Beyond Hydrogen: Renewable Gas and Deep Decarbonization

The urgent need to develop alternatives to fossil gas is underscored on a near-daily basis. To achieve ambitious decarbonization goals set forth by countries, states, municipalities and corporations, alternative fuels need to scale quickly. This report from Ameresco explores emerging alternatives to fossil gas including green hydrogen and biomethane, the latter of which is also known as renewable natural gas (RNG). RNG has the capacity to scale quickly, and it also has the potential to augment and support the development of green hydrogen.

This paper to explores:

Current and future market prospects for RNG, including essential policy drivers How RNG

24/7 Carbon Free-Energy: Your Guide to the Gold Standard for Meeting ESG Goals

In an annual survey of institutional investors, nearly 80% of respondents wanted companies to focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals. As more investors and consumers demand that companies prioritize ESG goals, companies are looking for ways to decarbonize their energy use.

Increasingly, corporate buyers of electricity are looking at 24/7 carbon-free energy (CFE) as the gold standard for achieving ambitious decarbonization goals in a real, meaningful way. Leading corporations are beginning to set 24/7 CFE goals and track their progress.

In this primer, discover how companies can commit to sourcing carbon-free energy at every hour of the day. …

Utility Carbon Reduction Strategies: A Field Guide for Success

As utilities work toward carbon reduction, there is no standard formula for creating change. Successful transformation is the result of developing an individualized plan, with attention to the nuance of each utility’s specific capabilities, market, and geography. The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) has developed a resource with best practices and peer examples to assist utilities as they adopt or accelerate carbon reduction targets and advance the clean energy transition. 

This publication is intended for all utilities regardless of their stage in the carbon reduction process. Whether a utility is officially mandated or incentivized by policy to reduce emissions, or …

Tracking SDG7: The energy progress report 2023

This annual report tracks global progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7: Achieving affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It serves as a guide for policymakers and the international community in advancing energy access, energy efficiency, renewable energy and international cooperation to achieve SDG 7. IRENA produces the report jointly with the SDG 7 co-custodian agencies: the International Energy Agency (IEA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO). The preparatory process for the 2023 edition was chaired by the WHO.

In order to realise SDG 7 and related SDGs by …

Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium: Particle Scale Impacts on Deconstruction Energy of Pine Residues

The Feedstock-Conversion Interface Consortium (FCIC) develops first-principles-based knowledge and tools to understand, quantify, and mitigate the effects of feedstock and process variability  across the bioenergy value chain, from the field and forest through downstream conversion. The FCIC is a collaborative and coordinated effort involving researchers in many different disciplines. It is led by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and includes researchers from nine national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Energy Technology Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and …

Federal Strategy to Advance Greenhouse Gas Emissions Measurement and Monitoring for the Agriculture and Forest Sectors

This report outlines a draft framework for measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals for the agriculture and forest sectors, as part of a larger strategy to advance an integrated U.S. greenhouse gas monitoring & information system. This work builds on the ongoing Federal work to produce the annual Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks (U.S. GHG Inventory) and other GHG analyses. It also takes advantage of advanced measurement and modeling capabilities, as well as the growth of GHG observational data, to improve and verify estimates and provide enhanced data products.

Net agricultural …

Deep Geological Repositories and Nuclear Liability

The disposal of long-lived radioactive waste in a deep geological repository (DGR) is a scientifically and technically credible solution that meets the need for long-term safety without reliance on active monitoring and management. Nevertheless, it is important to assess the potential risks that may be associated with such a nuclear installation and to ensure that an appropriate regime is in place to adequately compensate third parties in case they suffer nuclear damage caused by a DGR. Therefore, countries developing or intending to develop DGRs must take into account nuclear third party liability regime(s) as long as they apply to the …

How to Evaluate Your Energy Resilience Needs

Extreme weather, a changing resource mix, and energy price volatility – these factors are transforming the energy landscape and driving organizations to prioritize energy resilience.

But in today’s world, organizations need to think beyond the traditional definition of ‘energy resilience’ – the ability to ensure energy continuity during power outages. Organizations should now be working toward energy resilience in broader terms to handle the varied energy challenges that will be growing throughout the coming years – like energy market volatility, regulatory risks, and stakeholder demands.

As a result, organizations are increasingly looking for solutions that align with their energy resilience …

Increasing the Reach of Low-Income Energy Programs Through Behaviorally-Informed Peer Referral

Subsidized energy assistance programs are a popular policy tool for promoting energy justice, but, like other social benefits programs, are often undersubscribed. To improve uptake, some programs have turned to social influence strategies, such as asking program participants to refer their peers. Here, through a field experiment with California’s low-income solar program (N =7,676), we show that referral behavior depends on how existing participants are approached. Adding behavioral science strategies to a referral reward increases peer referral rates, referral quality, and ultimately solar adoption. Compared to only reminding existing adopters of a potential US$200 reward for referrals that result in …

Status and Trends in the U.S. Voluntary Green Power Market (2021 Data)

Voluntary green power, for the purposes of this report, refers to renewable energy procurement above state renewable energy mandates by retail electricity customers. In this report, which the National Renewable Energy Laboratory publishes annually, we present data and key trends for voluntary green power market, except for a small portion of voluntary purchasing where no data are available.

In this year’s report, NREL explores two emerging issues in the U.S. voluntary green power market. First, NREL explores emerging issues that could constrain the expansion of voluntary green power products. They explore how the increasing complexity of the voluntary green power …