Rooftop Solar Incentives Remain Effective for Low- and Moderate-Income Adoption

Financial incentives for rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) adoption have declined in the United States over time by policy design. Incentive phase-down can efficiently promote early adoption and avoid ineffective payments to late adopters. However, incentive phase-down may exclude low- and moderate-income (LMI) households from realizing the same financial benefits from PV adoption as high-income early adopters. Here, data from two state-level LMI PV incentive programs are analyzed to test whether incentives still drive PV adoption among LMI households. As a first order approximation, the analysis suggests that incentives drove adoption that would not otherwise have happened in about 80% …

Building Electrification: Steps to start now amid an uncertain future

Fossil fuel combustion attributed to residential and commercial buildings accounts for 15% to 25% of economy-level greenhouse gas emissions—which means that building electrification will play a strong role in creating a clean energy future. But there is no one-size-fits-all way to electrify buildings. Geography, climate, existing building stock, technology innovation, and governmental preferences have created a complex decision matrix for utilities to navigate.

How can you manage the considerable uncertainty about building electrification cost and feasibility? What can you do now to decarbonize through building electrification with such an unsure future?

In this paper, industry experts Val Jensen and Duncan …

Community Outreach and Solar Equity: A Guide for States on Collaborating with Community-Based Organizations

This guide is aimed at state energy agencies that are looking to strengthen their relationships with local under-resourced communities or are beginning to engage in energy justice work. The guide is a collection of best practices, ideas, and principles that provide states a foundation for building equitable relationships with community-based organizations (CBOs) and for working with them on solar development.

Partnerships between state energy agencies and CBOs are a key component of advancing energy justice. Solar development in under-resourced communities will be most effective and equitable when trusted community organizations are involved. Community engagement can lead to innovative, equitable, and …

Embracing Clean Heat Opportunities for Zero-Emission Industrial Boilers

This paper is a tailored resource for regulatory agencies, state policymakers, and local advocates who can seize this tremendous opportunity to lead on climate action, tackle a major source of hazardous pollution, protect community health, and advance environmental justice.

The solutions proposed in this paper are cost-effective and immediately deployable. The lifetime pollution reduction benefits from replacing gas-fired boilers with heat pumps outweigh the upfront costs in the vast majority of cases. Decarbonizing industrial boilers offers a savvy, effective win for policymakers while delivering life-changing benefits for frontline communities.…

Considerations for Washington’s Linkage Negotiations with California and Québec

Washington State is exploring linking its cap-and-invest emissions trading system with the already linked market of California and Québec. To inform the discussions, Resources for the Future analyzed auction allowance revenue and emissions both with and without linkage and studied how the range of outcomes could affect Washington’s environmentally overburdened communities designated as highly impacted by air pollution.

The analysis found that linkage would lead to greater regional emissions reductions, more regional environmental benefits, and a more affordable program because of the expanded emissions reduction opportunities across the linked jurisdictions. However, assuming no new state policy interventions, Washington’s revenue would …

Impact of Truck Electrification on Air Pollution Disparities in the United States

Electrifying heavy-duty trucks reduces on-road diesel emissions but shifts the burden of supplying energy to power-generation facilities. The combined effect of Inflation Reduction Act investments in grid decarbonization and truck electrification will alter the magnitude and distribution of air pollution burdens across the United States. These investments are intended to facilitate a just energy transition, with 40% of the benefits flowing to disadvantaged communities per the Justice40 Initiative. Here we evaluate the combined effects of Inflation Reduction Act grid decarbonization and truck electrification investments on a national scale to determine whether the air pollution benefits would meet this 40% goal …

Equitable Resilience: Opportunities to Advance Solar Paired with Battery Storage in Historically Marginalized Communities

The number of solar and battery storage installations nationwide is increasing year-over-year. Yet, these technologies remain largely inaccessible to historically marginalized communities, including low-income communities, communities of color, and environmental justice communities. As power outages continue to increase in occurrence and severity – due, primarily, to more extreme weather events and the failure of outdated fossil-fuel polluting energy infrastructure – the economic, reliability, and resilience benefits of battery storage will be more important than ever.  

This report by Clean Energy Group (CEG) presents findings resulting from the Resilience, Storage and Grid Benefits Community of Practice, an effort through the Equitable …

Rooftop Coverage Alternatives: Assessing Benefits for Grove Hall

On behalf of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets (GGHMS), Assistant Researcher Elisabeth Seliga, Assistant Researcher Sumera Patel, and Senior Researcher Joshua R. Castigliego prepared an issue brief examining a set of rooftop coverage alternatives (i.e., solar photovoltaic (PV), green, white, blue, and brown roofs) aimed at addressing the unique energy and environmental challenges faced by Boston’s Grove Hall community, highlighting the potential for a systems approach encompassing each rooftop coverage alternative to enhance energy efficiency and alleviate energy burden in a region characterized by urban heat island effects and a high share of environmental justice (EJ) populations. The issue brief …

Are Cities Ready to Synergise Climate Neutrality and Air Quality Efforts?

This study investigates the alignment of climate change mitigation with air quality initiatives in 362 (mostly European) cities eligible under the Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities Mission, hence targeting net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030. It examines ambient air quality, particularly PM2.5 concentration levels, and GHG emissions, considering physical attributes, policy frameworks, and local authority actions.

The research finds a north-to-south gradient in air quality, with northern cities exhibiting better air conditions, and a strong correlation between sectors contributing to GHG emissions and air pollution. Cities’ strategies are dominated by cross-sectoral plans and assessing air quality as a co-benefit of …

Tribal-State Collaboration on Sustainability and Solar Development: A Case Study of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Tribal and State governments have a unique and often misunderstood relationship. State government employees are often not aware that Tribes are sovereign entities and not subject to their laws, regulations, or processes on Tribal lands. This lack of understanding causes situations in which consultation with Tribes is overlooked or inadequate, which further strains relationships and can threaten Tribal sovereignty and self-determination. Similarly, a lack of understanding of Tribal processes often leads to the incorrect assertion that the Tribe must follow the State’s processes, including their extensive paperwork. Despite these challenges, there has been more collaboration between Tribal and State governments …