Energy Policy Now

Princeton University researchers have launched a global survey aimed at spotting and eliminating practical barriers to a net-zero carbon future. Description Much work needs to be done, very quickly, if if a net-zero carbon economy is to become reality by the middle of this century. Yet, the fact is that the current rate of investment in clean energy technology and today’s pace of clean infrastruct...

PJM Interconnection is in a race to shore up electric grid reliability as the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy accelerates. --- In February PJM Interconnection, the largest wholesale electricity market in the US, published a report that points to the very real possibility that electricity supply in the market could fall short of the level needed for reliable grid operation in just five...

A senior climate diplomat discusses scientific, economic, and diplomatic barriers to rapid global decarbonization. --- In March the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released the final volume of its Sixth Assessment report on progress toward addressing climate change. The findings of the report aren’t encouraging, and point to an acceleration of climate impacts and continued growth in foss...

New research examines the relationship between climate change-related events and returns on green investment, and why returns for green stocks might lag those of brown. --- At first look it would seem to make sense that, as climate concerns grow, green investments would outperform investments in dirty industries. To put this into an energy context, as policymakers require more renewable energy to...

New research looks into the coping mechanisms that families use to navigate energy insecurity, as a guide for policy-based solutions. --- The number of American households experiencing energy insecurity spiked during the COVID pandemic in 2020, as growing unemployment and falling incomes made it difficult for more households to balance utility bills with other financial demands. Yet the rising inc...

A working paper from WRI, the International Solar Alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies examines the essential role of private finance in scaling solar power development. --- A recent working paper from the World Resources Institute, the International Solar Alliance and Bloomberg Philanthropies finds that $1 trillion must be invested into solar energy by 2030 if global warming is to be kept within...

Judy Chang, former Massachusetts undersecretary of Energy and Climate Solutions, discusses the need to educate consumers on the imperative to cut building emissions. --- Residential and commercial buildings account for nearly a third of climate warming greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.  Yet efforts to reduce the climate footprint of buildings have become political lightning rods.  Loc...

Daniel Poneman, former U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary and current CEO of Centrus Energy, explores resurgent interest in nuclear power a decade after Fukushima. --- Growing concern over energy security and climate change has revived interest in nuclear power in some of the world’s most energy-intensive economies. In Japan, nuclear generators that closed following the 2011 Fukushima disaster are reope...

Scott Moore, author of China’s Next Act , discusses China’s global role in energy technology and sustainability. --- China is indispensable in the global effort to address climate change and speed forward the transition to clean energy. Yet the country, which leads the world in both energy consumption and the manufacture of clean energy technologies, finds itself engaged in increasingly tense dipl...

Berkeley economist Meredith Fowlie explains why the drive to electrify everything in American homes is at odds with electricity rate setting practices, and explores pricing reforms to deliver rapid and equitable electrification.  --- “Electrify everything” has become a mantra of decarbonization, and it’s one of the key strategies to reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Yet the process of electrifyin...

As energy industry growth shifts to the clean sector, oil and gas industry workers seek their paths forward. --- The past three years have been a particularly volatile period for the oil and gas industry. The sector has been impacted by the Covid pandemic, during which energy demand crashed and the price of oil contracts briefly went negative. More recently, oil and gas prices reached peaks in res...

Andrew Hoffman, dean of Penn’s School of Veterinary Medicine, explores the intersection of climate change, agricultural sustainability, and food security. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share their observations from the global climate conference and insights into key issues un...

COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt has been called the “implementation COP”. Yet concern exists that the COP process may be ill suited to putting climate plans into action. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share their observations from the global climate conference and insights int...

Food waste is a major driver of climate change, and a cause of food insecurity. UPenn’s Steven Finn highlights the challenge and solutions discussed at COP27. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share observations from the global climate conference and insights into key issues unde...

Scott Moore, Director of the Penn Global China Program, discusses China’s perspective on loss and damage finance, and the country’s future role in the Paris climate process. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share observations from the global climate conference and insights into...

Three experts on cities discuss the efforts of urban communities to navigate climate change. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share their observations from the global climate conference and insights into key issues under negotiation. Eugenie Birch, Bill Burke-White, and Mauricio...

New research explores ways to measure countries' success in adapting to climate change. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share their observations from the global climate conference and insights into key issues under negotiation. Allison Lassiter of the University of Pennsylvania...

Loss and damage finance has made it onto the official COP agenda for the first time at Sharm El-Sheikh. An expert on small island states discusses why the issue has been so contentious. --- Experts from the University of Pennsylvania are on the ground at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. In this special series from Energy Policy Now, they share their observations from the global climate conference...

New research from Resources for the Future quantifies the Inflation Reduction Act's expected impact on clean energy development, energy costs, and emissions. --- The Inflation Reduction Act provides hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of incentives for clean energy, and is a key part of the U.S.’s effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. New research from Resources for the Future examines...

West Virginia’s coal industry has out-sized influence in the state’s politics, and in Washington. But the industry’s power has come at a cost to West Virginians. --- The state of West Virginia has made headlines over the past year on the high profile of its senior senator, Joe Manchin, who has been the swing vote in the Senate on major energy legislation. Most dramatically, Manchin’s last-minute d...

Green hydrogen hubs are being developed in some of the world’s most remote locations, to serve growing clean energy demand in Asia, Europe and the U.S. --- Alicia Eastman, President of Intercontinental Energy, discusses the nascent global market for green hydrogen and her company’s development of more than 100 gigawatts of hydrogen production hubs along coastal deserts in the Arabian Peninsula and...

A former senior U.S. diplomat to Saudi Arabia explores the kingdom’s effort to end its dependence on oil revenue, and the relationship between Saudi Arabia and global efforts to decarbonize. --- Saudi Arabia is the world’s leading exporter of oil. Yet it is also a country that is in the midst of an ambitious drive to end its dependence on oil revenue as the foundation of its national economy. Saud...

A prominent advocate for indigenous rights in Canada sees promise in clean energy. --- The Canadian province of Alberta is home to the Oil Sands, a vast subarctic region that is rich in crude oil, and which has been a focus of controversy for decades over the environmental and climate impacts of the fossil fuel mining that takes place there. Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a prominent indigenous rights a...

The United States’ electricity regulator has proposed two major electricity market reforms that could speed the pace of renewable energy development.  --- In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of proposed clean energy projects in the United States. In fact, the amount of clean energy that’s waiting in line to connect to the nation’s electric grid is greater than the tota...

The fossil fuel industry is investing billions of dollars into projects that will use carbon dioxide captured from the air to produce more oil. What will be the climate impact? --- In April the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change identified carbon dioxide removal as an essential tool in the global effort to achieve net zero carbon emissions. One technology-based type of carbon dioxide remova...