Jumpstarting U.S. Clean Energy Manufacturing in Economic Stimulus and Infrastructure Legislation

In his 2016 campaign, candidate Donald Trump famously promised to revitalize American manufacturing and to pass major legislation to rebuild crumbling U.S. infrastructure. So far, in more than three years as President, he has done neither.

But in the face of the unprecedented COVID crisis, economic downturn and the worst unemployment since the Great Depression, many Democrats and some Republicans have begun to urge enactment of ambitious economic stimulus and recovery legislation, including a major infrastructure bill with a job-creating focus.

Properly structured stimulus and infrastructure legislation could help jumpstart U.S. manufacturing, which was already slumping badly under Trump throughout …

Corporate Case Study: Facebook’s Green Energy Goals Are Speeding the Transition of New Mexico’s Electricity Sector

The report—Corporate Renewables Case Study: Facebook’s Green Energy Goals Are Speeding the Transition Of New Mexico’s Electricity Sector—details how a Facebook data complex that broke ground in 2016, and that is now being expanded from 973,000 to 3 million square feet, has increased municipal revenues, created local jobs and driven Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM) to speed the buildout of utility-scale solar and wind statewide.

“While the state of New Mexico gave Facebook ample taxpayer-supported incentives to build at Los Lunas, such incentives are not uncommon, and they don’t always work,” notes the report. “What sets the Los …

At Scale, Renewable Natural Gas Systems Could Be Climate Intensive: The Influence of Methane Feedstock and Leakage Rates

Renewable natural gas (RNG) is a fuel comprised of essentially pure methane, usually derived from climate-neutral (e.g., biogenic or captured) carbon dioxide (CO2). RNG is proposed as a climate friendly direct substitute for fossil natural gas (FNG), with the goal of enabling diverse natural gas users to continue operating without substantial infrastructure overhauls. The assumption that such substitution is climate friendly relies on a major condition that is unlikely to be met: namely, that RNG is manufactured from waste methane that would otherwise have been emitted to the atmosphere. In practice, capturable waste methane is extremely limited and is more …

Investing in Climate Innovation: The Environmental Case for Direct Air Capture of Carbon Dioxide

This white paper makes the case for federal investment in an emerging technology, known as direct air capture of carbon dioxide, that could play a critical role in reducing climate change risks this century. It was developed by the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Direct Air Capture Advisory Council, which includes leaders from academia, the private sector, labor, and the NGO community.

Council members came together because we view DAC as a unique and potentially powerful complement to biological and other natural mechanisms for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and to available near-term options for reducing emissions. Further, we believe that …

The Value of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)

The new flagship Global CCS Institute thought leadership report analyzes the major benefits of the large-scale investment and deployment of CCS and discusses the existing evidence related to the value of CCS under two overarching themes.

CCS as an essential technology to economically meet long-term climate targets and for risk mitigation through:

Achieving deep decarbonisation in hard-to-abate industry;
Enabling the production of clean hydrogen at scale;
Providing low-carbon dispatchable power;
Delivering negative emissions.

CCS is a driver of economic growth and employment by:

Creating and sustaining jobs;
Supporting economic growth through new net-zero industries and innovation spillovers;
Facilitating a just …

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve: Background, Authorities, and Considerations

Crude oil price volatility has consequences for the U.S. and global economy. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), the U.S. stockpile of petroleum, has played a role in U.S. energy policy for over 40 years. The need for a stockpile of petroleum to help protect against supply disruptions became apparent after the 1973-1974 Arab oil embargo, during which time the average price of imported crude oil tripled.

The oil embargo also fostered the establishment of the International Energy Agency (IEA), an intergovernmental organization, and the development of coordinated plans and measures among IEA members for emergency responses to energy crises. Strategic …

Climate Solutions Series: Decarbonizing the Electric Power Sector

In 2018, the power sector emitted 13.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, 41 percent of total global emissions.1 To have a chance of holding global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to its preindustrial level, global emissions from all economic sectors, including the power sector, must be reduced to net-zero around 2050.2

One of the challenges of decarbonizing the power sector is sufficiently reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions while guaranteeing reliability, security, and affordability. Solar and wind power are zero-carbon technologies, but their variability could challenge grid stability if they are not properly balanced by …

Estimating U.S. Energy Demand And Emissions Impacts Of COVID-19 With The Energy Policy Simulator

This research note compares Energy Policy Simulator outputs across three different GDP outlooks and finds that short-term emissions are dependent on the severity of COVID-19 impacts, with 2020 U.S. emissions reductions ranging from 7 to 11 percent relative to 2019. Emissions will likely approach pre-COVID-19 levels by 2025, and COVID-19 is not likely to have a material impact on annual emissions in 2030 or cumulative emissions through 2050.…

The Impact of Covid-19 on Global Supply Chains and Sanctions

The coronavirus outbreak has once again placed a spotlight on global supply chains, particularly those that are involved in the fabrication of medicines, medical equipment, and vaccines. Right now, much of the discussion around these supply chains is in the arena of high-level politics. Observers and officials of a protectionist bent—such as Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to Donald Trump—have used the occasion to emphasize that “if we learn anything from this crisis, [it is that] never again should we have to depend on the rest of the world for our essential medicines and counter-measures.” Others have argued instead that …

The Impact of a Revenue Neutral Carbon Tax on Substitution of Natural Gas for Coal in the Electricity Sector

Due to low natural gas prices and the environmental advantages of natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) compared to coal, NGCC is replacing coal generators as the inframarginal providers of electricity. However, on average, NGCCs are running only 54 percent of the time. Utilizing excess NGCC capacity further, in place of coal generation, is a short-term solution for reducing greenhouse gases.

This research evaluates the impact of a carbon tax on substitution of natural gas for coal in the electricity sector. A carbon tax would influence the economics that system operators consider when determining how much to run a power plant. …