Real-Time Platforms for Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Preparedness and Response within Countries: National Guidance to Enhance Cross-Border Information Exchange and Co-ordination of Protective Actions

The NEA Committee on Radiological Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) assists NEA member countries in identifying critical and emerging issues in radiological protection, analysing their possible implications for policy, regulation and practices, and contributing to the development of approaches for their resolution. The Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM), working under the auspices of the CRPPH, established the Expert Group on the use of Real-Time Platforms (EGRT) for member countries to collaboratively address improving cross-border co-ordination by sharing experience in the use of real-time information platforms in nuclear and radiological Emergencies Preparedness and Response (EPR). The establishment of the …

Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released a report on Building a Vibrant Domestic Biomanufacturing Ecosystem. This report describes the current state of U.S. biomanufacturing capacity and identifies key factors driving growth. Stakeholders indicated that while the United States has maintained a leadership role in biomanufacturing innovation, we still need infrastructure to scale-up technology and produce in America. The report identifies 11 actions that policymakers could consider in order to sustain the U.S. biomanufacturing capacity that has been catalyzed by the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader Investing in America agenda. This modern industrial strategy supports our climate and clean …

State Efforts To Decarbonize Key Industrial Sectors

The materials at the bedrock of the United States’ infrastructure and economy—such as cement, iron, and steel—contribute significantly to today’s climate crisis. The industrial sector accounts for nearly one-third of annual greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the United States, and the manufacturing of construction materials and products is responsible for 15 percent of global GHG emissions annually. Industrial facilities also emit criteria air pollutants and toxic air pollutants that present health risks for communities in the surrounding area. Rooted in the legacy of redlining, communities of color are disproportionately burdened by pollution from industrial facilities. After years of inaction, federal …

Pathways to Commercial Liftoff: Sustainable Aviation Fuel

SAF is a drop-in jet fuel replacement that is produced through a variety of pathways and results in a reduction in lifecycle emissions compared to fossil jet fuel. A scale-up of domestic SAF production can have positive economic, social, and environmental impacts in addition to the benefits associated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Certain SAF blends also have the potential to reduce air pollution surrounding airport communities and reduce contrails, the latter of which also warms the climate.

In September 2021, the U.S. set an ambitious target to scale domestic SAF production through the SAF Grand Challenge. Eligible SAF under …

World Energy Transitions Outlook 2024

The success achieved this decade in reducing greenhouse gas emissions will determine whether global temperature rise can be limited to 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels this century. IRENA’s 1.5°C Scenario, set out in the World Energy Transitions Outlook, presents a pathway to achieve the 1.5°C target by 2050, positioning electrification and efficiency as key transition drivers, enabled by renewable energy, clean hydrogen and sustainable biomass.

The 2024 Outlook provides an overview of progress by tracking implementation and gaps across all energy sectors, and identifies priority areas and actions based on available technologies that must be realised by 2030 to achieve net …

Unclean but Affordable Solid Fuels Effectively Sustained Household Energy Equity

Extensive use of traditional solid fuels necessitates a clean transition to modern energy, yet rising costs hinder equitable progress, presenting a challenge that remains underexplored. Here the authors quantify household energy inequities in China and evaluate shifts during the cooking and heating transition by compiling data from nationwide questionnaire surveys and statistic datasets. The authors find that by meeting 42.6% of household energy needs at low costs, solid fuels sustain equitable energy consumption across different income groups, being measured by the Concentration Index (CI). However, energy burden inequity remains substantially with the CI value increases by up to 43% during …

Toward a Shared Zero-Carbon Energy Future: A Global Analysis of Rural Energy Cooperatives

Community energy models, exemplified by rural energy cooperatives, are playing a key role in accelerating the clean energy transition across many countries. In anticipation of the upcoming 2025 International Year of Cooperatives, this report explores the role of cooperatives as a collaborative model and an emerging player in the energy market. Based on global case studies, it provides an overview of rural energy cooperatives, illustrating various financing, profit, and benefit-distribution models, assessing their environmental, economic, and social impacts, and summarizing current trends and challenges facing their development.

This report also highlights the potential of rural energy cooperatives in driving energy …

Best Practices in Integrated Resource Planning: A Guide for Planners Developing the Electricity Resource Mix of the Future

Most states today require regulated electric utilities to file an IRP every 1 to 5 years, and some utilities voluntarily prepare these plans. Planning needs have changed in recent years due to emerging load growth, plant retirements, rising costs, and more extreme weather events – among other factors. In response, Synapse Energy Economics and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory produced a joint report, Best Practices in Integrated Resource Planning: A guide for planners developing the electricity resource mix of the future. The guide offers best planning practices for electricity systems undergoing a major transition, but also contains a wealth of practical …

The Sherco Clean Repowering: How One Community Turned a Coal Plant Into a Hub for a New Clean Economy

As coal plants begin to retire across the country, one Minnesota coal plant has used this opportunity to create new jobs, improve local economic development, and generate clean energy that will replace the electricity once provided by coal. The Sherburne County Generating Station in Minnesota — informally known as Sherco — was able to overcome the growing electricity demand that has caused some utilities to postpone retirements of other coal plants, and an interconnection queue process that delays new clean energy projects by a median of five years, to transition into the hub of a local clean economy.

The Sherco …

An Assessment of China’s Methane Mitigation Potential and Costs and Uncertainties Through 2060

China, the world’s largest methane emitter, is increasingly focused on methane mitigation in support of its climate goals, but gaps exist in the understanding of key methane sources, as well as mitigation opportunities and their associated uncertainties. We use a bottom-up modeling approach with updated methane emission projections and abatement cost analysis to account for additional sources, uncertainties, and mitigation measures in China’s energy and agricultural sectors. Here we show the significant cost-effective potential for reducing methane emissions in China by 2030, with 660 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent possible with average negative abatement costs of US$6.40 per tonne …