Marilyn A. Brown
Regents' Professor
- School of Public Policy
- Climate and Energy Policy Laboratory
- ADVANCE IAC
- Technology Policy and Assessment Center
Overview
Marilyn Brown is a Regents' and Brook Byers Professor of Sustainable Systems in the School of Public Policy. She joined Georgia Tech in 2006 after a distinguished career at the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she led several national climate change mitigation studies and became a leader in the analysis and interpretation of energy futures in the United States.
Her research focuses on the design and impact of policies aimed at accelerating the development and deployment of sustainable energy technologies, with an emphasis on the electric utility industry, the integration of energy efficiency, demand response, and solar resources, and ways of improving resiliency to disruptions. Her books include Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2016), Green Savings: How Policies and Markets Drive Energy Efficiency (Praeger, 2015), and Climate Change and Global Energy Security (MIT Press, 2011). She has authored more than 250 publications. Her work has had significant visibility in the policy arena as evidenced by her numerous briefings and testimonies before state legislative bodies and Committees of both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
Dr. Brown co-founded the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance and chaired its Board of Directors for several years. She has served on the Boards of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy and the Alliance to Save Energy, and was a commissioner with the Bipartisan Policy Center. She has served on eight National Academies committees and is an Editor of Energy Policy and an Editorial Board member of Energy Efficiency and Energy Research and Social Science. She served two terms (2010-2017) as a Presidential appointee and regulator on the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation’s largest public power provider. From 2014-2018 she served on DOE’s Electricity Advisory Committee, where she led the Smart Grid Subcommittee.
- Ph.D., Ohio State University, Geography
- M.R.P., University of Massachusetts, Regional Planning
- B.A., Rutgers University, Political Science
Distinctions:
- 2020, Elected Member, National Academy of Engineering
- 2020, Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences
- 2017, Regents Professor
- Brook Byers Chaired Professor, Institute of Sustainable Systems, 2014-2018.
- 2016 Alliance to Save Energy "Star of Energy Efficiency"
- DOE Electricity Advisory Board, 2014-2018
- 2013, “Who’s Who in Sustainability”, Atlanta Business Chronicle.
- DOE Ambassador for Clean Energy Education and Empowerment, 2013-2017
- 2012 Southface Energy Institute Award of Excellence
- Presidential Appointment: Board of Directors, TVA, 2010-2017.
Interests
- Clean Energy
- Climate Change Adaptation
- Climate Change Mitigation
- Energy Efficiency
- Energy Markets
- Energy, Climate and Environmental Policy
- Financing and Subsidies
- Information Programs
- Innovation and Diffusion
- Institutional Analysis
- Market-based Incentives
- Regulations and Standards
- Smart Grid
- Transportation
- Voluntary Programs
Focuses:
- Europe
- United States
- United States - Georgia
- United States - Southeast
- Energy
- Environment
Courses
- PUBP-3350: Energy Policy
- PUBP-6001: Intro to Public Policy
- PUBP-6201: Public Policy Analysis
- PUBP-6352: Utility Reg & Policy
- PUBP-6701: Energy Technol & Policy
- PUBP-8833: Special Topics
Publications
Recent Publications
Journal Articles
- Toward residential decarbonization: Analyzing social-psychological drivers of household co-adoption of rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and efficient HVAC systems in Georgia, US
In: Renewable Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2024
- Achieving Decentralized, Electrified, and Decarbonized Ammonia Production
In: Environmental Science & Technology [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2024
- The importance of co-adoption pathways
In: Joule
Date: November 2023
- Exploring the willingness of consumers to electrify their homes
In: Applied Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2023
- The size, causes, and equity implications of the demand-response gap
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2021
All Publications
Books
- Empowering the Great Energy Transition: Policy for a Low-Carbon Future
Date: 2019
- Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy
Date: April 2016
- Green Savings: How Policies and Markets Drive Energy Efficiency
Date: 2015
- Climate Change and Global Energy Security
Date: 2011
In this book, Marilyn Brown and Benjamin Sovacool offer detailed assessments of the most advanced commercially available technologies for strengthening global energy security, mitigating the effects of climate change, and enhancing ...
- Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America
Date: 2009
- Energy and American Society - Thirteen myths
Date: December 2007
Current events related to energy policy - skyrocketing gasoline prices, the 2003 Northeast Blackout, the Kyoto Protocol's enactment, passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, and the influence of recent Gulf Coast hurricanes on energy supplies and prices - demand innovative approaches towards conceptualizing the relationship between energy and American society. This book takes on a central quandary in the study of energy and environmental policy: What myths continue to exist in American culture concerning energy, the environment, and society? It enrolls twenty-four of the nation's top experts working on energy policy in industry, government laboratories, utilities, nonprofit organizations, and universities to debunk and contextualize thirteen energy myths relating to electric power, renewable energy, energy efficiency, transportation, and climate change. While the book focuses on the American experience, it will be of interest to those working in the fields of energy policy, energy and the environment, and technology assessment worldwide. 'This is a brilliant, bold, and fascinating book . that should be read by anybody even remotely concerned about energy, the environment, or the future of American society.' Art Rosenfeld, Commissioner, California Energy Commission and recipient of the 2006 Enrico Fermi Award'. This work is a must-read for anyone interested in American energy policy.' Kateri Callahan, President, Alliance to Save Energy'. By collecting the best minds to debunk the greatest of these myths, Sovacool and Brown have brought us a step closer to finding a national energy policy based on common sense.' Chris Cooper, Executive Director, Network for New Energy Choices'. Sovacool and Brown provide a bold and imaginative way forward.' John A. "Skip" Laitner, Visiting Fellow and Senior Economist, American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy. © 2007 Springer. All Rights Reserved.
- Towards a Climate-Friendly Built Environment
Date: 2005
Journal Articles
- Toward residential decarbonization: Analyzing social-psychological drivers of household co-adoption of rooftop solar, electric vehicles, and efficient HVAC systems in Georgia, US
In: Renewable Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2024
- Achieving Decentralized, Electrified, and Decarbonized Ammonia Production
In: Environmental Science & Technology [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 2024
- The importance of co-adoption pathways
In: Joule
Date: November 2023
- Exploring the willingness of consumers to electrify their homes
In: Applied Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2023
- The size, causes, and equity implications of the demand-response gap
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2021
- Could the U.S. Become a Role Model for Electricity Decarbonization?
In: One Earth
Date: April 2021
- A Framework for Localizing Global Climate Solutions and their Carbon Reduction Potential
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 2021
- Estimating Employment from Energy-Efficiency Investments
In: MethodsX [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- High energy burden and low-income energy affordability: conclusions from a literature review
In: Progress in Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- The continuing evolution of Energy Policy
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- The Persistence of High Energy Burdens: A Bibliometric Analysis of Vulnerability, Poverty, and Exclusion in the United States
In: Energy Research and Social Science [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2020
- Relaxing Energy Policies Coupled with Climate Change Will Significantly Undermine Efforts to Attain US Ozone Standards
In: One Earth
Date: October 2019
- Expert perceptions of enhancing grid resilience with electric vehicles in the United States
In: Energy Research and Social Science
Date: 2019
- How secure are national energy systems: A dynamic assessment approach
In: Ecological Indicators. Volume 18
Date: 2019
- Impact of Energy-Efficiency Policies on Innovation: The Case of Lighting Technologies
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
- Justice, Poverty, and Electricity Decarbonization
In: The Electricity Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
- Low-Income Energy Affordability in an Era of Energy Abundance
In: Progress in Energy, Vol. 1
Date: 2019
- The Economic and Environmental Performance of Biomass Power as an Intermediate Resource for Power Production
In: Utilities Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
Electricity powered by biomass is expanding. We examine four recent biopower plants and global benchmarks to assess their overall performance, confirming the characterization of biomass as an “intermediate” resource for power production. Electricity from biomass is more expensive than energy efficiency, natural gas, wind, or solar but substantially less expensive than new coal or nuclear plants. Compared to coal and natural gas per MWh produced, the NOx and SO2 emissions of biopower are also intermediate. We document that current investments in biopower can be attributed to an array of stakeholder value propositions extending beyond basic economic and environmental metrics.
- Understanding renewable energy policy adoption and evolution in Europe: The impact of coercion, normative emulation, competition, and learning
In: Energy Research and Social Sciences [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019
- Climate research priorities for policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists in Georgia, USA
In: Environmental Management
Date: May 2018
Climate change has far-reaching effects on human and ecological systems, requiring collaboration across sectors and disciplines to determine effective responses. To inform regional responses to climate change, decision-makers need credible and relevant information representing a wide swath of knowledge and perspectives. The southeastern U. S. State of Georgia is a valuable focal area for study because it contains multiple ecological zones that vary greatly in land use and economic activities, and it is vulnerable to diverse climate change impacts. We identified 40 important research questions that, if answered, could lay the groundwork for effective, science-based climate action in Georgia. Top research priorities were identified through a broad solicitation of candidate research questions (180 were received). A group of experts across sectors and disciplines gathered for a workshop to categorize, prioritize, and filter the candidate questions, identify missing topics, and rewrite questions. Participants then collectively chose the 40 most important questions. This cross-sectoral effort ensured the inclusion of a diversity of topics and questions (e.g., coastal hazards, agricultural production, ecosystem functioning, urban infrastructure, and human health) likely to be important to Georgia policy-makers, practitioners, and scientists. Several cross-cutting themes emerged, including the need for long-term data collection and consideration of at-risk Georgia citizens and communities. Workshop participants defined effective responses as those that take economic cost, environmental impacts, and social justice into consideration. Our research highlights the importance of collaborators across disciplines and sectors, and discussing challenges and opportunities that will require transdisciplinary solutions.
- Low-carbon technology diffusion in the decarbonization of the power sector: Policy implications
In: Energy Policy
Date: May 2018
The Chinese power sector faces a significant challenge in attempting to mitigate its CO2 emissions while meeting its fast-growing demand for electricity. To address this challenge, an analytical framework is proposed that incorporates technological learning curves in a technology optimization model. The framework is employed to evaluate the technology trajectories, resource utilization and economic impacts in the power sector of Tianjin in 2005–2050. Using multi-scenario analysis, this study reveals that CO2 emissions could be significantly reduced if relevant mitigation policies are introduced. The main technologies adopted are ultra-super-critical combustion, integrated gasification combined cycle, wind power, hydropower, biomass power, solar photovoltaic power and solar thermal power. Despite uncertainties, nuclear power and CO2 capture and storage technology could be cost competitive in the future. The CO2 emissions cap policy has the advantage of realizing an explicit goal in the target year, while the renewable energy policy contributes to more cumulative CO2 emissions reduction and coal savings. A carbon taxof 320 CNY/ton CO2 would contribute to early renewable energy development and more CO2 reduction in the short run. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to examine the impacts on the power system of learning rates, technology cost reductions and energy fuel price trajectories.
- Smart grid governance: An international review of evolving policy issues and innovations
In: WIREs Energy and Environment [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2018
The electric power systems of many industrialized nations are challenged by the need to accommodate distributed renewable generation, increasing demands of a digital society, growing threats to infrastructure security, and concerns over global climate disruption. The “smart grid”—with a two‐way flow of electricity and information between utilities and consumers—can help address these challenges, but various financial, regulatory, and technical obstacles hinder its rapid deployment. An overview of experiences with smart grids policies in pioneering countries shows that many governments have designed interventions to overcome these barriers and to facilitate grid modernization. Smart grid policies include a new generation of regulations and finance models such as regulatory targets, requirements for data security and privacy, renewable energy credits, and various interconnection tariffs and utility subsidies.
- Estimating residential energy consumption in metropolitan areas: A microsimulation approach
In: Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2018
- Recent Developments and Future Directions at Energy Policy
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2018
- Infrastructure Ecology: An Evolving Paradigm for Sustainable Urban Development
In: Journal of Cleaner Production [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2017
Increasing urbanization places cities at the forefront of achieving global sustainability. For cities to become more sustainable, however, the infrastructure on which they rely must also become more productive, efficient and resilient. Unfortunately the current paradigm of urban infrastructure development is fragmented in approach lacking a systems perspective. Urban infrastructure systems are analogous to ecological systems because they are interconnected, complex and adaptive components that exchange material, information and energy among themselves and to and from the environment, and exhibit characteristic scaling properties that can be expressed by Zipf's Law. Analyzing them together as a whole, as one would do for an ecological system, provides a better understanding about their dynamics and interactions, and enables system-level optimization. The adoption of this “infrastructure ecology” approach will result in urban (re)development that requires lower investment of financial and natural resources to build and maintain, is more sustainable (e.g. uses less materials and energy and generates less waste) and resilient, and enables a greater and more equitable opportunities for the creation of wealth and comfort. The 12 guiding principles of infrastructure ecology will provide a set of goals for urban planners, engineers and other decision-makers in an urban system for urban (re)development.
- Machine Learning Approaches to Estimating Commercial Building Energy Consumption
In: Applied Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2017
- Peak Shifting and Cross-Class Subsidization: The Impacts of Solar PV on Changes in Electricity Costs
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2017
- Commercial Cogeneration Benefits Depend on Market Rules, Rates, and Policies
In: Environmental Research Letters
Date: 2017
- Energy Resources and Use
In: The International Encyclopedia of Geography: People, the Earth, Environment, and Technology [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2017
- Energy-Efficiency Skeptics and Advocates: The Debate Heats Up as the Stakes Rise
In: Energy Efficiency
Date: 2017
- Exploring the Impact of Energy Efficiency as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2017
- Large-scale PV power generation in China: A grid parity and techno-economic analysis
In: Energy
Date: 2017
- U.S. Sulfur Dioxide Emission Reductions: Shifting Factors and a Carbon Dioxide Penalty
In: The Electricity Journal
Date: 2017
- Understanding Pressures for Renewable Energy Policy Adoption and Evolution: Coercion, Emulation, Competition and Learning
In: Journal of Cleaner Production
Date: 2017
- Mandating better buildings: A global review of building codes and prospects for improvement in the United States
In: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2016
© 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.This paper provides a global overview of the design, implementation, and evolution of building energy codes. Reflecting alternative policy goals, building energy codes differ significantly across the United States, the European Union, and China. This review uncovers numerous innovative practices including greenhouse gas emissions caps per square meter of building space, energy performance certificates with retrofit recommendations, and inclusion of renewable energy to achieve 'nearly zero-energy buildings'. These innovations motivated an assessment of an aggressive commercial building code applied to all US states, requiring both new construction and buildings with major modifications to comply with the latest version of the ASHRAE 90.1 Standards. Using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), we estimate that by 2035, such building codes in the United States could reduce energy for space heating, cooling, water heating, and lighting in commercial buildings by 16%, 15%, 20%, and 5%, respectively. Impacts on different fuels and building types, energy rates and bills as well as pollution emission reductions are also examined.
- Modeling climate-driven changes in U.S. buildings energy demand
In: Climatic Change [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2016
© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.How climate change might impact energy demand is not well understood, yet energy forecasting requires that assumptions be specified. This paper reviews the literature on the relationship between global warming and the demand for space cooling in buildings. It then estimates two key parameters that link energy for space cooling to cooling degree days (CDDs) using data for nine U.S. Census divisions, which is the spatial resolution of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS). The first parameter is the set point temperature for calculating CDDs; the second is the exponent for representing the relationship between changes in CDDs and changes in electricity consumption for space cooling. We find that the best-fitting CDDs have a set point of 67 °F (19.4 °C), for both residential and commercial buildings, rather than the conventional 65 °F (18.3 °C). Set points also vary by region, with warmer regions tending to have higher set points. When CDDs are based on the conventional set point, the best fitting exponent is 1.5 for both residential and commercial buildings, indicating that space cooling is more climate-sensitive than is specified in NEMS. As a result, the official projections of U.S. energy consumption would appear to underestimate the energy required for space cooling. - Opportunities and insights for Reducing Fossil Fuel Consumption by Households and Organizations
Date: 2016
- Alternative Business Models for Energy Efficiency: Emerging Trends in the Southeast
In: Electricity Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
© 2015 Elsevier Inc.An analysis of approaches to allocating the costs and benefits of ratepayer-funded energy-efficiency programs in the Southeast - a region that generally lags in energy-efficiency programs - indicates that these programs would have only modest impacts on average electricity bills and rates, while significantly reducing electricity costs to participants. Utility earnings are reduced by energy-efficiency programs, but they can be restored by various business model features. - Deconstructing facts and frames in energy research: Maxims for evaluating contentious problems
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.In this article, we argue that assumptions and values can play a combative, corrosive role in the generation of objective energy analysis. We then propose six maxims for energy analysts and researchers. Our maxim of information asks readers to keep up to date on trends in energy resources and technology. Our maxim of inclusivity asks readers to involve citizens and other public actors more in energy decisions. Our maxim of symmetry asks readers to keep their analysis of energy technologies centered always on both technology and society. Our maxim of reflexivity asks readers to be self-aware of one's assumptions. Our maxim of prudence asks readers to make energy decisions that are ethical or at least informed. Our maxim of agnosticism asks readers to look beyond a given energy technology to the services it provides and recognize that many systems can provide a desired service. We conclude that decisions in energy are justified by, if not predicated on, beliefs-beliefs which may or may not be supported by objective data, constantly blurring the line between fact, fiction, and frames.
- Demand response: A carbon-neutral resource?
In: Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.Recent literature on demand response raises questions about the long-term capacity and carbon emissions impacts of expanding its deployment. To provide economy-wide insights into how demand response, capacity planning, and carbon emissions might interact in the future, we perform economic forecasts using a computational general equilibrium model based on the Energy Information Administration's National Energy Modeling System. We develop multiple scenarios of assumptions about the load-shifting and load reduction potential of demand response based on prior literature. The results of these scenarios suggest that demand response can defer large amounts of peak capacity construction. Contrary to expectations of increased carbon intensity, the results of our scenarios also suggest that demand response will have little impact on overall carbon emissions from electric power generation. This suggests that demand response can serve as a long-term, low-cost alternative for peak-hour load balancing without increasing carbon emissions.
- Expanding and shifting trends in carbon market research: A quantitative bibliometric study
In: Journal of Cleaner Production [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd.This paper examined the carbon market literature from 1992 to 2011 using bibliometric techniques based on the database of Science Citation Index (SCI) and Social Science Citation Index (SSCI). Of 5809 publications, 82% were journal articles. Our analysis documents that carbon market publications are expanding rapidly. Based on the contribution of countries and their h-index, the US has published most and been most influential in this area, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany and China. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (120), US Forestry Service (70) and University of Maryland (68) were the most productive research institutes. The most common subject category, Environment Sciences (1551), experienced an exponential increase with an average growth rate of about 50%, and the most productive journal was Energy Policy (469). According to the analysis of keywords, the hotspots related to carbon markets were "global warming" and "carbon tax" in the 1990's, but "climate change" and the "clean development mechanism" superceded them in the most recent decade. The most cited article published in Science in carbon market research is presented. This analysis is not only helpful for policymakers and others to understand trends in the field, but may also influence researchers' selection of future studies. - Innovative energy-efficiency policies: an international review
In: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
- The Job Generation Impacts of Expanding Industrial Cogeneration
In: Ecological Economics [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
- The water efficiency gap
In: Sustainable Water Resources Management [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2015
- Forty years of energy security trends: A comparative assessment of 22 industrialized countries
In: Energy Research and Social Science [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2014
© 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This article correlates energy policy and practice with the multidimensional concept of energy security and empirical performance over forty years. Based on an analysis of 22 countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development between 1970 and 2010, it concludes that many industrialized countries have made limited progress toward the goal of achieving secure, reliable and affordable supplies of energy while also transitioning to a low-carbon energy system. However, some national best practices exist, which are identified by examining the relative performance of four countries: the United Kingdom and Belgium (both with noteworthy improvements), and Sweden and France (both with limited improvements). The article concludes by offering implications for energy policy more broadly and by providing empirical evidence that our four dimensions (availability, affordability, energy efficiency, and environmental stewardship) envelop the key strategic components of energy security. - A bibliographic analysis of recent solar energy literatures: The expansion and evolution of a research field
In: Renewable Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 2014
This paper characterizes the solar energy literature from 1992 to 2011 using bibliometric techniques based on databases of the Science Citation Index and the Social Science Citation Index. Journal articles were the most frequently used document type representing 86.4% (6670) of the records. The pace of publishing in this field increased exponentially over these two decades, with the US accounting for the highest h-index (87) and the most publications (1273), followed by China and India. The US also plays a central role in the collaboration network among the 20 most productive countries, while China and India do not because of their more limited cross-national authorships. The Indian Institute of Technology was the organization with the most records (126), but it has few multinational co-authored articles. In contrast, the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland is central to the collaboration network. The largest number of retrieved journal articles was in the area of energy applications (1059 articles) followed by light absorbing materials (983) and solar cells (420). Energy applications mainly address hydrogen, desalination, air conditioning, drying, heat pumps, biomass, and water splitting, while the light absorbing material mainly cover nano materials, TiO2, semiconductors, thin films, phase change material and so on. This analysis not only identifies global hotspots in solar energy research, but may also influence researchers' selection of future studies and publications. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.
- Evaluating the risks of alternative energy policies: A case study of industrial energy efficiency
In: Energy Efficiency [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2014
Numerous studies have shown the potential for US manufacturing to cut its energy costs by installing more efficient equipment that offers competitive payback periods, but the realization of this potential is hindered by numerous obstacles. This paper evaluates seven federal policy options aimed at revitalizing US manufacturing by improving its energy economics while also achieving environmental and energy reliability goals. Traditionally, policy analysts have examined the cost-effectiveness of energy policies using deterministic assumptions. When risk factors are introduced, they are typically examined using sensitivity analysis to focus on alternative assumptions about budgets, policy design, energy prices, and other such variables. In this paper, we also explicitly model the stochastic nature of several key risk factors including future energy prices, damages from climate change, and the cost of criteria pollutants. Using these two approaches, each policy is "stress tested" to evaluate the likely range of private and social returns on investment. Overall, we conclude that the societal cost-effectiveness of policies is generally more sensitive to alternative assumptions about damages from criteria pollutants and climate change compared with energy prices; however, risks also vary across policies based partly on the technologies they target. Future research needs to examine the macroeconomic consequences of the choice between a lethargic approach to energy waste and modernization in manufacturing versus a vigorous commitment to industrial energy productivity and innovation as characterized by the suite of policies described in this paper. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. - Ancient discipline, modern concern: Geographers in the field of energy and society
In: Energy Research and Social Science [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
If energy and society are parts of the same cloth, geography is the thread that ties them together. As a social science, geography has become more critical than ever to our understanding of how inhabitants of our planet interact and how the quest for energy is affecting economic and political stability everywhere. There is no avoiding the important interplay of energy, geography, and society. More, importantly, when we bring the three together it helps us better understand what we have created and what we will be facing. Despite its growing value, however, we have directed only periodic attention to the contributions of geography. Future research needs to consider the expansive concept of energy security as a place and context-specific condition. Energy externalities, spillovers, leakages, and free riders loom large as policy challenges with geographic dimensions. Understanding spatial variations in the link between affluence and pollution is important, because increased prosperity may eventually enable sustainable development. Facilitating the spatial diffusion of energy innovations and the process of technology learning are also key to solving energy/society problems. Finally, optimizing polycentrism as an approach to "scaling up" energy and climate policy would also benefit from geographic analysis. - Climate Change and Energy Demand in Buildings
Date: 2014
- Energy Benchmarking of Commercial Buildings: A Low-Cost Pathway toward Energy Efficiency
Date: 2014
- Enhancing efficiency and renewables with smart grid technologies and policies
In: Futures [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
Improving the energy efficiency of the built environment and expanding the use of distributed energy to power energy services are two low-carbon approaches that have received considerable attention over recent years. Both of these electricity resource options could be fostered by supportive smart grid technologies and policies, enabling a two-way flow of information and electricity between utilities and consumers and tapping into the full potential of energy efficiency and distributed renewables. This paper explores ways to use smart grid technologies and policies to help energy efficiency and distributed renewables meet future US energy needs. As documented in this review paper, recent progress and policy commitments suggest that the US grid can become an integral part of future clean energy solutions. © 2014. - Innovative Energy-Efficiency Policies: An International Review
Date: 2014
- Policy Considerations for Adapting Power Systems to Climate Change
In: Electricity Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
© 2014 Elsevier Inc.Risks of maladaptation, efforts to integrate local knowledge, and considerations for other policy priorities will help ensure a more robust adaptation process for power systems. Existing modeling tools can be used to provide an assessment of adaptation measures that moves toward incorporating these insights, although future work is still necessary to incorporate factors like cost and risks for imposition of path-dependency.
- Policy drivers for improving electricity end-use efficiency in the USA: An economic-engineering analysis
In: Energy Efficiency [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2014
This paper estimates the economically achievable potential for improving electricity end-use efficiency in the USA from a sample of policies. The approach involves identifying a series of energy efficiency policies tackling market failures and then examining their impacts and cost-effectiveness using Georgia Institute of Technology's version of the National Energy Modeling System. By estimating the policy-driven electricity savings and the associated levelized costs, a policy supply curve for electricity efficiency is produced. Each policy is evaluated individually and in an integrated policy scenario to examine policy dynamics. The integrated policy scenario demonstrates significant achievable potential: 261 TWh (6.5 %) of electricity savings in 2020 and 457 TWh (10.2 %) in 2035. All 11 policies examined were estimated to have lower levelized costs than the average electricity retail price. Levelized costs range from 0.5 to 8.1 cents/kWh, with the regulatory and information policies tending to be most cost-effective. Policy impacts on the power sector, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy intensity are also estimated to be significant. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. - Sustaining the City: Trends in Energy and Carbon Management in Large US Metros
Date: 2014
- Electric urban delivery trucks: Energy use, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost-effectiveness
In: Environmental Science and Technology [Peer Reviewed]
Date: July 2013
We compare electric and diesel urban delivery trucks in terms of life-cycle energy consumption, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and total cost of ownership (TCO). The relative benefits of electric trucks depend heavily on vehicle efficiency associated with drive cycle, diesel fuel price, travel demand, electric drive battery replacement and price, electricity generation and transmission efficiency, electric truck recharging infrastructure, and purchase price. For a drive cycle with frequent stops and low average speed such as the New York City Cycle (NYCC), electric trucks emit 42-61% less GHGs and consume 32-54% less energy than diesel trucks, depending upon vehicle efficiency cases. Over an array of possible conditions, the median TCO of electric trucks is 22% less than that of diesel trucks on the NYCC. For a drive cycle with less frequent stops and high average speed such as the City-Suburban Heavy Vehicle Cycle (CSHVC), electric trucks emit 19-43% less GHGs and consume 5-34% less energy, but cost 1% more than diesel counterparts. Considering current and projected U.S. regional electricity generation mixes, for the baseline case, the energy use and GHG emissions ratios of electric to diesel trucks range from 48 to 82% and 25 to 89%, respectively. © 2013 American Chemical Society. - Understanding attitudes toward energy security: Results of a cross-national survey
In: Global Environmental Change [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 2013
Energy security is embedded in a complex system encompassing factors that constitute the social environment in which individuals are immersed. Everything from education, to access to resources to policy and cultural values of particular places affects perceptions and experiences of energy security. This article examines the types of energy security challenges that nations face and characterizes the policy responses that are often used to address these challenges. Drawing from a survey of energy consumers in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United States, we conduct a cross-national comparison of energy security attitudes as well as analyze each country's energy resources, consumption characteristics and energy policies. Through multivariate regression analysis and case studies we find that socio-demographic and regional characteristics affect attitudes towards energy security. Specifically, we find a strong relationship between level of reliance on oil imports and level of concern for a variety of energy security characteristics including availability, affordability and equity. Our results reaffirm the importance of gender and age in shaping perceptions of security, but also extend existing literature by elucidating the impacts of country energy portfolios and policies in shaping climate and security perceptions. Level of development, reliance on oil, and strong energy efficiency policies all affect individuals' sense of energy security. In sum, we find that energy security is a highly context-dependent condition that is best understood from a nuanced and multi-dimensional perspective. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. - Smart-grid policies: An international review
In: Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Energy and Environment [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2013
The electric power systems of many industrialized nations are challenged by the need to accommodate distributed renewable generation, increasing demands of a digital society, growing threats to infrastructure security, and concerns over global climate disruption. The 'smart grid'-with a two-way flow of electricity and information between utilities and consumers-can help address these challenges, but various financial, regulatory, and technical obstacles hinder its rapid deployment. An overview of experiences with smart-grid policies in pioneering countries shows that many governments have designed interventions to overcome these barriers and to facilitate grid modernization. Smart-grid policies include a new generation of regulations and finance models such as regulatory targets, requirements for data security and privacy, renewable energy credits, and various interconnection tariffs and utility subsidies. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. - A bibliometric analysis of recent energy efficiency literatures: An expanding and shifting focus
In: Energy Efficiency [Peer Reviewed]
Date: January 2013
To meet the energy requirements of sustainable economic growth, policymakers, analysts, and business leaders have increasingly turned to the role that energy efficiency might play. This has resulted in a growing energy efficiency literature, which is examined in this paper. Using bibliometric techniques, we analyze the database of Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index covering the 1991-2010 period. Of the 8,244 publications, 78. 8 % were journal articles, and about 95. 5 % were published in English. Based on the h-index, an evaluative indicator, the USA has produced the most influential set of publications on energy efficiency, followed by Canada, UK, Japan, and China. In contrast, China is second to the USA in the volume of its publications. Correspondingly, the University of California at Berkeley, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Tsinghua University were the most productive research organizations. The three most common subjects examined in this body of research were "energy and fuels", "environmental sciences", and "electrical and electronic engineering". Energy Policy has been the most productive journal, and "A water and heat management model for proton-exchange-membrane fuel-cells", has had the most citations (587 through May 2012). Based on an analysis of article titles and keywords, we conclude that the hotspots of energy efficiency research have been green communications, renewable energy, and energy sustainability; green communications, in particular, has developed rapidly as a focus of energy efficiency publications in recent years. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. - Biopower in the U.S. South: Barriers, Drivers, and Potential for Expansion
Date: 2013
- Energy Benchmarking of Commercial Buildings: A Low-cost Pathway for Urban Sustainability
Date: 2013
- Energy benchmarking of commercial buildings: A low-cost pathway toward urban sustainability
In: Environmental Research Letters [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2013
US cities are beginning to experiment with a regulatory approach to address information failures in the real estate market by mandating the energy benchmarking of commercial buildings. Understanding how a commercial building uses energy has many benefits; for example, it helps building owners and tenants identify poor-performing buildings and subsystems and it enables high-performing buildings to achieve greater occupancy rates, rents, and property values. This paper estimates the possible impacts of a national energy benchmarking mandate through analysis chiefly utilizing the Georgia Tech version of the National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS). Correcting input discount rates results in a 4.0% reduction in projected energy consumption for seven major classes of equipment relative to the reference case forecast in 2020, rising to 8.7% in 2035. Thus, the official US energy forecasts appear to overestimate future energy consumption by underestimating investments in energy-efficient equipment. Further discount rate reductions spurred by benchmarking policies yield another 1.3-1.4% in energy savings in 2020, increasing to 2.2-2.4% in 2035. Benchmarking would increase the purchase of energy-efficient equipment, reducing energy bills, CO2 emissions, and conventional air pollution. Achieving comparable CO2 savings would require more than tripling existing US solar capacity. Our analysis suggests that nearly 90% of the energy saved by a national benchmarking policy would benefit metropolitan areas, and the policy's benefits would outweigh its costs, both to the private sector and society broadly. © 2013 IOP Publishing Ltd. - Leading with Energy Efficiency in the South
In: Southface Journal
Date: 2013
- Reviving manufacturing with a federal cogeneration policy
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2013
- The Emergence of Policies to Promote Sustainable Smart Grids
Date: November 2012
- Modeling the Impact of a Carbon Tax on the Commercial Buildings Sector
Date: August 2012
- Exploring propositions about perceptions of energy security: An international survey
In: Environmental Science and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 2012
This study investigates how energy users from government, industry, civil society, and academia perceive of energy security challenges. It also analyzes how demographic characteristics influence such perceptions, and how geography, economic structure, modes of domestic energy production, and culture shape energy security priorities. Its primary source of data is a four-part survey distributed in seven languages (English, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, German, and Japanese) to 2167 respondents in Brazil, China, Germany, India, Kazakhstan, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and the United States. These countries were selected because they represent a mix of urban and rural populations, developed and developing economies, import- and export-oriented energy trading flows, communist and capitalist societies, liberalized and state-owned energy markets, and small and large geographic sizes. The survey results are used to test four propositions about energy security related to the education, age, occupation, and gender of respondents, as well five propositions about national energy priorities and the interconnected attributes of security of supply, energy efficiency, energy research and development, energy trade, diversification and decentralization, affordability, environmental quality, climate change, and energy governance. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. - Myths and facts about electricity in the U.S. South
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2012
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern U.S. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policymakers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, we expose these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In so doing, we identify new starting points for energy policy development. Climate change activists may be surprised to learn that it will take more than a national Renewable Electricity Standard or supportive energy efficiency policies to retire coal plants. Low-cost fossil generation enthusiasts may be surprised to learn that clean generation can save consumers money, even while meeting most demand growth over the next 20 years. This work surfaces the myths concealed in public perceptions and illustrates the positions of various stakeholders in this large U.S. region. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd.
- Reviving manufacturing with a federal cogeneration policy
Date: 2012
- Smart-Grid Policies: An International Review
Date: 2012
- Barriers to the Diffusion of Climate Friendly Technologies
In: International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialization [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2011
Based on an extensive literature review and research interviews of energy experts, this article asks: what are the remaining impediments to clean energy systems and how can a Post-Kyoto Protocol climate framework be designed to overcome them? The article begins by exploring commercially available 'clean' energy systems and practices relating to energy end-use and infrastructure, energy supply, carbon capture and storage, and non-CO2 related greenhouse gas emissions. The article then examines a selection of persistent financial, market, information and intellectual property barriers. Lastly, it articulates the implication of these barriers for the design of future national and international climate change policies.
- Climate Change and Global Energy Security: Technology and Policy Options
Date: 2011
- Green Jobs from Industrial Energy Efficiency
Date: 2011
- The forest products industry at an energy/climate crossroads
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2010
Transformational energy and climate policies are being debated worldwide that could have significant impact upon the future of the forest products industry. Because woody biomass can produce alternative transportation fuels, low-carbon electricity, and numerous other "green" products in addition to traditional paper and lumber commodities, the future use of forest resources is highly uncertain. Using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), this paper assesses the future of the forest products industry under three possible U.S. policy scenarios: (1) a national renewable electricity standard, (2) a national policy of carbon constraints, and (3) incentives for industrial energy efficiency. In addition, we discuss how these policy scenarios might interface with the recently strengthened U.S. renewable fuels standards. The principal focus is on how forest products including residues might be utilized under different policy scenarios, and what such market shifts might mean for electricity and biomass prices, as well as energy consumption and carbon emissions. The results underscore the value of incentivizing energy efficiency in a portfolio of energy and climate policies in order to moderate electricity and biomass price escalation while strengthening energy security and reducing CO2 emissions. © 2010. - Competing dimensions of energy security: An international perspective
In: Annual Review of Environment and Resources [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2010
How well are industrialized nations doing in terms of their energy security? Without a standardized set of metrics, it is difficult to determine the extent to which countries are properly responding to the emerging energy security challenges related to climate change: a growing dependency on fossil fuels, population growth, and economic development. In response, this article first surveys the academic literature on energy security and concludes that it is composed of availability, affordability, efficiency, and environmental stewardship. It then analyzes the relative energy security performance, based on these four dimensions, of the United States and 21 other member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 1970 to 2007. Four countries are examined in greater detail: one of the strongest (Denmark), one of the most improved in terms of energy security (Japan), one with weak and stagnant energy security (United States), and one with deteriorating energy security (Spain). The article concludes by offering implications for public policy. Copyright © 2010 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved.
- Policy Update: The multiple policy dimensions of carbon management: Mitigation, adaptation and geoengineering
In: Carbon Management [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 2010
- Twelve metropolitan carbon footprints: A preliminary comparative global assessment
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 2010
A dearth of available data on carbon emissions and comparative analysis between metropolitan areas make it difficult to confirm or refute best practices and policies. To help provide benchmarks and expand our understanding of urban centers and climate change, this article offers a preliminary comparison of the carbon footprints of 12 metropolitan areas. It does this by examining emissions related to vehicles, energy used in buildings, industry, agriculture, and waste. The carbon emissions from these sources-discussed here as the metro area's partial carbon footprint-provide a foundation for identifying the pricing, land use, help metropolitan areas throughout the world respond to climate change. The article begins by exploring a sample of the existing literature on urban morphology and climate change and explaining the methodology used to calculate each area's carbon footprint. The article then depicts the specific carbon footprints for Beijing, Jakarta, London, Los Angeles, Manila, Mexico City, New Delhi, New York, São Paulo, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo and compares these to respective national averages. It concludes by offering suggestions for how city planners and policymakers can reduce the carbon footprint of these and possibly other large urban areas. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. - Gigaton Problems Need Gigaton Solutions
Date: June 2010
- Defining a standard metric for electricity savings
In: Environmental Research Letters [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2010
- Greenhouse Gasses
Date: 2010
- Transforming Industrial Energy Efficiency
In: The Bridge [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2010
- Transitioning to a Climate-Smart Energy Economy: Lessons from Metropolitan Carbon Footprints
Date: 2010
- Scaling the policy response to climate change
In: Policy and Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2009
This article assesses the advantages and disadvantages of fighting climate change through local, bottom-up strategies as well as global, top-down approaches. After noting that each scale of action-the local and the global-has distinct costs and benefits, the article explores the importance of scale in three case studies (the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, and efforts at adaptation/mitigation). It concludes that local thinking must be coupled with global and national scales of action in order to achieve the levels of carbon dioxide reductions needed to avoid dangerous climate impacts. © 2009 Policy and Society Associates (APSS). - The geography of metropolitan carbon footprints
In: Policy and Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2009
The world's metropolitan carbon footprints have distinct geographies that are not well understood or recognized in debates about climate change, partly because data on greenhouse gas emissions is so inadequate. This article describes the results of the most comprehensive assessment of carbon footprints for major American metropolitan areas available to date, focusing on residential and transportation carbon emissions for the largest 100 metropolitan areas in the United States. These findings are put into the context of efforts across the country and the globe to characterize carbon impacts and policy linkages. © 2009 Policy and Society Associates (APSS). - Addressing Climate Change: Global or Local?
Date: 2009
- Calling the Policy Response to Climate Change
Date: 2009
- Growing Cooler: The Evidence on Urban Development and Climate Change.
In: REVIEW OF POLICY RESEARCH [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2009
- Policy Influences on the Carbon Footprints of metropolitan Areas
Date: 2009
- Mitigating climate change through green buildings and smart growth
In: Environment and Planning A [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 2008
Energy-efficient buildings are seen by climate change experts as one of the least-cost approaches to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This paper summarizes a study carried out for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change that takes a broader look at the potential role of a climate- friendly built environment including not only considerations of how buildings are constructed and used, but also how they interface with the electric grid and where they are located in terms of urban densities and access to employment and services. In addition to summarizing mechanisms of change (barriers and drivers) the paper reviews a set of policies that could bring carbon emissions in the building sector in 2025 almost back to 2004 levels. By the middle of the century the combination of green buildings and smart growth could deliver the deeper reductions that many believe are needed to mitigate climate change.
- Governing Confusion: How Statutes, Fiscal Policy, and Regulations Impede Clean Energy Technologies
In: Stanford Law and Policy Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2008
- Promoting a level playing field for energy options: Electricity alternatives and the case of the Indian Point Energy Center
In: Energy Efficiency [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2008
The Indian Point Energy Center, with two operational nuclear reactors, sits in a densely populated region just 40 mi north of midtown Manhattan. It is a vital part of the electricity supply system for the New York City region, but its propinquity to the largest city in the USA has raised public concerns about its safe operation, particularly in the event of a terrorist attack. Such concerns prompted the US Congress to request a study of potential options for replacing the 2,000 MW of power provided by Indian Point. This paper assesses the potential for electricity alternatives in the Indian Point service area. It documents that increased investments in energy efficiency, combined heat and power facilities, and solar photovoltaics could cost-competitively reduce peak demand in the Indian Point service area by 1 GW or more by 2010 and by 1.5 GW by 2015. If the cost of solar photovoltaics can be brought to near-competitive levels over the next decade, these totals could be raised to 1.7 GW by 2015, approaching the capacity of the Indian Point Energy Center. This result challenges the conventional focus of system operators and policymakers on supply-side solutions. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.
- Developing an 'energy sustainability index' to evaluate energy policy
In: Interdisciplinary Science Reviews [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2007
How well are industrialised nations doing in terms of energy policy? Without a standardised set of metrics to evaluate national energy systems, it is difficult to determine the extent to which energy resources, technologies and infrastructure are truly keeping up with emerging challenges related to climate change, the environment, population growth and economic wellbeing. In response, we propose the creation of an energy sustainability index (ESI) to inform policymakers, investors and analysts about the status of energy conditions. Using the United States as an example, the ESI shows that the country has failed to truly progress on solving some of its most pressing energy problems, and that in many respects conditions have deteriorated. The proposed ESI builds on the substantial body of literature on 'sustainability', and draws on past efforts to measure progress in environmental and energy systems. © 2007 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. - Reduced Emissions and Lower Costs: Combining Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency into a Sustainable Energy Portfolio Standard
In: The Electricity Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: May 2007
- Energy Myth One: Today's Energy Crisis is "Hype"
Date: 2007
- Replacing Myths with Maxims: Rethinking the Relationship Between Energy and American Society
Date: 2007
- The Compelling Tangle of Energy and American Society
Date: 2007
- Assessing U.S. energy policy
In: Daedalus [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 2006
- The solar neighborhood. X. New nearby stars in the southern sky and accurate photometric distance estimates for red dwarfs
In: Astronomical Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2004
Photometric (V JR CI C) and spectroscopic (6000-9500 Å) observations of high-proper-motion stars discovered during the first phase of the SuperCOSMOS RECONS (SCR) search are used to estimate accurate distances to eight new nearby red dwarfs, including probable 10 pc sample members SCR 1845-6357 (M8.5 Vat 4.6 pc), the binary SCR 0630-7643AB (M6. 0 V J at 7.0 pc), and SCR 1138-7721 (M5.0 Vat 9.4 pc). Distance estimates are determined using a suite of new photometric color-M Ks relations defined using a robust set of nearby stars with accurate VRIJHK s photometry and trigonometric parallaxes. These relations are used with optical and infrared photometry to estimate distances on a uniform system (generally good to 15%) for two additional samples of red nearby star candidates: several recently discovered members of the solar neighborhood and known faint stars with proper motions in excess of 1″.0 yr -1 south of decl. = -57°.5. Of those without accurate trigonometric parallax measurements, there are five stars in the first sample and three in the second that are likely to be within 10 pc. The two nearest are SO 0253+1652 (M7.0 Vat 3.7 pc) and DENIS 1048-3956 (M8.5 Vat 4.5 pc). When combined with SCR 1845-6357, these three stars together represent the largest increase in the 5 pc sample in several decades. Red spectra are presented for the red dwarfs, and types are given on the RECONS standard spectral system. Red spectra are also given for two new nearby white dwarfs for which we estimate distances from the photometry of less than 20 pc: WD 0141-675 (LHS 145; 9.3 pc) and SCR 2012-5956 (17.4 pc). WD 0141-675 brings the total number of systems nearer than 10 pc discussed in this paper to 12. - Energy Options for the Future
In: Journal of Fusion Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- The Impact of Clean Energy Policies on Renewable Energy Technologies
Date: 2002
- Market failures and barriers as a basis for clean energy policies
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2001
This paper provides compelling evidence that large-scale market failures and barriers prevent consumers in the United States from obtaining energy services at least cost. Assessments of numerous energy policies and programs suggest that public interventions can overcome many of these market obstacles. By articulating these barriers and reviewing the literature on ways of addressing them, this paper provides a strong justification for the policy portfolios that define the "Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future," a study conducted by five National Laboratories. These scenarios are described in other papers published in this special issue of Energy Policy. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. - Scenarios for a clean energy future
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2001
This paper summarizes the results of a study-Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future-that assess how energy-efficient and clean energy technologies can address key energy and environmental challenges facing the US. A particular focus of this study is the energy, environmental, and economic impacts of different public policies and programs. Hundreds of technologies and approximately 50 policies are analyzed. The study concludes that policies exist that can significantly reduce oil dependence, air pollution, carbon emissions, and inefficiencies in energy production and end-use systems at essentially no net cost to the US economy. The most advanced scenario finds that by the year 2010, the US could bring its carbon dioxide emissions three-quarters of the way back to 1990 levels. The study also concludes that over time energy bill savings in these scenarios can pay for the investments needed to achieve these reductions in energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions. © 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. - Special issue - Scenarios for a clean energy future
In: ENERGY POLICY [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2001
- Strategies for cost-effective carbon reductions: a sensitivity analysis of alternative scenarios
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: November 2001
- High-Tech Fixes for Carbon Emissions: Technology Advances Can Create Low-Cost and Cost-Free Opportunities for Reducing U.S. Carbon Emissions
In: Forum for Applied Research and Public Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2001
- Are All Jobs Created Equal? Regional Employment Impacts of a U.S. Carbon Tax
In: Applied Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- Estimating Employment from Energy-Efficiency Investments
In: MethodsX [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2000
- Engineering-economic studies of energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions: Opportunities and Challenges
In: Annual Review of Energy and the Environment [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 1998
This paper compares the results of four recent engineering-economic studies of the potential for energy technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The review includes a sector-by-sector assessment of specific technology opportunities and their costs, as estimated by (a) five National Laboratories, (b) the Tellus Institute, (c) the National Academy of Sciences, and (d) the Office of Technology Assessment. These studies document that numerous cost-effective, energy-efficient technologies remain underutilized in each end-use sector of the economy. Supply-side options, on the other hand, are generally found to involve some net costs. Demand- and supply-side options benefit from being pursued concurrently because of various interaction effects. In combination, large carbon reductions are possible at incremental costs that are less than the value of the energy saved. An aggressive national commitment involving some combination of targeted tax incentives, emissions trading, and non-price policies is needed to exploit these carbon reduction opportunities. - Costs of reducing carbon emissions: US building sector scenarios
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1998
- A Road Map for U.S. Carbon Reductions
Date: 1998
- Evaluating a Technology Commercialization Program: Challenges and Solutions
In: International Journal of Technology Management [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1997
- Human factors and the innovation process
In: Technovation [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1996
The goal of this paper is to describe two typologies of human factors that help explain the technical innovation process, and to illustrate their predictive power. The first typology defines five categories of inventors based on inventors' views of success and their corresponding attitudes toward technology, reaching the market, and creating a business. In diminishing order of likely technical innovation success, these five types are 'entrepreneurs with technology', 'industry-specific inventors', 'professional inventors', 'grantsmen', and 'inveterate inventors'. The second typology categorizes the motivations that underlie the choices made by inventors in the development of their technologies. Inventor motivations need to be considered by managers of innovation programs because the success of any innovation program requires that there be some degree of overlap between the program's goals and the inventor's own definition of success. These typologies can help managers of innovation programs direct scarce resources to inventors with the greatest probability of commercial success. They also indicate the types of assistance that will be most instrumental in accelerating the commercialization of new technologies. The ability of these typologies to explain rates of success in the commercial development of new technologies is illustrated using data from the small business and independent inventors who have participated in the Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP). The ERIP is a federal program operated jointly by the US Department of Energy and the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is designed to assist the development of non-nuclear inventions with outstanding potential for saving or producing energy. - Exchanging energy technology information on the internet
In: The Journal of Technology Transfer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1996
- The Persistence of Program Impacts: Methods, Applications, and Selected Findings
In: Energy Services Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1996
- Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of Coordinated DSM Programs
In: Evaluation Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1995
- Determinants of program effectiveness: Results of the national weatherization evaluation
In: Energy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
The findings of a national evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy's low-income Weatherization Assistance Program ("Program") are used to explain variations in Program effectiveness. Overall, the Program was found to be a cost-effective federal investment. However, local weatherization agencies vary greatly in the effectiveness of their operators, and the energy saved by individual dwellings ranges widely. By applying four different analytic approaches, we identify several determinants of high energy savings, including the following: weatherizing high energy users; installing attic, wall, and floor insulation; insulating water heaters, installing low-flow showerheads, and reducing hot water temperatures; curing distribution system problems; and replacing inefficient heating systems. The installation of storm windows and doors, on the other hand, generally is associated with inferior savings. This paper demonstrates the value of using alternative but complementary qualitative and quantitative methods to identify determinants of Program effectiveness. © 1995. - Evaluating technology innovation programs: the use of comparison groups to identify impacts
In: Research Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
This paper discusses the pros and cons of alternative comparison groups for evaluating technology innovation programs, and focuses specifically on the selection of a comparison group for the evaluation of the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP). The pros and cons of five alternative comparison group options are discussed, including: inventor societies, innovation and incubator centers, patent holders, near-participants, and program referrals. Program referrals are selected as a suitable comparison group for evaluating the Energy-Related Inventions Program. Data collected on ERIP participants and referrals provide strong evidence that ERIP-supported technologies achieved their considerable commercial success, at least in part because of the support provided by the DOE. There are large differences between the program referrals and the ERIP participants in terms of several indicators of commercial success. For example, average dollar sales by ERIP participants are an order of magnitude greater than the program referral group. This paper illustrates that the simultaneous tracking of program participants and a matched comparison group can enhance the evaluation of technology innovation programs by helping to isolate the effects of the government program from the host of other factors that influence the commercialization of inventions. © 1995. - Issues in assessing the cost-effectiveness of coordinated DSM programs
In: Utilities Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
Coordinated demand-side management (DSM) programs, co-administered by government agencies and electric and gas utilities, are likely to grow in importance in the coming years. Because of the unique features of these types of DSM programs, special care must be taken in assessing their cost-effectiveness. In this paper, we discuss these features, suggest how standard cost-effectiveness measures must be adapted to accommodate them, and show how important these adaptations are in assessing the cost-effectiveness of coordinated programs. At first, we use a least-cost, financial approach. The discussion indicates that failure to account properly for the special features of coordinated programs materially affects estimates of cost-effectiveness and, in extreme cases, may lead to rejection of otherwise cost-effective programs. Then, extending the analysis to include economic factors, we speculate that most types of coordinated programs are more attractive than when evaluated on a financial basis. © 1995. - Using probability distributions to evaluate an energy conservation program: A technique for dealing with controversy
In: Evaluation and Program Planning [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
- Ten Highly Effective Weatherization Programs
In: Home Energy
Date: May 1994
- Weatherization Assistance: The Single-Family Study
In: Home Energy
Date: September 1993
- R&D spinoffs: Serendipity vs. a managed process
In: The Journal of Technology Transfer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 1993
This paper describes some of the spinoff benefits that can result from R&D projects, and categorizes them in terms of the dimensions of market and technical newness. These dimensions are discussed with reference to two types of spinoffs: 1) alternative market applications, when the results of an R&D project are subsequently applied to a market or use that differs from the originally intended application, and 2) second-generation technologies, when the technology that was the subject of an R&D project is significantly altered or enhanced in unanticipated ways through subsequent R&D. Examples from the Department of Energy's Energy-Related Inventions Program are integrated into the results of literature review to illustrate key concepts, including core technologies, degrees of market and technology newness, technology robustness, and the nature of connections linking spinoffs to prior R&D investments. The paper concludes by discussing spinoffs as a managerial strategy. © 1993 Technology Transfer Society. - The Reach of Low-Income Weatherization Assistance
In: Home Energy
Date: May 1993
- Demonstrations: the missing link in government-sponsored energy technology deployment
In: Technology in Society [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1993
- The effectiveness of codes and marketing in promoting energy-efficient home construction
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1993
This paper assesses the relative effectiveness of codes and marketing as alternative approaches to promoting energy-efficient new homes. Insights are drawn primarily from the experiences of a code and a marketing programme operated in the Pacific Northwest. The penetration rates of the two programmes are similar, as are the energy savings and costs. However, other aspects of the two programmes are quite distinct. Compared to the code programme, participants in the marketing programme tend to be more affluent and include more free riders as a result of the self-selection bias associated with voluntary participation. The marketing programme has also had greater geographic coverage, and as a result more widespread impact on region-wide building practices. Levels of involvement of utilities and code officials and impacts on fuel switching also differ. Bonneville has shown that by operating both programmes in tandem, the shortfalls of one approach can be partly compensated by the strengths of the other. © 1993. - Promoting the Commercialization of Energy Innovations. An Evaluation of the Energy-Related Inventions Program
In: Policy Studies Journal [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1992
- Guidelines for successfully transferring government-sponsored innovations
In: Research Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1991
The purpose of this paper is to develop guidelines that managers of government-sponsored R&D could use in identifying appropriate technology transfer strategies for specific innovations. The paper begins with a description of six types of commercialization strategies that have been successfully used by federal agencies: contracting R&D to industrial partners, working with industrial consortia, licensing to industry, influencing key decision makers, working with broker organizations, and generating end-user demand. Next the results of nine case studies of innovations are summarized: five have been fully commercialized and four have been semi-com-mercialized. These case studies illustrate the need to tailor commercialization strategies to specific innovations. Three ways of classifying innovations (based on technological, market, and policy criteria) are proposed. Technological criteria evaluate inventions on scientific and technical grounds, while market criteria evaluate inventions with respect to characteristics of the marketplace. Policy criteria refer to a government agency's resources and goals. Once these evaluations are completed, the choice of a commercialization mode is facilitated. Finally, guidelines for selecting a technology transfer strategy are developed, based primarily on the five fully commercialized innovations. These guidelines are summarized in a matrix which presents the relationships between the evaluation criteria and appropriate technology transfer strategies. The guidelines are tested by applying them to the semicommercialized innovations. The consistency between the recommended strategies and the strategies actually used is examined. © 1991. - Technology-transfer strategies of DOE's conservation programs
In: The Journal of Technology Transfer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 1990
This paper examines the process by which R&D results funded by the Office of Conservation and Renewable Energy (CE) of the US Department of Energy (DOE) have generated commercial applications. It looks at examples of technology-transfer procedures and activitees across three of CE's component offices that correspond to the major energy end-use sectors: transportation, buildings, and industry. On the surface, the conservation programs would appear to have little strategic consistency and, therefore, lack the clear leadership many seek in a technology-transfer program. However, as an alternative to strategic consistency, one may tailor the technology-transfer approach of each program to its unique circumstances. This paper presents case studies of such tailoring, in which the diversity of approaches mirrors the complexity of the energy end-use markets and the private-public interests that must be negotiated to successfully commercialize energy-saving innovations. The paper discusses the lessons learned about the conditions requiring adaptive design and the structures and practices that have been proven effective. © 1990 Technology Transfer Society. - Closing the efficiency gap: barriers to the efficient use of energy
In: Resources, Conservation and Recycling [Peer Reviewed]
Date: June 1990
- Demonstrations as a Policy Instrument with Energy Technology Examples
In: Knowledge: Creation, Diffusion, and Utilization [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1990
- Demonstrations as a Policy Instrument with Energy Technology Examples
In: Science Communications [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1990
- The cost of commercializing energy inventions
In: Research Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1990
Inadequate financing is a common cause of failure among inventors and entrepreneurs striving to bring new energy technologies onto the market. This paper describes the cost of commercializing energy inventions and sources of funds used by successful entrepreneurs, based on data from the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP). On average, it has taken several years of work and $1.1 million for an ERIP technology to enter the market. Personal sources of funding play an important role throughout the development process, while external investors are practically invisible until the technologies are into mature stages of prototype development. The role for pre-venture government programs is clearly indicated from these findings, and is discussed. © 1990. - Comparing Building Energy Analysis Software
In: Home Energy
Date: September 1989
- Energy savings of water-heater retrofits: Evidence from Hood River
In: Energy and Buildings [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 1989
This paper assesses the energy savings of water-heater retrofits based on evidence from the Hood River Conservation Project (HRCP). It examines: (1) the electricity saved by the water-heater retrofit package as a whole; (2) the savings attributable to each of three individual measures (the water-heater wrap, pipe wrap and low-flow showerhead); (3) the impact of demographic and dwelling-unit characteristics upon savings; and (4) demand reductions during winter. Water-heater retrofits saved, on average, 540 kWh/year and were highly cost-effective. Each kWh of savings cost less than $0.04 (excluding the expense of the installer's visit), and the levelized cost over an assumed ten-year lifetime for the measures was only $0.0039/kWh. The water-heater retrofit was one of the most cost-effective components of the HRCP package. Its effectiveness was due largely to the water-heater pump. Water-heater demand also decreased at a cost of only $333 per kW. © 1989. - Special Issue Devoted to the Hood River Conservation Project - Foreword
In: Energy and Buildings [Peer Reviewed]
Date: February 1989
- Financing Energy Conservation: Innovative Approaches with Geographic Problems
In: The Canadian Geographer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1988
- How Influential is the Auditor? Determinants of Sales Effectiveness in Energy Conservation Programs
In: Energy Systems and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1988
- Participation of the elderly in residential conservation programmes
In: Energy Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1988
Although greater-than-average opportunities for residential energy-efficiency improvements exist among the elderly, most conservation programmes are not successful in reaching this subgroup. This paper reviews evidence on elderly participation in utility, federal and state programmes. Even though most of these programmes fail to attract elderly participants there are exceptions. The features and marketing strategies of successful programmes designed to reach the elderly include door-to-door canvassing with free installation of measures, recruitment and verification of eligibility through existing community groups, peer services and counselling by other senior citizens, shared savings programmes offered in retirement villages, and rebate programmes that offer highly visible measures with short paybacks. Although there are a few successful programmes, as a whole, coverage of the elderly by utility, federal and state programmes is limited and a large majority of the elderly receive no assistance. © 1988. - Stimulating energy conservation by sharing the savings: a community-based approach
In: Environment & Planning A [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1988
By the use of data on preretrofit and postretrofit energy consumption, a normalization procedure to control for weather, and control groups, it is concluded that the shared-savings program (RECAP) has reduced annual electricity consumption by 1556 kWh per household, or 6.6% of preretrofit consumption. Energy savings differ markedly across the four communities served by RECAP, and are only weakly associated with installation costs. Savings are greater where audits are used to select participants with significant potential for conservation. Regression analysis of survey data suggests that the net impact of behavioural and household changes upon electricity savings is minimal. -from Authors - The Changing Morphology of Suburban Crime
In: Urban Geography [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1986
This paper examines the spatial dynamics of suburban crime. Four hypotheses are developed postulating a decreasing central city-suburb disparity in crime rates, persistence in the relative crime rates of individual suburbs, a growing heterogeneity in the levels of crime faced by individual suburbs, and an increasing regionalization of suburban crime. The hypotheses are tested through a case study of the Chicago metropolitan area. Property and violent crime rates are studied separately, and the time frame is 1972 to 1981. Central city and suburban crime rates are found to be converging in Chicago and the United States as a whole. Persistence in the relative crime rates of individual Chicago suburbs is significant but weak. Socioeconomic status dominates the process of change in the relative safety of suburbs-not suburban age, as anticipated. Low status suburbs tend to have high-crime rates, and their relative security is worsening over time; the opposite is true of high-status jurisdictions. This process of consolidated advantage is also occurring in a spatial sense; over time, suburban regions with initially safe environments appear able to reinforce their early advantage. - A strategy for accelerating the use of energy conserving building technologies
In: The Journal of Technology Transfer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: September 1985
To accelerate the use of energy-conserving building technologies in the farflung, decentralized buildings industry, a strategy for more directed transfer of government research to public- and private-sector users has been implemented. The strategy involves a cycle of four sets of activities: (1) Needs assessment; (2) development of transferable information; (3) outreach activities; and (4) feedback and evaluation. By employing this iterative technology transfer cycle and emphasizing trade and professional organizations as communication channels to and from users, it is hoped that research sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Building Systems Division will be responsive to the industry's needs and accessible to its diverse participants. © 1985 Technology Transfer Society. - Improving Technological Innovation Through Laboratory/Industry Cooperative R&D
In: Review of Policy Research [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 1985
- Evaluating the impact of two energy conservation programmes in a midwestern city
In: Applied Geography [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1985
This paper presents a general methodology for evaluating energy conservation programmes, and uses the methodology to assess a home audit and an energy tax credit programme. The data base contains utility bill histories, audit forms, and personal surveys for 319 Decatur, Illinois homeowners. These data enable analysis of the extent of adoption of the two programmes; characteristics of adopters and non-adopters; the role of information in the adoption process; the actions prompted by the programmes; and the impact of the programmes on residential energy consumption. Adopters of the programmes are found to be better educated, wealthier, have newer homes, and engage in more conservation practices than non-adopters. Lack of information is one barrier to programme adoption, with adopters receiving more useful information from the local utility company and government sources. The programmes appear to have prompted certain conservation practices, but they have not reduced energy consumption. Policy implications are discussed. © 1985. - Residential Energy Consumption in Low-Income and Elderly Households: How Nondiscretionar Is It?
In: Energy systems and policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1985
The paper analyzes data on a sample of Decatur, Illinois homeowners living in single-family, detached dwelling units. The data include utility bill histories and survey information on housing characteristics, energy-related behavior, attitudes, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. It shows that residential energy consumption per square foot of living space is significantly higher for the elederly and poor than for the other groups in the Decatur sample. By breaking energy use into seasonal components, the paper estimates consumption for various household uses. This information, combined with the survey data, suggests that both subgroups have significant discretionary energy use, partly because of the conditions of their homes and partly because of their energy-related behavior. The public policy implications of this finding are discussed.
- Change mechanisms in the diffusion of residential energy conservation practices: an empirical study
In: Technological Forecasting and Social Change [Peer Reviewed]
Date: April 1984
- Residential Energy Conservation: The Role of Past Experience in Repetitive Household Behavior
In: Environment and Behavior [Peer Reviewed]
Date: March 1983
- Understanding residential energy conservation through attitudes and beliefs
In: Environment and Planning A [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1983
- Modelling the Spatial Distribution of Suburban Crime
In: Economic Geography [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1982
This paper examines the spatial distribution of crime among Chicago's suburbs by completing a spatial autocorrelation and regression analysis of crime occurrence rates. The results suggest that there is little interjurisdictional spillover of violent crime among the suburbs of Chicago. Rather, the clustered spatial pattern of crime and its decay with distance to the city of Chicago reflects the nonrandom spatial distribution of offender rates. The distribution of property crime exhibits neither spatial autocorrelation nor a relationship with distance to Chicago. Instead, it is closely associated with the location of retail and manufacturing activities. This suggests that the journey to property crime extends many miles and crosses suburban boundaries. - Spatial Diffusion Aspects of Marketing Strategies
In: Review of Regional Studies: the official journal of the Southern regional science association [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1982
- A Typology of Suburbs and Its Public Policy Implications
In: Urban Geography [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1981
This paper develops a typology of suburbs based on profiles of community need. It illustrates that suburbs vary greatly in their needs for community development and that their dimensions of hardship combine such that suburbs cannot be placed along a continuum on which every dimension of need increases. Suburbs having similar overall levels of need may have quite dissimilar types of need. In order to understand the clustering of various suburban problems, and to gain insight into the spatial structure of suburbs, suburban need profiles are related to their socioeconomic, demographic, and locational attributes. Alternative eligibility and distribution criteria for federal assistance to suburbs are discussed in light of the typology. - The Cognitive Maps of Adolescents: Confusion About Inter-Town Distances
In: The Professional Geographer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1981
Interpersonal attributes are used to explain the regional travel behavior and cognitive maps of a sample of Eastern Illinois adolescents. It is found that less-than-average travel within the local region is characteristic of adolescents who are female, who drive infrequently, and who reside in a high-order town. Further, limited travel at the regional scale correlated with highly inaccurate cognitive maps. Finally, female gender and infrequent car use correlate with confusion about inter-town distances above and beyond their association with small home range. - Attitudes and social categories: complementary explanations of innovation-adoption behavior
In: Environment and Planning A [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1980
- Community Need: Its Measure and Incidence
In: Papers of the Regional Science Association [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1980
- Do Central Cities and Suburbs Have Similar Dimensions of Need?
In: The Professional Geographer [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1980
This paper examines the proposition that United States suburbs are gradually acquiring many of the traits and problems traditionally associated with inner cities. An analysis of direct and surrogate measures of community development need indicates that in 1970 the average central city had a greater percapita need than the average Chicago suburb. However, the dimensions of need of central cities and suburbs are quite similar. Close associations between minority race, poverty, and female-headed families exist in both central cities and suburbs, as do high residual correlations between population decline, elderly populations, and low levels of crowding. - Strategies for the Promotion and Diffusion of Consumer Goods and Services: An Overview
In: International Regional Science Review [Peer Reviewed]
Date: October 1977
- Diffusion Agency Strategy and Innovation Diffusion: A Case Study of the Eastern Ohio Resource Development Center
In: Regional Science Perspectives [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1977
Chapters
- Theorizing the Behavioral Dimension of Energy Consumption: Energy Efficiency and the Value-Action Gap
Date: 2018
- Energy Resources and Use
Date: March 2017
- Energy and manufacturing: Technology and policy transformations and challenges
Date: April 2015
- Energy and Water Interdependence for Urban Areas
Date: 2013
- Biopower in the U.S. South: Barriers, Drivers, and Potential for Expansion
Date: December 2012
- Sustainable Smart Grids: Emergence of a Policy Framework
Date: 2012
- Carbon lock-in: Barriers to deploying climate change mitigation technologies
Date: December 2011
- Reinventing Industrial Energy Use in a Resource-Constrained World
Date: December 2011
This chapter describes the progress made to date and the magnitude of the remaining opportunities, stemming both from broader use of current best practices and from a range of possible advances enabled by emerging technologies and innovations. It begins by focusing on the potential for improving energy efficiency in several major energy-consuming industries. After describing the principal barriers to deployment of energy-efficient technologies particularly in the U.S., it explores policy innovations that have successfully transformed industrial practices in five countries: the Netherlands, Denmark, India, Japan, and China. The goal is to identify lessons that can shift industry toward greater efficiency across the globe, thereby becoming part of the climate solution. The chapter also explains the dual goals of advancing energy efficiency at industrial plants and advancing product innovation for broader use are both critical to promoting the more productive consumption of energy in a resource-constrained world. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. - Measuring Energy Security Performance in the OECD
Date: December 2010
- The Environmental Dimension of Energy Security
Date: December 2010
- Addressing Climate Change: Global vs. Local Scales of Jurisdiction?
Date: December 2010
This chapter discusses the benefits of local action often emphasized by activists, nongovernmental organizations, and environmental lawyers, and then contrasts their views. It assesses the advantages and disadvantages of tackling climate change through local, bottom-up strategies as well as global, top-down approaches, arguing that each has distinct costs and benefits. The chapter also explores how local and global scales might be integrated into a single and effective policy framework, incorporating the advantages of decentralization and local action along with the advantages of centralized and national action. Actions at local and global scales bring different sets of costs and benefits. Local action fosters diversity, which encourages innovation and experimentation. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. - Transitioning to a Climate-Smart Energy Economy: Lessons from Metropolitan Carbon Footprints
Date: March 2010
- Adding a Behavioral Dimension to Residential Construction and Retrofit Policies
Date: 2010
- Adding a Behavioral Dimension to Utility Policies that Promote Residential Efficiency
Date: 2010
- Greenhouse Gases
Date: 2010
- Conclusions-replacing myths with maxims: Rethinking the relationship between energy and American society
Date: December 2007
In his article assessing the proper role of method in the social sciences, L.H.M. Ling (2002) opens with a tale about a fish and a turtle. Once upon a time, Ling begins, there lived a colorful and proud little fish. He had lots of friends and loved the water surrounding him. He swam quickly, swiftly, and gracefully. One day he met a turtle, an old friend whom he had not seen in a long time. The fish greeted the turtle and said, "Hello, Sister Turtle, how are you? I have not seen you in a long time. Where have you been?" The turtle replied, "I am fine, thank you for asking. I was away on earth for an errand." "Oh, really? What is earth? Is there something beyond this lovely water?" "Very much so." "What does it look like?" The turtle paused. It was difficult to find the right words to describe something that the fish had never experienced or seen. But the impatient fish interrupted the turtle's thoughts. "Is the earth like water?" "Uh, no " "Can you swim in it?" "No." "Do you feel pressure as you go deeper?" "No, it's not like that at all " "Does it dance with sparkling lights when the sun shines on it?" "No, not really " Impatient, the fish got mad. "I have asked you many questions about earth, and all that you can answer is no. As far as I am concerned, that earth of yours does not exist." And with that, the disdainful and deeply disappointed fish swam away. The turtle sighed. "How can one know something new when one's questions are based on the prejudices of the old?" While obviously false - turtles and fish have not yet learned to speak in English - Ling's narrative reminds us of three important points. First, inhabitants of the same place can hold greatly variable views; they hold distinct values and beliefs, and adhere to often competing interests and motives. As a result, for example, wind farms are attractive landscape features to some and visual eyesores to others. Second, the tale reminds us that it is difficult to be critical and objective about something that we are a part of. All of us - whether we like it or not - are embroiled in a set of our own deeply held cultural assumptions. Sociologists Emile Durkheim and Marcel Mauss (1963) compared the study of other cultures to a blind person learning to see for the first time. Before given sight, a blind person does not observe the phenomenal world around us that everyone accepts as normal. Initially, when they begin to see they are confronted by chaos, forms, colors and vague visual impressions. Only very slowly and with intense effort can they learn to manage stimuli, create order out of the chaos, distinguish and classify objects. Similarly, our own culture is as much a part of us as our physical senses. Since it is taken for granted and invisible, it can be extremely difficult to evaluate in any objective sense. Criticism of our culture, furthermore, smacks of condescension and judgment. When confronted with such criticism, most people - like the fish - merely want to swim away. Our thoroughly entrenched social systems, Anthony Giddens once said, "are like the walls of a room from which an individual cannot escape but inside which he or she is able to move around at will" (Pickering, 1993, p. 583). Third, the story explains why conversations between people holding sharply different views often turn out to be very difficult. In his study assessing the history of science, Thomas Kuhn used the term incommensurability to describe the way that insurmountable communication barriers seemed to prevent different groups of scientists from talking to each other in coherent and meaningful ways. Indeed, philosophers such as Ludwig Fleck (1979), Thomas Kuhn (1962, 1977), and Derek de Sola Price (1966) have long argued that different groups of people promote and believe in different cultural practices through "thought collectives," "paradigms," and "invisible colleges." Attempting to communicate to such people from the outside can be akin to speaking to someone in a foreign language they simply don't understand. When applied to energy policy, the narrative suggests that analysts and scholars should never forget that the expectations, experiences, and levels of knowledge within a given part of society will always differ. Energy analysis is always encumbered by a certain number of fundamental assumptions. At the same time, heterogeneity of ideas often enriches perspectives, and operating at the nexus of diversity frequently leads to significant breakthroughs in understanding. As this book has attempted to show, the world of energy policy is no stranger to competing values, beliefs, and interpretations. - Energy myth one-today's energy crisis is "hype"
Date: December 2007
There is a common belief in the United States that the marketplace, when left to its own devices, can meet society's needs. Often the technical solutions to societal problems already exist; all that blocks their usage are market imperfections that can be eliminated by simply updating public policies. When new technologies are needed, scientists and entrepreneurs have shown an impressive capacity to deliver them quite rapidly. How, then, can an energy crisis possibly be upon us? The fact is, the U.S. government and industry have invested a fraction of what has been needed to develop solutions to the nation's energy problems, and local, state, and federal policies and initiatives have been inadequate. As a result, options do not exist today to ensure a sustainable energy future, and the country faces the risk of a very real energy crisis. - Introduction-the compelling tangle of energy and American society
Date: December 2007
Shortly after the United States had seemingly weathered the energy crisis caused by the 1973 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil embargo, Senator Gaylord Nelson (1979, p. 2) began a hearing on energy policy by commenting that energy itself is not an end but a means. "We must therefore constantly ask," he continued, "to what end? What kind of society are we trying to evolve when we make choices about energy technologies?" Such a comment underscores a central theme of this book: namely, the seamless integration of energy and American society. Senator Nelson's questions sound even more provocative today, as the country consumes significantly more energy to secure a wider range of services now than it did in 1979. After all, what is more ubiquitous in modern society than energy? It powers our vehicles, lights our workplaces, produces food, enables the manufacturing and distribution of products, cools and warms our homes. Energy is, according to Nobel prize wining economist E.F. Schumacher "not just another commodity, but the precondition of all commodities, a basic factor equal with air, water, and earth" (Kirk, 1977, pp. 1-2). Thus, energy is something used, directly and indirectly, by every person in American culture. As an example of its omnipresence, consider one of the most widely consumed forms of energy - electricity. In 2002 the U.S. electricity industry possessed over $700 billion of embedded investment, making it the largest investment sector of the American economy (representing 10% of total U.S. capital expenditure). Annual sales of electricity for the same year were approximately $300 billion, close to 4% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). To generate this revenue, the electric utility industry consumed almost 40% of the country's energy and nearly 5% of its gross national product (Lovins et al., 2002, pp. 69-71; Masters, 2004, p. 107). On top of this complexity, the electric utility industry is regulated by 53 federal, state, and city public service commissions and more than 44,000 different state and local codes. During fiscal year 2003, 242 investor owned utilities operated about 75% of the country's total electrical capacity in addition to more than 3,187 private utilities, 900 cooperatives, 2,012 public utilities, 400 power marketers, 2,168 nonutility generating entities, and nine federal utilities. These organizations distributed their electricity through roughly 500,000 miles of high voltage transmission lines and an ever greater number of distribution lines (Palast et al., 2003). When grappling with these complex issues, the bulk of studies concerning energy and American society tend to focus on either assessing individual technologies or forecasting energy futures. Regarding the first approach, technology assessment, most of the recent policy briefs and books that address energy in America attack the problem within technologically and disciplinarily narrow boundaries. The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) and Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) tend to center purely on the economics of electricity supply and demand, while reports from groups like the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Natural Resources Defense Council emphasize the environmental dimensions of energy consumption. The National Academies of Science and Union of Concerned Scientists have produced insightful analysis of the security and infrastructure challenges facing the energy sector, while groups like the Alliance to Save Energy and the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy remain principally concerned with conservation and energy efficiency. Those that analyze particular types of energy supply - such as the Nuclear Energy Institute, American Wind Energy Association, the American Solar Energy Society, or the Combined Heat and Power Association - often confine their analyses to a limited range of technologies, rarely exploring how such technologies operate in society as a whole. This "stove piping" approach also carries over into the design and pursuit of the nation's energy research and development (R&D) - in all layers of government, academe, and industry. Integrative concepts that combine systems and cut across technologies, disciplines, and sectors of the economy are difficult to pursue. Developing sweeping novel concepts is an inter-disciplinary, complex undertaking that requires new partnerships and alliances and a broad understanding of technologies and markets. At the same time, the combination of concepts into more efficiently functioning systems could have large and positive implications for energy futures. For example, in a recent review of the U.S. climate change R&D portfolio, the lack of focus on integrated technologies was seen as a critical gap (Brown et al. 2006). Several illustrations of merged suites of technologies that have received limited attention include: • Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs): Integration of plug-in HEVs with the electric grid for both recharging and discharging power and to support utility peak-shaving could dramatically reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles if recharging is done principally with low-carbon forms of electricity such as nuclear or renewable resources. • Systems engineered urban planning and design: Land use can be designed to reduce travel requirements and foster the co-location of activities with common needs for energy, water, and other resources, resulting in greatly diminished requirements for transportation fuels; greenhouse gas emissions could be further reduced through the co-location of energy sources and carbon sinks. • Systems approach to integrated waste management: The energy used in waste management and the utilization of methane from landfill gases can be optimized through systems that involve product tagging and sorting to maximize energy recovery from waste, reuse and recycling as well as distributed waste processing (e.g., in homes, businesses, and industry) for conversion to power and fuels. • Water-energy nexus: Water and energy are inextricably bound together in today's society, and any future technologies that address one will likely impact the other. Ultimately, society needs more efficient use of energy to support water distribution and treatment, and more efficient use of water to support energy supply; these cross-linkages have gone largely unexamined. Thus, the need for new and creative approaches assessing the intersection of energy systems and society at large are almost as urgently needed as they are unlikely to occur in contemporary discussions about energy policy in the United States. The second popular approach taken by analysts concerned with energy and society is to perform technological forecasts. Reports from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and International Energy Agency (IEA) typically focus on estimating generation capacities, projecting fuel costs, and predicting the environmental impacts of particular energy technologies. For example, the paragon of excellence among these types of reports, the EIA's Annual Energy Outlook (EIA, 2005b), predicts the current and future technical potential for energy technologies, but does not anticipate expected policy changes or provide policy recommendations. As Amory Lovins (2005), director of the Rocky Mountain Institute, recently told senators, "the Annual Energy Outlook is not fate; it is not a mandate that one must fulfill; and it absolutely does not illuminate the true range of national choice." R. Neal Elliott (2005, p. 84) adds that "the EIA needs updated modeling capability to reflect adequately [the new] market realities facing the American electric utility sector." In other words, energy forecasts often assume the existing configuration of the industry, and thus restricts their consideration to a very narrow range of alternatives. For instance, such forecasting tools typically focus on averages and do not explore the underlying compositions that constitute such data, thereby overlooking the wide variations of submarkets and trends that can be hidden through the process of compiling statistics. Historian Theodore Porter (1995) notes that the process of such quantification has many flaws, including (but not limited to) the choice of samples, preservation of samples, control of reagents, methods of measurement, custody of samples, methods of recording data, training personnel, controlling bias, and the formation of categories. Sociologist Nikolas Rose (1991) adds that political judgments are implicit in the choice of what to measure, how to measure it, how often to measure it, and how to interpret the results. For example, in characterizing energy resources, the EIA uses categories of fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas, nuclear, and renewable resources. The omission of energy efficiency from this mix reinforces the perception that a megawatt saved (i.e., a "negawatt") is not as valuable as a megawatt generated. Quantification is no less arbitrary and subjective, in the end, than any other human activity. Yet, as a culture, we choose to lend "numbers" (and the reports that they constitute) immense power. - Obstacles to Energy Efficiency
Date: 2004
- The Impact of Clean Energy Policies on Renewable Energy Technologies
Date: 2002
- Promoting Energy-Efficient Home Construction: The Impacts of Alternative Policy Instruments
Date: 1994
- The Temporal Dimension of R&D Evaluation: Incorporating Spin-Off Benefits
Date: April 1993
- Barriers to Improving Energy Efficiency
Date: 1990
- The Diffusion of Ideas and Innovations
Date: April 1989
- The Status of Energy Geography Since Three Mile Island
Date: 1989
- The Role of Auditor Salesmanship in Residential Conservation Incentive Programs: A Case Study
Date: June 1986
- General Public Utilities: Buying Residential Energy Conservation
Date: 1986
- Design of a Residential Shared Savings Program: The General Public Utilities Experience
Date: 1985
- The Urban Geography of Residential Energy Consumption
Date: 1985
- Behavioral Approaches to the Geographic Study of Innovation Diffusion: Problems and Prospects
Date: 1981
- Innovation Diffusion and Entrepreneurial Activity in a Spatial Context: Conceptual Models and Related Case Studies
Date: 1980
- Cognitions of Distance in a Metropolitan Area
Date: 1975
Conferences
- Empowering the Great Energy Transition While Fossil Fuels are Still Abundant: The U.S. Challenge
In: Oxford University
Date: June 2019
- Vulnerability of U.S. Infrastructure to Coastal Flooding
In: National Academies of Sciences
Date: December 2018
- EVs + Renewables: A Merger of Complementary Adaptation Strategies
In: Geography 2050: American Geographical Society, Fall Symposium on Energy Adaptation Strategies
Date: November 2018
- Technologies and Policies for a Sustainable Energy Future
In: Energy Infrastructure Symposium
Date: November 2017
- Energy and Society
In: Tyndall Center Assembly Day
Date: September 2017
- Shifting the Energy Mix in a post-Paris World
In: 2016 Fall Meeting
Date: December 2016
- Progress in Energy and Carbon Management in Large U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Date: 2015
© 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.More than 1000 cities in the United States have signed the Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement, yet few have created comprehensive estimates of their energy consumption and carbon emissions footprints. In this paper, we provide estimates of both of these measures for residential and commercial buildings in the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the U.S. over the 2000-2010 period. This tracks the progress towards sustainable development in major urban areas nationally, identifying leaders and laggards, as well as opportunities for improvement. This research also offers real-world policy relevance for energy efficiency efforts in the urban areas where the vast majority of U.S. GDP is produced. - Climate Change and Energy Demand in Buildings
Date: 2014
- Energy Benchmarking of Commercial Buildings: A Low-Cost Pathway toward Energy Efficiency
Date: 2014
- Policy Considerations for Adapting Power Systems to Climate Change
Date: 2014
- Sustaining the City: Trends in Energy and Carbon Management in Large US Metros
Date: 2014
- Technologies and policies for a sustainable energy future
Date: 2013
- The Statewide Job Generation Impacts of Expanding Industrial CHP
Date: 2013
- Modeling the Impact of a Carbon Tax on the Commercial Buildings Sector
Date: 2012
- Water, energy, land use, transportation and socioeconomic nexus: A blue print for more sustainable urban systems
In: Proceedings of the 2011 IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology, ISSST 2011 [Peer Reviewed]
Date: August 2011
Preparation for global movement to urban regions requires a holistic study of infrastructure interactions. The impact of water and energy on one another has been studied to show how they are dependent upon one another. Other infrastructure interactions also are vital to designing more sustainable cities. The primary infrastructures are: water, energy, land use, and transportation. Creating more sustainable cities may involve low-impact development techniques, opting for compact living, and studying alternatives for water, energy, and transportation provision. Every city is different, and infrastructure decisions should be tailored to fit each city. This group is primarily focused on the greater Atlanta region and the Phoenix area. © 2011 IEEE. - Expanding the Pool of Federal Policy Options to Promote Industrial Energy Efficiency
Date: 2011
- Green Jobs from Industrial Energy Efficiency
Date: 2011
- Policy Analysis of Incentives to Encourage Adoption of the Superior Energy Performance Program
Date: 2011
- Regulatory Reform to Promote Clean Energy: The Potential of Output-Based Emissions Standards
Date: 2011
- The forest products industry at a crossroads: Preliminary NEMS analysis of renewable standards and cap and trade policies
Date: December 2009
Many energy and climate policies are being updated in the United States that would have significant impact upon the future of the forest products industry. As a result, the industry appears to be at a turning point. Using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), this paper analyzes a variety of scenarios based on three possible policies: (1) a national renewable electricity standard, (2) a U.S. greenhouse gas cap and trade system, and (3) expansion of industrial energy efficiency policies. In addition, this paper examines how these policies might interface with the recently strengthened renewable fuels standards. The principal focus is on how forest products and biomass residues from the pulp and paper industry might be utilized for electricity generation under different combinations of possible future national policies. - Tackling Climate Change in the United States: The Potential for Greenhouse Gas Reductions in the Buildings Sector
Date: 2007
- Emerging industrial innovations to create new energy efficient technologies
In: Proceedings ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 2005
A significant part of the discussion surrounding industrial efficiency gains focuses on industry's own use of technologies. Often overlooked in the discussion is industry's role as a developer of the technologies used both by industry and all other sectors within the economy. For example, industry may perhaps adopt new technologies or processes which provide cost-effective energy bill savings. At the same time, however, its role as a technology innovator -whether developing a new generation of fuel cell vehicles, "on- demand" manufacturing capabilities, or new plastics that double as integrated photovoltaic systems - may play an even larger role in the more productive use of our energy resources. This paper explores recent work on industrial innovation, often involving public-private partnerships, and provides a context to understand the role of innovation. It highlights a number of emerging technologies that may foster an even greater energy savings than might be apparent from looking at industry's own energy use patterns alone. © 2005 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry. - Building to LEED at a Federal Facility – Case Study of a Research Office Building
In: Proceedings of the 2004 World Energy Engineering Congress [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2004
- Summary of Panel 9: Environment and Policy
Date: 2002
- A Small Bioethical World?
Date: 2001
- Improving the Methods used to Evaluate Voluntary Energy-Efficiency Programs
Date: 2001
- Three Imagined Cases of Genetic Enhancement
Date: 2001
- Residential, Commercial, and Institutional Buildings Sector
Date: 2000
- Energy-Efficient Buildings: Does the Marketplace Work?
Date: 1997
- Evaluating the economic, energy, and environmental impacts of a technology commercialization program
Date: 1997
This paper describes the results of the latest evaluation of the Energy-Related Inventions Program (ERIP), one of the longest-running commercialization assistance programs in the US. Four performance metrics are used to evaluate the Program: (1) the market entry of new products, (2) commercial sales, (3) energy savings, and (4) greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The methodology used to estimate each metric is described, and the strengths and weaknesses of the metrics are discussed. The results of the Program evaluation are compared with other published program metrics, suggesting the Program`s high success. Issues that must be addressed to fairly appraise public investments in technology commercialization programs are also highlighted. - The Energy-Related Inventions Program: Evaluation Challenges and Solutions
Date: 1997
- International Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Resources on the Internet
Date: 1996
- Actual Vs. Anticipated Savings from DSM Programs: An Assessment of the California Experience
In: Proceedings of the 1995 International Energy Program Evaluation Conference [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1995
- The Human Genome Project and Insurance
Date: 1995
- The International Energy Agency’s Centre for the Analysis and Dissemination of Demonstrated Energy Technologies
Date: 1995
- Utility Investments in Low-Income Energy-Efficiency Programs
Date: 1995
- What Has Demand-Side Management Achieved in California?
Date: 1995
- Energy-Efficiency Improvements and Remaining Opportunities in the DOE Low-Income Weatherization Program
Date: 1994
- Key Findings of the National Weatherization Evaluation
Date: 1994
- Program Design
Date: 1994
- DOE's Weatherization Assistance Program: National Impacts and Regional Variations
Date: 1993
- Measuring the Effects of Conservation Program Special Services: Client Education, Fuel Assistance, and Other Indirect Outcomes
Date: 1993
- A Status Report on the National Weatherization Evaluation
Date: 1992
- Spinoffs from R&D Investments
Date: 1992
- The Reliability of Residential Energy Conservation Resources
Date: 1992
- Codes Vs. Marketing: How Far Have They Advanced Home Construction Practices in the Pacific Northwest
Date: August 1991
- Commercializing Government-Sponsored Computer Software
Date: 1991
- Promoting Energy-Efficient Home Construction: Alternative Policy Instruments
Date: 1991
- Evaluating the Impacts of Model Conservation Standards on Single-Family Construction Practices in the Northwest
Date: August 1990
- Innovators and Opinion Leaders in Demand-Side Management
Date: August 1990
- Promoting the Commercialization of Energy Innovations: An Evaluation of the Energy-Related Inventions Program
Date: 1989
- The Commercialization Process and Future Energy Options
In: Proceedings of the International Symposium on Energy Options for the Year 2000: Contemporary Concepts in Technology and Policy [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 1988
- The commercialization of technological innovations: spatial and other correlates of success ( US)
In: Applied Geography Conferences, SUNY, Binghamton [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 1987
Examines correlates of successful technological innovation among small businesses and independent inventors. It contributes to the understanding of what is required for an inventor working outside the large corporate environment to commercialize an invention, by comparing and contrasting traits of successful vs unsuccessful inventors, based on data obtained from a recent evaluation of the Energy-Related Inventions Program. -from Authors - Evaluation of a Shared Savings Approach: The Residential Energy Conservation Action Program
Date: 1987
- Impact of the Energy-Related Inventions Program on the National Economy
Date: 1987
- The Commercialization of Technological Innovations: Spatial and Other Correlates of Success
Date: 1987
- Issues in Transferring U.S. Energy Technologies to Developing Nations
In: American Society of Mechanical Engineers (Paper) [Peer Reviewed]
Date: December 1986
To stimulate discussion of potentials for and mechanisms of technology transfer from the U. S. to developing nations, this paper draws upon two bodies of experience at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL): (1) a wide variety of technical assistance activities supported by the U. S. Agency for International Development (AID), helping AID-assisted developing nations improve their energy planning, policy formulation, and applications of fossil and renewable energy options; and (2) a wide variety of technology transfer related activities, ranging from (a) assistance to buildings energy conservation programs of the U. S. Department of Energy in improving the transfer of new technologies from the nation's R&D system to commercial users to (b) research to improve the general understanding of the technology transfer process, especially from R&D institutions to commercial developers. The paper illustrates the importance of several dimensions often neglected in engineering-economic analysis, such as institutional requirements and a relatively detailed understanding of market segments. - Participation of the Elderly in Utility-Sponsored Residential Conservation Programs
Date: 1986
- The Residential Energy Consumption of Low-Income and Elderly Households: A Summary of Findings from Decatur, Illinois
Date: 1984
- The diffusion of Bank Americard in a rural setting: supply and infrastructure considerations
Date: 1976
- Policy Options Targeting Decision Levers: An Approach for Shrinking the Residential Energy-Efficiency Gap
- Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions by 2010
Working Papers
- Carbon Pricing and Energy Efficiency: Pathways to Deep Decarbonization of the U.S. Electric Sector
Date: May 2018
Despite the commitment of the Paris agreement to pursue efforts to limit end-of-century global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, few have studied mitigation pathways consistent with such a demanding goal. This paper uses a fully integrated engineering-economic model of the U.S. energy system, to explore the ability of the U.S. electricity sector to operate within a budget of 44 gigatons of CO2 (GtCO2) between 2016 and 2040 - almost 20 percent less than projected. Our modeling results suggest that carbon taxes coupled with strong energy-efficiency policies would produce synergistic effects that could meet deep decarbonization goals. Combining energy-efficiency initiatives with a $10/tCO2 tax rising to $27/tCO2 in 2040 (in $2013) would achieve the U.S. electric sector's carbon budget with a net savings to the U.S. economy. A $20/tCO2 tax rising to $53/tCO2 in 2040 would also stay below this budget, but it would cost more if not coupled with strong energy efficiency. U.S. regions will win or lose depending on their generation mix and how carbon tax revenues are recycled.
- The Economics of Four Virginia Biomass Plants
Date: April 2018
Global electricity generated from biomass more than tripled between 2000 and 2016, and it is forecast to grow at an increasing pace through 2050. Electricity generation from biomass is also expanding in the United States, particularly in the Southeast. Given the continued growth and policy support for biomass electricity generation, this paper assesses the economics of four Virginia biomass plants, three converted from coal plants in 2012 and one purchased and expanded in 2004. The goal is to estimate the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generated from the plants as a metric of their level of competitiveness with respect to alternative ways of meeting electricity demand in the region. The LCOE of the four plants range from $93 to $143/MWh, about 40-53% more expensive than new solar and wind today and is double the cost of energy efficiency. Even with the inclusion of federal subsidies and environmental credits, Dominion’s biomass conversions are not competitive. Overall, our analysis underscores the risks associated with investing in large, long-lived generation assets at a time when technologies and markets are rapidly evolving.
- The Economics of Four Virginia Biomass Plants
Date: March 2018
Global electricity generated from biomass more than tripled between 2000 and 2016, and it is forecast to grow at an increasing pace through the year 2040. Electricity generation from biomass is also expanding in the United States, particularly in the Southeast. Given the continued growth and policy support for biomass electricity generation, this paper assesses the economics of four Virginia biomass plants, three converted from coal plants in 2012 and one purchased and expanded in 2004. The goal is to estimate the levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) generated from the plants as a metric of their level of competitiveness with respect to alternative ways of meeting electricity demand in the region. The LCOE of the four plants range from $93 to $143/MWh, about 40-53% more expensive than new solar and wind today. Even with the inclusion of federal subsidies and environmental credits, Dominion’s biomass conversions are not competitive with several other established sources of electricity and affordable energy-efficiency options. Overall, our analysis underscores the risks associated with investing in large, long-lived generation assets at a time when technologies and markets are rapidly evolving.
- Theorizing the Behavioral Dimension of Energy Consumption
In: Energy and Society Handbook
Date: January 2018
This chapter focuses on the well-documented misalignment between energy-related behaviors and the personal values of consumers, which has become a major source of angst among
policymakers. Despite widespread pro-environmental or green attitudes, consumers frequently purchase non-green alternatives. The chapter identifies 50 theoretical approaches that can be
divided almost equally into two types: those that emphasize beliefs, attitudes, and values; and those that also consider contextual factors and social norms. Three principles of intervention are recommended: provide credible and targeted information at points of decision; identify and address the key factors inhibiting and promoting the target behaviours in particular populations; and rigorously evaluate programes to provide credible estimates of impact and opportunities for improvements. The chapter recommends that research on the value-action gap be expanded beyond the traditional focus on individuals to include decision-making units such as households, boards of directors, commercial buying units, and government procurement groups. - The Clean Power Plan and Beyond
Date: June 2016
Since the release of the Clean Power Plan (CPP), stakeholders across the U.S. have vigorously debated the pros and cons of different options for reducing CO2 emissions from electricity generation. This paper examines an array of CPP strategies, ranging from incremental to transformational, and from the near-term to the longer-term. The goal is to identify least-cost options to help policymakers and other stakeholders make well-informed choices. The Georgia Institute of Technology’s National Energy Modeling System is used to evaluate alternative futures. Our modeling suggests that CPP compliance can be achieved cost effectively by expanding new natural gas and renewable electricity generation to replace higher emitting coal plants and by using energy efficiency to curb demand growth, thereby enabling a more affordable pace of plant replacements. Post-2030 policies requiring further CO2 emission reductions, in combination with perfect foresight today, would motivate less natural gas build-out over the next 15 years. The South’s response to the CPP is distinct, with a larger share of coal retirements and a greater proportionate uptake of natural gas, energy efficiency, and renewable resources. In addition to reducing CO2 emissions, these least-cost compliance scenarios would produce substantial collateral benefits including lower electricity bills across all customer classes and significant reductions in local air pollution. https://cepl.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/NEMS_CPP_Paper_06-24-2016.pdf#
- Grid Modernization: ARRA Accomplishments and Recommendations for Moving Forward
Date: November 2015
- Cool Buildings: Bundled Policies to Promote Super-efficient Space Conditioning
Date: 2015
- Low-Carbon Electricity Pathways for the U.S. and the South: An Assessment of Costs and Options
Date: 2015
- The Water Efficiency Gap
Date: 2015
Water managers throughout the world are increasingly challenged to provide reliable and affordable water supplies to growing human populations, under conditions of climate variability and competing demands. At the same time, there is growing recognition of the interconnections between water and energy use (the water-energy nexus), and calls for integrating water and energy policy. If any regulatory integration is to occur, it is important to understand the dynamics of water management and how it compares to the management of the energy system. Furthermore, lessons learned from the energy sector may transfer to the water sector. The concept of the energy efficiency gap has been used to understand the market and non-market barriers that create and sustain an inefficient energy system. We explore to what degree the understandings of the energy efficiency gap can be applied to water management to produce efficiency gains. Water systems typically fall far short of operating at economically and technically achievable levels of efficiency. We find that in many sectors of the economy, these failures are determined more by political institutions than by markets. To illustrate, even in times of scarcity, water management agencies typically do not raise prices. In contrast, most American energy resources are privately owned, and the market provides greater incentive for owners to consider scarcity in their decisions (Olmstead 2010). We argue that while there are substantial differences in the markets for energy and for water, there are many barriers to achieving efficiency that are common to water and energy. Parallel opportunities for reducing the water efficiency gap include improved data reporting, improved metering, revised rate structures, improved information and management strategies, residential rebate programs, public–private partnerships for irrigation efficiency, benchmarks for thermoelectric cooling, and product efficiency standards.
- Business Models for Utilities of the Future: Emerging Trends in the Southeast
Date: 2014
Growing concerns about clean air and climate change have brought attention to the business models used by electric utilities to promote the deployment of distributed renewables and energy efficiency. To advance the debate on best business practices, this paper analyzes approaches to allocating the costs and benefits of ratepayer-funded energy-efficiency programs, focusing in particular on utilities in the Southeast. Using public data on a southeastern utility, we estimate the impacts of three important features of business models: the recovery of program costs, the treatment of lost contributions to fixed costs, and the provision of utility incentives. Our research indicates that energy-efficiency programs (with or without these business case features) would have only modest impacts on average electricity bills and rates, while significantly reducing electricity costs to participants. Depending on the choice of business model, non-participant utility bills may also decline. Utility earnings are reduced by energy-efficiency programs, but various combinations of business model features largely restore these earnings. The range of options for distributing the costs and benefits of energy-efficiency programs underscores the importance of selecting the right business model. The growing scope and scale of energy-efficiency programs makes this choice increasingly important.
- Modeling Climate-Driven Changes in U.S. Energy Demand: Conclusions from a Review of the Literature
Date: 2014
- The State of Electric Power in the South
Date: 2014
The electric system in the South faces an array of challenges, which prompted the Georgia Institute of Technology to initiate a study of “The Future of Electric Power in the South.” Authored by six Georgia Tech faculty, and informed by a group of stakeholders in the region, this white paper is the first product of the initiative, providing a fact-based description of the current state of electric power in the South. Despite the diversity within the region, a number of features distinguish its power systems from those in the rest of the nation. First, the South has a distinct electricity generation profile. Coal has historically dominated, but in recent years the South has seen a dramatic increase in the fraction of electricity generated by natural gas. The South is also home to all of the nation’s current US nuclear reactor construction projects. The Southern states have little renewable generation other than the long-standing hydropower in Tennessee, Alabama, and North Carolina and the significant and more recent wind development in Texas and Oklahoma. The South has a significant opportunity to expand its energy efficiency performance by strengthening its policies. Finally, evidence suggests that the grid in the South is getting smarter, but it is challenged by the need to accommodate distributed renewable generation, increasing demands of a digital society, growing threats to infrastructure security, and concerns over environmental quality and global climate disruption. The region can take pride in the fact that it has never been exposed to the sort of disruptions and blackouts that other parts of the national system have experienced in the past. By acting cautiously in the presence of many challenges, local utilities may have extended the time line of the clean energy transition, but they are also now able to move forward from a strong position.
- Estimating the Energy-Efficiency Potential in the Eastern Interconnection
Date: 2013
- Policy Drivers for Improving Electricity End-Use Efficiency in the U.S.: An Economic-Engineering Analysis
Date: 2013
This paper estimates the economically achievable potential for improving electricity end-use efficiency in the U.S. The approach involves identifying a series of energy-efficiency policies aimed at tackling market failures, and then examining their impacts and cost-effectiveness using Georgia Tech’s version of the National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS). By estimating the policy-driven electricity savings and the associated levelized costs, a policy supply curve for electricity efficiency is produced. Each policy is evaluated individually and in an Integrated Policy scenario to examine policy dynamics. The Integrated Policy scenario demonstrates significant achievable potential: 261 TWh (6.5%) of electricity savings in 2020, and 457 TWh (10.2%) in 2035. All eleven policies examined were estimated to have lower levelized costs than average electricity retail prices. Levelized costs range from 0.5 – 8.0 cent/kWh, with the regulatory and information policies tending to be most cost-effective. Policy impacts on the power sector, carbon dioxide emissions, and energy intensity are also estimated to be significant.
- The Job Generation Impacts of Expanding Industrial Cogeneration
Date: 2013
Sustainable economic development requires the efficient production and use of energy; combined heat and power (CHP) systems contribute to both of these goals. While a recent executive order set a national goal of 40 GW of new industrial CHP by 2020, the deployment of CHP is challenged by financial, regulatory, and workforce barriers. Discrepancies between private and public interests can be minimized by policies promoting energy-based economic development. In this context, a great deal of rhetoric has addressed the ambiguous goal of growing “green jobs”. Our research provides a systematic evaluation of the job impacts of an investment tax credit (ITC) that would subsidize industrial CHP deployment. We introduce a hybrid analysis approach combining simulations using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) with Input-Output modeling. Our results suggest that each GW of installed CHP capacity may be reasonably expected create and maintain 2,000-3,000 full-time equivalent jobs throughout the lifetime of the system. These jobs would include direct jobs in manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance, as well as other indirect and induced jobs (net of losses in other sectors), both from redirection of industrial energy expenditures and respending of commercial and household energy-bill savings. We discuss implications for industrial policy, affirming the benefits of innovative technology investments and effective policy design.
- Understanding Attitudes toward Energy Security: Results of a Cross-National Survey
Date: 2013
Energy security is embedded in a complex system encompassing factors that constitute the social environment in which individuals are immersed. Everything from education, to access to resources to policy and cultural values of particular places affects perceptions and experiences of energy security. This article examines the types of energy security challenges that nations face and characterizes the policy responses that are often used to address these challenges. Drawing from a survey of energy consumers in ten countries, we conduct a cross-national comparison of energy security attitudes and analyze each country’s corresponding energy resources, consumption characteristics and energy policies. Through multivariate regression analysis and case studies we find that socio-demographic and regional characteristics affect attitudes towards energy security. Specifically, a strong relationship exists between level of reliance on oil imports and level of concern for a variety of energy security characteristics including availability, affordability and equity. Our results also reaffirm the importance of gender and age in shaping perceptions of security. Level of development, reliance on oil and strong energy efficiency policies also affect individuals’ sense of energy security. In sum, we find that energy security is a highly context-dependent condition that is best understood from a nuanced and multi-dimensional perspective.
- Evaluating the Risks of Alternative Energy Policies: A Case Study of Industrial Energy Efficiency
Date: 2012
Numerous studies have shown the potential for U.S. manufacturing to cut its energy costs by installing more efficient equipment that offers competitive payback periods, but the realization of this potential is hindered by numerous obstacles. This paper evaluates seven federal policy options aimed at revitalizing U.S. manufacturing by improving its energy economics while also achieving environmental and energy reliability goals. Traditionally, policy analysts have examined the cost-effectiveness of energy policies using deterministic assumptions. When risk factors are introduced, they are typically examined using sensitivity analysis to focus on alternative assumptions about budgets, policy design, energy prices, and other such variables. In this paper we also explicitly model the stochastic nature of several key risk factors including future energy prices, damages from climate change, and the cost of criteria pollutants. Using these two approaches, each policy is “stress tested” to evaluate the likely range of private and social returns on investment. Overall we conclude that the societal cost-effectiveness of policies is generally more sensitive to alternative assumptions about damages from criteria pollutants and climate change compared with energy prices; however, risks also vary across policies based partly on the technologies they target. Future research needs to examine the macroeconomic consequences of the choice between a lethargic approach to energy waste and modernization in manufacturing versus a vigorous commitment to industrial energy productivity and innovation as characterized by the suite of policies described in this paper.
- Making Buildings Part of the Climate Solution by Enforcing Aggressive Commercial Building Codes
Date: 2012
This paper examines the impact of an aggressive commercial building codes policy in the United States. The policy would require both new construction and existing buildings that undergo major modifications to comply with higher building shell efficiency and more stringent equipment standards similar to the latest versions of the ASHRAE 90.1 Standard. Using the Georgia Tech version of the National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS), we estimate that the building codes policy could reduce the energy consumption of commercial buildings by 0.94 Quads in 2035, equal to 4% of the projected energy consumption of commercial buildings in that year. In the four targeted end-uses – space heating and cooling, water heating and lighting – estimated energy consumption would be 17%, 15%, 20% and 5% less than the Reference case forecast in 2035, respectively. The reduction of electricity and natural gas prices along with the consumption decline could save commercial consumers $12.8 billion in energy bills in 2035 and a cumulative $110 billion of bill savings between 2012 and 2035. The environmental benefits of the policy could also be significant. In 2035, 47 MMT of CO2 emissions could be avoided, generating cumulative benefits of $17 billion by 2035. The estimated benefit-cost ratio of this policy within the commercial sector is 1.4, with a resulting net benefit of $59 billion. The positive spillover effect of this policy would lead to an even higher economy-wide benefit-cost ratio.
- Making Buildings Part of the Climate Solution by Overcoming Information Gaps through Benchmarking
Date: 2012
This paper focuses on the impact of benchmarking the energy performance of U.S. commercial buildings by requiring utilities to submit energy data to a uniform database accessible to building owners and tenants. Understanding how a commercial building uses energy has many benefits; in particular, it helps building owners and tenants focus on poor-performing buildings and subsystems, and enables highperforming buildings to participate in various certification programs that can lead to higher occupancy rates, rents, and property values. Through analysis chiefly utilizing the Georgia Tech version of the National Energy Modeling System (GT-NEMS), updating input discount rates and the impact of benchmarking shows a reduction in energy consumption of 5.6% in 2035 relative to the Reference case projection of the Annual Energy Outlook 2011. It is estimated that the benefits of a national benchmarking policy would outweigh the costs, both to the private sector and society broadly. However, its geographical impact would vary substantially, with the South Atlantic and New England regions benefiting the most. By reducing the discount rates used to evaluate energy-efficiency investments, benchmarking would increase the purchase of energy-efficient equipment thereby reducing energy bills, CO2 emissions, and conventional air pollution.
- Making Buildings Part of the Climate Solution by Pricing Carbon Efficiently
Date: 2012
This report examines the impact of instituting an economy-wide tax on CO2 emissions in the United States, focusing especially on the changes such a tax would have on the energy and carbon profile of the commercial buildings sector. In terms of energy intensity, a carbon tax is estimated to deliver faster and deeper reductions in the commercial sector than in the rest of the economy. Still, its 6.3% energy intensity improvement falls short of the Better Buildings goal of a 20% increase in the energy efficiency of commercial buildings by 2020. On the other hand, the carbon tax scenario nearly meets the Waxman-Markey and Copenhagen economy-wide carbon reduction goals for 2020, due partly to a more carbon-lean power sector. The effects of carbon taxes on commercial buildings would be technologically transformational and geographically widespread. While energy expenditures would rise and more capital would be required for energy-efficiency upgrades, the avoided pollution and the reduced CO2 emissions would generate significant human health and ecosystem benefits. To be successful, a broad community of constituents would need to accept the temporal mismatch between immediate costs and long-term benefits.
- Making Buildings Part of the Climate Solution with Flexible Innovative Financing
Date: 2012
Lack of attractive financing remains one of the most significant barriers to energy-efficiency improvements in commercial buildings. This paper examines a flexible financing policy that would support state and local initiatives via loan loss reserves, tax lien financing, revolving loans, performance contracts, and on-bill programs. We examine the impact of different levels of subsidy covering different numbers of technologies, ultimately selecting a 10% subsidy for 64 qualifying technologies. This policy would save almost half a quad of energy in 2020 and 1.04 quads in 2035, producing net social benefits of $105 billion and a benefit/cost ratio of 1.9. Technologies with significant growth in market share include advanced fluorescents and variable-air-volume ventilation systems. Case studies of other technologies illustrate the advantage of optimizing financial assistance to reflect product maturity and cost-competiveness. A 10% subsidy would produce an estimated ten-fold increase in the amount spent on highefficiency equipment in 2035, and the $3.9 billion subsidy in that year would have only an 11% rate of free ridership.
- Modeling the Impact of a Carbon Tax on the Commercial Buildings Sector
Date: 2012
- Reviving Manufacturing with a Federal Cogeneration Policy
Date: 2012
Improving the energy economics of manufacturing is essential to revitalizing the industrial base of advanced economies. This paper evaluates a federal policy option aimed at promoting industrial cogeneration – the production of heat and electricity in a single energy-efficient process. Detailed analysis using the National Energy Modeling System and spreadsheet calculations suggest that industrial cogeneration could meet 18% of U.S. electricity requirements by 2035, compared with its current 8.9% market share. Substituting less efficient utility-scale power plants with cogeneration systems would produce numerous economic and environmental benefits, but would also create an assortment of losers as well as winners. Multiple perspectives to benefit/cost analysis are therefore valuable. Our results indicate that the federal cogeneration policy would be highly favorable to manufacturers and the public sector, cutting energy bills, generating billions of dollars in electricity sales, making producers more competitive, and reducing pollution. Traditional utilities, on the other hand, would likely lose revenues. From a public policy perspective, deadweight losses would be introduced by market-distorting federal incentives (ranging annually from $30 to $150 million), but these losses are much smaller than the estimated net social benefits of the federal cogeneration policy.
- Smart-Grid Policies: An International Review
Date: 2012
The electric power systems of many industrialized nations are challenged by the need to accommodate distributed renewable generation, increasing demands of a digital society, growing threats to infrastructure security, and concerns over global climate disruption. The “smart grid†– with a two-way flow of electricity and information between utilities and consumers – can help address these challenges, but various financial, regulatory, and technical obstacles hinder its rapid deployment. An overview of experiences with smart-grids policies in pioneering countries shows that many governments have designed interventions to overcome these barriers and to facilitate grid modernization. Smart-grid policies include a new generation of regulations and finance models such as regulatory targets, requirements for data security and privacy, renewable energy credits, and various interconnection tariffs and utility subsidies.
- Renewable Energy in the South
Date: December 2011
- Energy Security Dimensions and Trends in Industrialized Countries
Date: May 2011
- Making Industry Part of the Climate Solution: Policy Options to Promote Energy Efficiency
Date: May 2011
- America’s Climate Choices
Date: 2011
- Myths and Facts about Clean Electricity in the U.S. South
Date: 2011
This paper identifies six myths about clean electricity in the southern U.S. These myths are either propagated by the public at-large, shared within the environmental advocacy culture, or spread imperceptibly between policymakers. Using a widely accepted energy-economic modeling tool, we expose these myths as half-truths and the kind of conventional wisdom that constrains productive debate. In so doing, we identify new starting points for energy policy development. Climate change activists may be surprised to learn that it will take more than a national Renewable Electricity Standard or supportive energy efficiency policies to retire coal plants. Low-cost fossil generation enthusiasts may be surprised to learn that clean generation can save consumers money, even while meeting most demand growth over the next 20 years. This work surfaces the myths concealed in public perceptions and illustrates the positions of various stakeholders in this large U.S. region.
- Renewable Energy in the South: Policy Brief
Date: May 2010
- Energy Efficiency in the South
Date: 2010
- Limiting the Magnitude of Future Climate Change
Date: 2010
- Real Prospects for Energy Efficiency
Date: 2010
- Reinventing Industrial Energy Use in a Resource-Constrained World
Date: 2010
In an increasingly resource-constrained world, improving the energy efficiency of industry is essential. In addition to its environmental, security, and competitiveness benefits, energy efficiency delivers a return on investment that contributes to the profitability of enterprises. Using international technology and policy benchmarking, this chapter examines the energy productivity of U.S. industry and its role as a technology innovator, supplying next-generation green and clean technologies. After reviewing the barriers and drivers of improved practices, the chapter concludes that the dual goals of advancing energy efficiency at industrial plants and advancing product innovation are critical to promoting the more productive consumption of energy in a resource-constrained world.
- The Forest Products Industry At An Energy/Climate Crossroads
Date: 2010
Transformational energy and climate policies are being debated worldwide that could have significant impact upon the future of the forest products industry. Because woody biomass can produce alternative transportation fuels, low-carbon electricity, and numerous other “green†products in addition to traditional paper and lumber commodities, the future use of forest resources is highly uncertain. Using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS), this paper assesses the future of the forest products industry under three possible U.S. policy scenarios: (1) a national renewable electricity standard, (2) a national policy of carbon constraints, and (3) incentives for industrial energy efficiency. In addition, we discuss how these policy scenarios might interface with the recently strengthened U.S. renewable fuels standards. The principal focus is on how forest products including residues might be utilized under different policy scenarios, and what such market shifts might mean for electricity and biomass prices, as well as energy consumption and carbon emissions. The results underscore the value of incentivizing energy efficiency in a portfolio of energy and climate policies in order to moderate electricity and biomass price escalation while strengthening energy security and reducing CO2 emissions.
- Meta-Review of Efficiency Potential Studies and Their Implications for the South
Date: August 2009
This paper reviews 19 separate studies published over the past 12 years that examine the potential for deploying greater energy efficiency in the South. These studies contain more than 250 estimates of the energy efficiency potential for different fuels (electricity, natural gas, and all fuels), sectors of the economy (residential buildings, commercial buildings, and industry), and types of potential (technical, economic, maximum achievable, and moderate achievable). The meta-review concludes that a reservoir of cost-effective energy savings exists in the South. The full deployment of these nearly pollution-free opportunities could largely offset the growth in energy consumption forecast for the region over the next decade.
- Making Homes Part of the Climate Solution
Date: June 2009
- Energy Efficiency in Appalachia
Date: March 2009
The Appalachian Region’s energy consumption is expected to increase 28 percent between 2006 and 2030, compared with a 19 percent increase forecast for the United States as a whole. Research indicates that strong policy interventions will be needed to promote energy-efficient purchases and practices that could help the Region meet its future energy needs while ensuring its continued economic and environmental health. This study assesses the long-term energy-efficiency gains that could be achieved by implementing an ambitious package of energy-efficiency policies throughout Appalachia. It examines the breadth of energy-efficiency resources in Appalachia; the timeframe for harnessing these resources; and the policies and programs that could most effectively translate these resources into energy savings, as well as the impact those policies and programs could have on jobs and wages in Appalachia. The engineering-economic modeling conducted in the study concludes that such policies could result in significant energy savings and positively impact the Appalachian economy. - Competing Dimensions of Energy Security: An International Perspective
Date: 2009
How well are industrialized nations doing in terms of their energy security? Without a standardized set of metrics, it is difficult to determine the extent that countries are properly responding to the emerging energy security challenges related to climate change, growing dependence on fossil fuels, population growth and economic development. In response, we propose the creation of an Energy Security Index to inform policymakers, investors and analysts about the status of energy conditions. Using the United States and 21 other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) as an example, and looking at energy security from 1970 to 2007, our index shows that only four countries¡ªBelgium, Denmark, Japan, and the United Kingdom¡ªhave made progress on multiple dimensions of the energy security problem. The remaining 18 have either made no improvement or are less secure. To make this argument, the first section of the article surveys the scholarly literature on energy security from 2003 to 2008 and argues that an index should address accessibility, affordability, efficiency, and environmental stewardship. Because each of these four components is multidimensional, the second section discusses ten metrics that comprise an Energy Security Index: oil import dependence, percentage of alternative transport fuels, on-road fuel economy for passenger vehicles, energy intensity, natural gas import dependence, electricity prices, gasoline prices, sulfur dioxide emissions, and carbon dioxide emissions. The third section analyzes the relative performance of four countries: Denmark (the top performer), Japan (which performed well), the United States (which performed poorly), and Spain (the worst performer). The article concludes by offering implications for policy. Conflicts between energy security criteria mean that advancement along any one dimension can undermine progress on another dimension. By focusing on a 10-point index, public policy can better illuminate such tradeoffs and can identify compensating policies.
- Strategies for the Commercialization and Deployment of Greenhouse Gas Intensity-Reducing Technologies and Practices
Date: 2009
- Carbon Lock-In: Barriers to Deploying Climate Change Mitigation Technologies
Date: November 2008
- Energy and Environmental Workforce Educational Needs: Supply and Demand in Georgia
Date: September 2008
- Potential Impacts of Energy and Climate Policies on the U. S. Pulp and Paper Industry
Date: June 2008
Many energy and climate policies are being debated in the United States that could have significant impact upon the future of the pulp and paper industry. Five of these policies are examined here in terms of their possible directional influences on biomass energy and paper production: (1) a national renewable electricity standard, (2) a U.S. greenhouse gas cap and trade system, (3) stronger renewable fuels standards, (4) expanded state incentives for biomass pilot plants, and (5) more favorable taxation of forest property. The observed trends reinforce the value of forest product diversification through the addition of biomass power generation and transportation fuels/chemicals production as co-products of the pulp and paper industry. Therefore, directing capital expenditures to the increasingly cost-competitive and expanding biopower and biofuels markets would appear to have merit in anticipation of the promulgation of new energy and climate legislation. Accelerated investments in new facilities such as biorefineries and cogeneration units and in energy-efficiency upgrades would position the pulp and paper industry to profit from current trends and likely policy initiatives.
- The Residential Energy and Carbon Footprints of the 100 Largest U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Date: May 2008
The nation’s carbon footprint has a distinct geography that is not well understood or recognized in the national climate debate, partly because data on GHG emissions are so inadequate. Metros and the built environment are often neglected when solutions to the climate challenge are being discussed, yet they are major carbon emitters and they are poised to be part of the solution.
To characterize metropolitan contributions to the global climate change problem, this paper quantifies the energy consumed and carbon emitted by the residential building sector of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas. It thereby provides, for the first time, a set of consistent indices that enable cross-metro comparisons and comparability with national statistics and across metropolitan areas. The residential footprints are derived from proprietary utility sales data from Platts Analytics supplemented by Census region and state-level data provided by EIA.
We find that the average metropolitan resident emits 0.93 metric tons of carbon as a result of their residential energy consumption, which is 18 percent smaller than the average American. Per capita footprints vary substantially across metropolitan areas. Some of this variation can be attributed to climate, electricity prices, and the fuels used to generate electricity. In addition, compact metros consistently have lower per capita residential carbon footprints than more sprawling metros. - The Transportation Energy and Carbon Footprints of the 100 Largest U.S. Metropolitan Areas
Date: May 2008
In this paper we present estimates of the automobile and truck travel based energy and carbon footprints of the largest 100 U.S. metropolitan areas. The footprints are based on the estimated vehicle miles traveled and the transportation fuels consumed. Results are presented on an annual basis and represent end use emissions only. Total carbon emissions, emissions per capita, and emissions per dollar of gross metropolitan product are reported. Two years of annual data were examined, 2000 and 2005, with most of the in-depth analysis focused on the 2005 results.
In section 2 we provide background data on the national picture and derive some carbon and energy consumption figures for the nation as a whole. In section 3 of the paper we examine the metropolitan area-wide results based on the sums and averages across all 100 metro areas, and compare these with the national totals and averages. In section 4 we present metropolitan area specific footprints and examine the considerable variation that is found to exist across individual metro areas. In doing so we pay particular attention to the effects that urban form might have on these differences. Finally, section 5 provides a summary of major findings, and a list of caveats that need to be borne in mind when using the results due to known limitations in the data sources used. - Shrinking the Carbon Footprint of Metropolitan America
Date: May 2008
- Promoting a Level Playing Field for Energy Options: Electricity Alternatives and the Case of the Indian Point Energy Center
Date: January 2008
The Indian Point Energy Center, with two operational nuclear reactors, sits in a densely populated region just 40 miles north of midtown Manhattan. It is a vital part of the electricity supply system for the New York City region, but its propinquity to the largest city in the United States has raised public concerns about its safe operation, particularly in the event of a terrorist attack. Such concerns prompted the U.S. Congress to request a study of potential options for replacing the 2,000 MW of power provided by Indian Point. This paper assesses the potential for electricity alternatives in the Indian Point service area. It documents that increased investments in energy efficiency, combined heat and power facilities, and solar photovoltaics could cost-competitively reduce peak demand in the Indian Point service area by 1 Gigawatt (GW) or more by 2010 and by 1.5 GW by 2015. If the cost of solar photovoltaics can be brought to nearcompetitive levels over the next decade, these totals could be raised to 1.7 GW by 2015, approaching the capacity of the Indian Point Energy Center. This result challenges the conventional focus of system operators and policymaker on supply-side solutions.
- Governing Confusion: How Statutes, Fiscal Policy, and Regulations Impede Clean Energy Technologies
Date: 2008
The United States shares with many other countries the goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change “to achieve … stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” The critical role of new technologies in achieving this goal is underscored by the fact that most anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) emitted over the next century will come from equipment and infrastructure that has not yet been built. As a result, new technologies and fuels have the potential to transform the nation’s energy system while meeting climate change as well as energy security and other goals.
- What you Need to Know About Energy
Date: 2008
- Developing an "Energy Sustainability Index" to Evaluate American Energy Policy
Date: December 2007
This paper proposes the creation of an energy sustainability index (ESI) to inform policymakers, investors, and analysts about the status of energy conditions, and to help educate the public about energy issues. The proposed ESI builds on the substantial body of literature on "œsustainability" and also draws on past efforts to measure environmental and energy progress - both of which are reviewed below. The index covers four dimensions (oil security, electricity reliability, energy efficiency, and environmental quality) and includes twelve individual indicators. Comparing these indicators in 1970 with 2004, nine have trended in an unfavorable direction, two have moved in a favorable direction, and one has been essentially unchanged. Clearly, the "energy problem" fretted about in the 1970s has not been fully addressed. While the proposed ESI is preliminary and requires further refinement, it takes an important step toward creating a set of indicators that can easily assess and communicate the condition of the U.S. energy system.
- Alternatives to the Indian Point Energy Center for Meeting New York Electric Power Needs
Date: July 2006
- Results of a Technical Review of the U.S. Climate Change Technology Program’s R&D Portfolio
Date: May 2006
- Mitigating Climate Change Through Green Buildings and Smart Growth
Date: 2006
Energy-efficient buildings are seen by climate change experts as one of the least-cost approaches to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. This paper summarizes a study done for the Pew Center on Global Climate Change that takes a broader look at the potential role of a climate-friendly built environment including not only considerations of how buildings are constructed and used, but also how they interface with the electric grid and where they are located in terms of urban densities and access to employment and services. In addition to summarizing mechanisms of change (barriers and drivers), the paper reviews a set of policies that could bring carbon emissions in the building sector in 2025 back almost to 2004 levels. By mid-century, the combination of green buildings and smart growth could deliver the deeper reductions that many believe are needed to mitigate climate change.
- Ending the Energy Stalemate
Date: December 2004
- A Market Failures Framework for Defining the Government’s Role in Energy Efficiency
Date: June 2004
- Scenarios for a Clean Energy Future
Date: August 2000
- Clean Energy Partnerships: A Decade of Success
Date: March 2000
- Review of the Science to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
Date: March 2000
- Progress Report of the National Weatherization Assistance Program
Date: September 1997
- Scenarios of U.S. Carbon Reductions: The Potential Impact of Energy-Efficient and Low-Carbon Technologies
Date: August 1997
- The Energy-Related Inventions Program: Continuing Benefits to the Inventor Community
Date: October 1996
- Persistence of Demand-Side Management Impacts: Methods, Applications, and Selected Findings
Date: March 1996
- Measuring Persistence: A Literature Review Focusing on Methodological Issues
Date: March 1995
- Science and Technology for a Sustainable Energy Future: Accomplishments of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Date: March 1995
- Standard Practice: Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of Coordinated DSM Programs
Date: December 1994
- Summary of California DSM Impact Evaluation Studies
Date: November 1994
- Utility Investments in Low-Income Energy-Efficiency Programs
Date: September 1994
- Weatherization Works: Final Report of the National Weatherization Evaluation
Date: September 1994
- The Economic, Energy, and Environmental Impacts of DOE’s Energy-Related Inventions Program
Date: July 1994
- Patterns of Impact in the Weatherization Assistance Program: A Closer Look
Date: June 1994
- Low-Income DSM Programs: Methodological Approach to Determining the Cost-Effectiveness of Coordinated Programs
Date: May 1994
- Progress in Residential Retrofit
Date: December 1993
- Keys to Success: Ten Case Studies of Effective Weatherization Programs
Date: November 1993
- Weatherization Works
Date: November 1993
- Process Evaluation of the Regional Biomass Energy Program
Date: September 1993
- A Comparison Group Analysis of DOE's Energy-Related Inventions Program
Date: June 1993
- National Impacts of the Weatherization Assistance Program in Single-Family and Small Multifamily Dwellings
Date: May 1993
- Evaluation of Bonneville’s 1988 and 1989 Residential Weatherization Program: A Northwest Study of Program Dynamics
Date: December 1992
- Scope of the Weatherization Assistance Program: The Weatherized Population and the Resource Base
Date: May 1992
- Characterization of the Weatherization Assistance Program Network
Date: February 1992
- The Energy-Related Inventions Program: A Decade of Commercial Progress
Date: December 1991
- Experimental Plan for the Fuel Oil Study
Date: October 1991
- Electricity Savings Among Participants Three Years after Weatherization in Bonneville’s 1986 Residential Weatherization Program
Date: September 1991
- Experimental Plan for the Single-Family Study
Date: September 1991
- Evaluation Plan for the Weatherization Assistance Program
Date: August 1991
- The Impact of Bonneville’s Model Conservation Standards on the Energy Efficiency of New Home Construction
Date: August 1991
- Energy Efficiency in Nonprofit Agencies: Creating Effective Program Models
Date: August 1990
- A Planning Framework for Transferring Building Energy Technologies
Date: July 1990
- The Energy-Related Inventions Program: Commercial Progress of Participants Through 1988
Date: May 1990
- Implementation and Enforcement of Bonneville's Model Conservation Standards Within Early Adopting Jurisdictions
Date: February 1990
- The Technology Transfer Process: Background for the U.S. National Energy Strategy
Date: 1990
- Electricity Savings One and Two Years After Weatherization: A Study of 1986 Participants in Bonneville's Residential Weatherization Program
Date: August 1989
- Technology Adoption Strategy for the Existing Buildings Efficiency Research Program
Date: June 1989
- Commercializing Government-Sponsored Innovations: Lessons Learned from Twelve Successful Case Studies
Date: 1989
- Recent Publications of DOE's Office of Buildings and Community Systems
Date: 1989
- Technology Transfer Strategies of the U.S. Department of Energy's Conservation Program
Date: December 1988
- The Energy-Related Inventions Program: An Assessment of Recent Commercial Progress
Date: October 1988
- A New Technology Transfer Process for DOE's Residential and Commercial Conservation Program
Date: September 1988
- Technical Accomplishments of DOE's Office of Transportation Systems
Date: September 1988
- Technology Transfer for DOE's Office of Transportation Systems: Assessments and Strategies
Date: April 1988
- Occupant Evaluation of Commercial Office Lighting: Volume 2, Preliminary Data Analysis
Date: September 1987
- Impact of the Hood River Conservation Project on Electricity Use for Residential Water Heating
Date: August 1987
- Occupant Evaluation of Commercial Office Lighting: Volume 3, Data Archive and Database Management System
Date: August 1987
- Analysis of Technical Assistance Provided by the Department of Energy's Energy Management and Extension Division
Date: April 1987
- Evaluation of the Energy-Related Inventions Program: An Empirical Analysis of 204 Inventions
Date: March 1987
- Impact Analysis of a Residential Energy Conservation Shared Savings Program: The General Public Utilities Experience
Date: February 1987
- Occupant Evaluation of Commercial Office Lighting: Volume 1, Methodology and Bibliography
Date: November 1986
- Program Planning Workbook for the 1986 SECP/EES All States Program Managers' Conference
Date: September 1986
- The Role of Auditor Salesmanship in Residential Conservation Incentive Programs: A Case Study at Florida Power and Light
Date: August 1986
- Technology Transfer for DOE's Office of Buildings and Community Systems: Assessment and Strategies
Date: July 1986
- A Strategy for Accelerating the Use of Energy-Conserving Building Technologies
Date: 1985
- An Evaluation of the Institute on Energy and Engineering Education
Date: 1985
- Enhancing Technology Transfer Through Laboratory/Industry Cooperative Research and Development
Date: 1985
- Factors that Influence the Implementation of Energy Saving Technologies at Naval Shore Facilities
Date: 1985
- The Implementation of a Residential Energy Conservation Shared Savings Program: The General Public Utilities Experience
Date: 1985
- Residential Energy Conservation
Date: 1983
- The Diffusion of Residential Energy Conservation in an Urban Area
Date: 1983
- Measuring Suburban Need and Distress
Date: 1981
- The Diffusion of Residential Energy Conservation Measures in an Urban Area - The Results of a Pilot Survey
Date: 1981
- Case Studies and a Dialogue on the Role of Geographic Analysis in Public Policy
Date: 1979
- Innovation Establishment in a Rural Setting: A Case Study of Four Innovations with Reference to a Conceptual Framework
Date: 1978
- The Role of Public and Private Agencies in the Diffusion of Innovations: A Behavioral Approach
Date: 1978
- A Collection of Exercises for Introductory Human Geography Courses
Date: 1976
Thesis / Dissertations
- The Role of Public and Private Agencies in the Diffusion of Innovations
Other Publications
- Would a Green New Deal Add or Kill Jobs?
In: Scientific American [Peer Reviewed]
Date: 2019