The OurEnergyLibrary aggregates and indexes publicly available fact sheets, journal articles, reports, studies, and other publications on U.S. energy topics. It is updated every week to include the most recent energy resources from academia, government, industry, non-profits, think tanks, and trade associations. Suggest a resource by emailing us at info@ourenergypolicy.org.
Resource Library
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Maintaining power system resource adequacy is a major investment. Over the past decade, the U.S. added over 100 GW of new capacity intended largely to maintain resource adequacy. This amounted to over $120 billion of capital investment, primarily in gas-fired generators and lithium-ion batteries.
Virtual Power Plants (VPPs) are an emerging alternative to conventional resource adequacy options. A VPP is a portfolio of actively controlled distributed energy resources (DERs). Operation of the DERs is optimized to provide benefits to the power system, consumers, and the environment. Within a decade, analysts forecast an inflection point in the trajectory of DER ownership. …
View Full ResourceAmmonia (NH3) is an energy-dense chemical and a vital component of fertilizer. In
addition, it is a carbon-neutral liquid fuel and a potential candidate for thermochemical
energy storage for high-temperature concentrating solar power (CSP).
The development of renewable, low-cost NH3 will be of great interest to the chemicals
industry, particularly agricultural sectors. The CSP industry should be both an important
customer and potential end-user of this technology, as it affords the capability of
synthesizing a promising thermochemical storage material on-site. Since the NH3
synthesis step also requires H2, there will exist a symbiotic relationship between this
technology and solar-thermochemical water-splitting …
The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ushered in a new era for the role of clean energy and storage in the transition to green energy. It also created an opportunity for non-lithium battery technologies manufactured in the U.S. to move more quickly toward commercialization – and compete with increasingly in-demand lithium-ion batteries for storage and electrification needs.
From long-duration storage and safety to long cycle life and slow degradation, non-lithium batteries offer many benefits over lithium ion, depending on the application. In this playbook, we dive into why the race is on to take advantage of the IRA. The playbook …
View Full ResourceThese Commercial Liftoff reports aim to establish a common fact base and ongoing dialogue with the private sector around the path to commercial lift-off for critical clean energy technologies. Their goal is to catalyze more rapid and coordinated action across the full technology value chain.
Modeling studies suggest reaching U.S. energy transition goals will require capturing and storing 400 to 1,800 million tonnes (MT) of carbon dioxide (CO2) annually by 2050, through both point-source carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) and carbon dioxide removal (CDR). Today, the U.S. has over 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of carbon capture capacity, …
View Full ResourceThe Inflation Reduction Act is poised to transform the U.S. energy landscape by lowering the cost of solar, wind, storage, and other zero-emissions technologies. However, only a fraction of land across the U.S. is suitable for developing these renewable projects. Siting power projects presents a host of challenges that could limit how much clean energy is brought to market and how fast the transition happens. In this paper, ICF experts leverage data and technology to identify the best locations for clean energy projects.
Download this paper to learn best practices for evaluating grid access and available capacity, key …
View Full ResourceSince the landmark Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) became law in August 2022, the private sector has been racing forward with massive investments to build our clean energy future. New manufacturing in wind, solar, batteries, and electric vehicles — along with storage projects across the country — mean new, good-paying jobs for hard-working Americans. In the months since the landmark climate and clean energy investments became law, clean energy companies have announced or moved forward with projects accounting for more than 142,000 new clean energy jobs for electricians, mechanics, construction workers, technicians, support staff, and many others.
At the same time …
View Full ResourceRenewables are growing rapidly in the electricity systems around the world as countries seek to improve their energy security, meet emission reduction targets and take advantage of cheaper electricity sources. Thanks to successful use of flexibility resources – from stronger grids and interconnections to demand-side measures, affordable storage and dispatchable power supply – many countries have already securely and efficiently integrated significant shares of variable renewables (VRE) in their electricity generation.
As wind and solar continue to grow as a proportion of generation, system level surpluses and periods of lower generation will eventually expand beyond hour-to-hour or daily variations to …
View Full ResourceAs we look to the future, improvements in technology and increased government involvement in energy markets means we will likely see more electric vehicles (EVs), batteries for storage, solar panels, wind turbines, and increased competitiveness of hydrogen technologies. In addition to improvements in technology, many governments and some businesses around the world are trying to set targets to reach net zero carbon dioxide emissions, which means reducing carbon dioxide emissions to as close to zero as possible so that any remaining emissions are reabsorbed from the atmosphere by oceans, forests, or other plants. The Biden administration, for example, has set …
View Full ResourceThe purpose of this report is to provide state lawmakers and regulators, electric utilities, the advanced energy industry, and other energy stakeholders with timely, accurate, and unbiased updates about how states are choosing to study, adopt, implement, amend, or discontinue policies associated with grid modernization. This report catalogues proposed and enacted legislative, regulatory, and rate design changes affecting grid modernization during the most recent quarter. The 50 States of Grid Modernization report series provides regular quarterly updates and annual summaries of grid modernization policy developments, keeping stakeholders informed and up to date.
In the first quarter of 2023, 47 states …
View Full ResourceOver the last few years, electric customers across the Southeast have felt the increase and volatility of natural gas prices directly on electric bills. Utilities in the region pass fuel costs directly on to customers, removing the risk of high and volatile fuel prices from a utility and placing it solely on the utility’s customers. Exactly how utilities pass these costs through varies by state, for instance some adjust a fuel cost portion of electric rates annually, some monthly, and some at more varied intervals. But for most of these utilities, those adjustments need the approval of state regulators. The …
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