Energy-from-Waste as a Carbon Dioxide Removal Pathway in the United Kingdom

This report evaluates the potential of Energy-from-Waste (EfW) combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) to generate high quality, highly durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) Credits. With over fifty operational EfW plants, generating CDR credits for EfW with CCS presents a significant opportunity for the UK.

CDR credits have largely been traded in unregulated voluntary markets, where registries set the rules for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV), however governments are increasingly developing regulations that formalize MRV requirements. This report sets out the crediting process, the requirements of a robust MRV framework and considerations for durable storage of captured carbon dioxide …

Direct Air Capture: Definition and Company Analysis

Direct air capture, hereafter referred to as DAC, is an emerging technology that will be an important part of the portfolio of technologies enabling atmospheric carbon dioxide removal (CDR). This report provides a background on the technology, explains potentially required levels of deployment, discusses the U.S. Department of Energy’s role in supporting DAC, offers a precise definition of the technology, and provides a list of companies working on DAC with corresponding analysis of trends. The intended audience includes those working in the CDR field as well as anyone generally interested in learning more about the development and status of direct …

Next Generation Energy Efficiency Resource Standards Update

Presently, 26 states plus the District of Columbia have EERS policies in place. These states accounted for over 80% of utility energy efficiency program savings in 2023, making EERS policies a critical part of utility energy efficiency programs. On average, in 2023, utilities achieved 99% of their EERS goals, with some utilities exceeding goals and others falling a little short. Utilities exceeding goals were often aided by performance incentives that reward utilities for exceeding EERS minimums.

In this study, the authors examined four specific next generation elements:
– Mandatory emissions reduction targets or a decarbonization goal
– Electrification, including enabling …

A Review of Value of Solar Studies In Theory and In Practice

Though most states in the United States required net metering as of 2024 (i.e., compensating solar output at the full electricity rate), many have taken recent action to address distributed generation compensation and valuation. One common action is for states to commission value of solar (VoS) studies that quantify the value and costs associated with distributed solar output to inform solar tariff and incentive design.

This brief summarizes a collection of state- and utility-commissioned VoS studies and related literature, with a focus on who commissioned the study, which value and cost categories were discussed and/or quantified, and the methods used. …

Evaluating GHG Mitigation Potential from ESPC Projects

This report explores the impact of implemented ESPC projects on the projected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions in the U.S. buildings sector, and the associated projected annual cost savings and marginal abatement costs. It is important to investigate the role that energy retrofits can play in achieving GHG emission reduction targets given the use of ESPC by public agencies to reduce emissions from energy use in addition to the historical use of ESPC to to achieve cost/energy savings and ancillary benefits (e.g., addressing deferred maintenance, aging infrastructure, etc.). The analysis draws from LBNL’s eProject Builder (ePB) database, which contains approximately …

Moving Beyond Direct Load Control: A Maturity Model for Realizing the Promise of Demand Flexibility

This report discusses a new maturity model that regulators and utilities can use to guide and expand demand flexibility programs and enable the resources to provide more grid services. The model has six demand flexibility categories: planning and design; customer engagement; program operations; evaluation, measurement and verification; distributed energy resource orchestration; and data infrastructure. Within each category, capabilities are identified and described on a maturity scale that ranges from performing below expectations to improving on best practices. …

Virtual Power Plants: Insights, Profiles and Inventory

Increased adoption of distributed energy resources (DERs), growing quantities of renewable energy on the grid, and load growth from buildings, industry, and data centers are driving the need for increased demand flexibility and solutions to reliably and cost-effectively balance electricity supply and demand. In order to deploy DERs on a similar scale as conventional supply-side resources, utilities and state decision-makers are exploring a range of programmatic approaches and market designs, including Virtual Power Plants (VPP).

Based on interviews with more than twenty subject matter experts on VPPs, the Insights into Scaling Virtual Power Plants report and appendix outlines actions that …

Insight Brief: AI for Transportation Electrification

Rising electric vehicle adoption is both a challenge and an opportunity for electric utilities. Utilities use a variety of information-gathering tools to form transportation electrification strategies and implement customer offerings like active managed charging programs.

This brief takes a closer look at where AI dovetails with transportation electrification, how AI-based EV detection and EV characterization with meter data work, and what two utilities have achieved by using machine learning insights to inform plans and programs. Our resource is intended to educate utility staff and their stakeholders with limited previous exposure to machine learning and other forms of AI. We present:…

The Economic Impact of Renewable Energy and Energy Storage Investments Across Texas

This report is an update to a previous version that assessed the taxes and landowner payments paid by wind, solar, and energy storage projects. This report builds on the previous analysis by updating estimates of the local taxes and landowner payments that wind, solar, and energy storage will make over their lifetimes.

By their very nature, rural counties tend to depend more on agriculture and have fewer people and less industry per area than other regions. This arrangement is desirable for many Texans, but higher levels of ag-exempt land mean smaller tax bases, which can strain the budgets of rural …

Recommendations of the Electric Vehicle Working Group – 2024

The EVWG group is charged with developing three reports, and interim recommendations to the Secretaries on critical issues that need more immediate attention. The first report was produced in April 2024. After receiving public input, holding multiple subcommittee meetings among subject matter experts from the Working Group, and deliberating on the most pressing issues in the light-, medium-, and heavy-duty EV market, the EVWG has developed the following initial recommendations. These recommendations are deemed critical and in need of immediate attention.

The recommendations fall into three broad categories:
– Public Communications and Information Dissemination
– Grid Integration
– Research and …