Enhancing Building Energy Efficiency through Advanced Sizing and Dispatch Methods for Energy Storage

Energy storage and electrification of buildings hold great potential for future decarbonized energy systems. However, there are several technical and economic barriers that prevent large-scale adoption and integration of energy storage in buildings. These barriers include integration with building control systems, high capital costs, and the necessity to identify and quantify value streams for different stakeholders. To overcome these obstacles, it is crucial to develop advanced sizing and dispatch methods to assist planning and operational decision-making for integrating energy storage in buildings. This work develops a simple and flexible optimal sizing and dispatch framework for thermal energy storage (TES) and …

Four Essential Assumptions for Future-Ready Grid Modeling

Integrated resource planning (IRP) is becoming more complex due to increasing renewable energy integration, retirements of fossil fuel plants, growing customer-sited and distributed energy resources, and impacts of climate change. Traditional grid modeling assumptions, once acceptable for modeling grids supported by centralized fossil fuel plants, are becoming outdated and risk undervaluing the role of renewables, energy storage, and demand flexibility in grid planning. This creates a challenge and opportunity for utilities, which perform grid modeling in IRP, and regulators, who are tasked with evaluating utility modeling assumptions, methodologies, and outputs. As grid dynamics evolve, accurate modeling is essential for ensuring …

The Impact of Rapid Demand Growth

New sources of clean electricity supply could theoretically meet demand growth. But there are significant constraints to building new generation resources, including an electric grid in need of upgrades and lengthy processes to complete energy projects.

Left unchecked, demand growth coupled with the constraints to adding new electricity supply could slow the transition to clean, reliable, and affordable energy. Using their renewable energy analytics platform, EnergyInsite, they measured and mapped electricity demand growth and supply constraints across the U.S. to identify the most acute challenges and provide utility planners and customer program leaders with practical steps to navigate the road …

Possibilities to Improve the Economic Efficiency of Interconnection Processes

• DOE i2X Program + Roadmap Overview
• Panel Presentations: Improving Economic Efficiency of
Interconnection
• Fritz Kahrl (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)
• Tyler Norris (Duke University)
• Mario Hayden (Enel)
• Jeff Billinton (CAISO)
• Open facilitated discussion
• Future i2x Activities & Upcoming Events…

Benchmarking Infrastructure Development: PPP Regulatory Landscape

Despite its intrinsic relevance and policy makers’ efforts to address the infrastructure gap, progress has been limited. A confluence of challenges from macroeconomic shocks and political instability to weak institutional capacity has hindered the capacity of countries to develop infrastructure that meets demand. Increasing efficiencies in delivering infrastructure services is at the core of addressing the gap. Numerous countries have turned to private sector participation in infrastructure development to achieve these efficiencies and catalyze private capital investments.

Although there are different modalities to procure infrastructure, public-private partnerships (PPPs) have been extensively used by many countries to deliver successful programs. This …

Energy Storage Equity: An Assessment of Three Massachusetts Programs

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a national leader in clean energy policy. In recent years, it has adopted ambitious energy storage procurement targets supported by innovative policies and programs, which are entering a period of internal review. The Commonwealth also has a long-held commitment to equity in its clean energy programs.

Against this backdrop, Clean Energy Group contracted with the Applied Economics Clinic to provide an analysis of the equity provisions in three Massachusetts energy storage programs: ConnectedSolutions, the SMART solar program, and the Clean Peak Standard. The resulting analysis, Energy Storage Equity: An Assessment of Three Massachusetts Programs, concludes …

From Mines to Markets in the Middle East and Central Asia

Around the world, countries are making commitments to reduce consumption of fossil fuels to address climate change: The leaders of countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia are cognizant of these efforts, and some have plans to diversify their economies and reduce carbon emissions. Toward that end, many countries are looking to produce and procure clean energy technologies, but these technologies are reliant on critical minerals. Strategic and economic competition between the United States, Russia, and China has been the driver of many so-called de-risking policies, which aim to diversify critical mineral supply chains.

The authors of …

Research Areas for Climate Litigation

Legal action related to climate change is more relevant than ever before—and scientists have a critical role to play.

Like all cases, climate-focused litigation requires evidence. And courtroom-ready evidence requires the engagement of scientists capable of conducting and interpreting rigorous litigation-relevant research.

To advance that work, the authors interviewed 19 legal practitioners and scholars and identified eight research needs for climate litigation. Of these, we highlight three as research priorities: attribution science, climate change and health, and economic modeling. They also describe five other strategic research areas: legal and financial accountability, disinformation and greenwashing, policy and governance, environmental and social …

Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge Progress Report

Since its announcement in September 2021, the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge has had a significant impact in accelerating the acceptance and growth of SAF as a primary strategy in aviation decarbonization. Through a memorandum of understanding among the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Energy, and U.S. Department of Transportation, a governmentwide effort including the U.S. Department of Defense, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is helping to drive innovation that reduces cost,
enhances sustainability, and expands production and use of SAF.

The Federal agencies supporting the SAF Grand Challenge accomplish this …

Diverse Decarbonization Pathways Under Near Cost-Optimal Futures

Energy system optimization models offer insights into energy and emissions futures through least-cost optimization. However, real-world energy systems often deviate from deterministic scenarios, necessitating rigorous uncertainty exploration in macro-energy system modeling. This study uses modeling techniques to generate diverse near cost-optimal net-zero CO2 pathways for the United States’ energy system. Our findings reveal consistent trends across these pathways, including rapid expansion of solar and wind power generation, substantial petroleum use reductions, near elimination of coal combustion, and increased end-use electrification. We also observe varying deployment levels for natural gas, hydrogen, direct air capture of CO2, and synthetic fuels. Notably, carbon-captured …