for Achieving Net-Zero Emissions

In this study, we analyze the effects of technology availability, political coordination, and behavioral change on transformation pathways toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union by 2050. We implemented an iterative stakeholder dialogue to co-design the scenarios that were calculated using a global multi-regional energy-economy-land-climate model. We find that in scenarios without behavioral change and with restriction of technologies, the target of greenhouse gas neutrality in the European Union cannot be reached. Already a target of 200 Mt CO2eq/yr requires CO2 prices above 100 €/tCO2 in 2030 across all sectors in all scenarios. The required CO2 price can …

The Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Opportunity: Accelerating the Transition of the Oil and Gas Sector

The Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program of the Loan Program Office (LPO), coupled with Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) tax incentives, provides a unique and time-sensitive opportunity for the US oil and gas sector to accelerate its transition toward cleaner sources of energy and away from oil and gas.

Through the EIR, the LPO can provide financing for projects that retool, repower, repurpose or replace energy infrastructure that has ceased operations or projects that reduce operational emissions of existing energy infrastructure (for a detailed description see Appendix A), providing the opportunity not only for emissions reductions but also for reinvestment in …

Leverage Modern Artificial Intelligence (AI) Enabled Systems for Waste Reduction

Waste in manufacturing processes can often be difficult to reduce as compared to investigating alternate management options such as recycling. Upstream strategies in the waste management hierarchy are more impactful but need a deeper understanding and analysis of underlying manufacturing processes. Significant material savings can be achieved through waste reduction techniques of product redesign, various source reduction techniques, and optimal waste management. Newer research in circular economy, sustainability, and machine learning (ML) has made it feasible to apply artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to the established methods to simplify the approach as well as achieve results quickly.…

Enhancing Action & Cooperation for Early Warning Systems

In order to implement the GST targets and signals through enhanced NDC ambition and implementation, major barriers must be meaningfully addressed, turned into opportunities for enhanced international cooperation, and translated into development priorities and domestic policies. In the context of making the case for clear leadership to enable such action, this paper:

– focuses on the GST decision’s call to Parties to strengthen adaptation action by building accessible, user-driven early warning systems (EWS) for all by 2027
– sets out barriers and solutions, as identified by our work and others, that must be addressed and implemented to enable real action …

Emergence Strategy in Action: Gogoro Seizes Opportunity in the Transition to Sustainable Mobility

How did Gogoro go from stealth startup to being the largest worldwide provider of light EV battery swapping — all in a little over a decade? The company, which vastly simplifies the charging experience for the rapidly growing two-wheeled electric scooter market, now operates in nine countries.

Gogoro’s success story has all the hallmarks of emergence strategy, including deft system sensing to identify strategic opportunities aligned with its vision and a flexible partnership strategy to increase the company’s influence in a rapidly evolving business ecosystem.

At almost every turn, Gogoro has outpaced bigger potential rivals by taking strategic decisions based …

Valuing Energy Flexibility From Water Systems

Water systems represent an untapped source of electric power load flexibility, but determining the value of this flexibility requires quantitative comparisons to other grid-scale energy storage technologies and a compelling economic case for water system operators. Here the authors present a unified framework for representing water asset flexibility using grid-scale energy storage metrics (round-trip efficiency, energy capacity and power capacity) and assessing the technoeconomic benefits of energy flexibility at the water facility scale (levelized cost of water and levelized value of flexibility). They apply this framework to case studies of an advanced water treatment (desalination) plant, a water distribution network …

2024 Congressional Policy Priorities to Enhance American Manufacturing Competitiveness

Published in September 2024, this fact sheet outlines the RTC’s strategy to strengthen American energy security, create high-quality jobs, advance technology innovation, and modernize manufacturing facilities. It details three main priorities:

– Creating or expanding cross-cutting, technology-inclusive tax incentives and grants,
– Extending or expanding incentives and markets to provide long-term support for renewable thermal technologies, and
– Filling gaps in technology, infrastructure, and workforce development through Department of Energy programs.

Drafted with input from the RTC’s diverse membership of industrial leaders and solution providers, these priorities offer policymakers a roadmap for enhancing U.S. manufacturing competitiveness while addressing the critical …

Reimagining Resilience: A Framework for Integrating Customer-Sited and Grid-Scale DERs

In 2021, the Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) developed the Microgrid Design Framework to provide the industry with a 10 step process for resilience-focused microgrid design. The 2021 framework sought to break communication silos down utilities and third-parties to improve microgrid project success and support the industry in addressing community resilience to natural hazard risks via microgrid deployment. Recognizing that the 2021 framework does not capture the full landscape of stakeholders, solutions, and business models for successfully improving resilience for utility customers and communities, this update builds on that framework and SEPA’s experience working directly with state energy offices, utilities, …