Energy researchers have historically studied how power systems can provide cheap, clean, and reliable energy. While these three attributes are critical for clean energy transitions, the energy justice movement supports an equally necessary focus on equity and justice. In recent years, research has sought to understand how decision-making and infrastructure design can enable fair socio-technical changes in energy systems, from production to consumption to retirement. Stemming from the environmental justice and fuel poverty scholarship and advocacy that emerged in the 1970s in the United States and the United Kingdom, the energy justice research space has consolidated and evolved since the 2010s. Over the past decade, the energy justice literature has highlighted how the design and operation of energy systems can have unequal socio-spatial impacts and has illuminated opportunities toward more inclusive energy services. A critical review is required to map out the obstacles and opportunities in this field at a time when a confluence of economic, social, and political trends have brought issues of equity and justice to the fore (e.g., US Executive Order 14008). In this article, we explore three challenges the energy justice field faces as it engages with research on clean energy transitions in the US: setting boundaries for its research agenda; developing generalizable metrics to assess energy justice claims; and implementing those metrics to inform policy. We identify promising developments in these areas and make suggestions for future work.

We present a case study of successful uptake of a productive use of electricity (PUE) co-located at an off-grid clinic powered by OffGridBox in Rwanda. We develop a techno-economic analysis of the standardized, modular, and redeployable power supply technology, characterizing cost components, revenue considerations, and key challenges. We present a technical characterization of system utilization based on remote monitoring of electricity consumption, power reliability, and power quality at a PUE intervention site, estimating system reliability at 81% over the study period. Lastly, we characterize socio-economic costs and benefits from the productive user’s perspective drawing on mixed-method interviews. We find that relatively low amounts of electricity consumption (10–30 kWh per month) command a high revealed willingness to pay (~$3 per kWh) for the solar-powered displacement of diesel-based welding, significantly improving the unit economics of the deployed system. This analysis and data provides a resource model for the standardization of mini-grid hardware, performance and cost frameworks, and metrics to assess off-grid, under-grid and ultimately grid interactive distributed generation systems. These models are urgently needed to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal SDG 7 commitment to achieve universal energy access by 2030.

As gov­ern­ments and non-​​state actors strive to min­i­mize global warm­ing, a pri­mary strat­egy is the decar­boniza­tion of power sys­tems which will require a mas­sive increase in renew­able elec­tric­ity gen­er­a­tion. Lead­ing energy agen­cies fore­cast a dou­bling of global hydropower capac­ity as part of that nec­es­sary expan­sion of renew­ables. While hydropower pro­vides gen­er­ally low-​​carbon gen­er­a­tion and can […]

Leverage the IRA for Global Clean Energy Leadership David Williams & Daniel M Kammen The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a profound step in advancing climate leadership particularly from a deeply divided nation. Now is the time to show how this step leads to progress, profits and jobs where we are not divided: advancing US overseas engagement and climate leadership. To do, Congress could extend the IRA tax credits for US firms working internationally. The US has much work at home to do to usher in the clean energy revolution. We need to act globally, however, or domestic progress will mean very little. We can achieve this by extending proven tax incentive tools to unlock the necessary investment across Africa, Asia and Latin America. This will build markets and create jobs for the clean energy sector in the US. Developers will have an entirely new pool of sophisticated investors and the capital necessary to match the scale of the climate challenges. While many bemoan the dominant role China plays in investing in emerging economies, extending US tax credits for clean energy projects provides US companies a means to build markets and accelerate global decarbonization. Take a look at the opportunities in Africa. The number of unelectrified Africans has remained nearly unchanged at over 600 million for over a decade, despite efforts aimed at achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG7) to provide global energy access by 2030. At COP26 in Glasgow last November, the international community made a commitment of $100 billion to industrializing nations. This is an order of magnitude smaller than what is needed on an annual, ongoing, basis to build decarbonized, affordable, and resilient energy future. Clean energy is now cheaper to build and simply operate than existing fossil fuel projects. Africa needs massive and sustained financing for new, bankable projects. The Africa electrification story is complex because ‘bankable’ projects are dependent not only on designing good projects but also on the twin constraints of sustaining capital from investors and then also able to navigate complex local regulatory issues. Sub-Saharan African projects are often held up because of a lack of ‘First loss capital’ (high risk) funding that leverages bank and central government investments. Providing risk-tolerant ‘first-loss’ capital at scale leverages hundreds of billions in a global renewables industry. Operationally this could be done by extending the IRA to specific projects in Africa. This would strengthen investment by US firms and support the geopolitical goals of the US. This tax credit would afford the same incentives across to the border that already include investments in solar, wind, geothermal, sustainable hydropower, energy efficiency upgrades, and transmission and distribution projects. Tax incentive investing works. The US Investment Tax Credit is responsible for the dramatic successes of solar across the US since its launch in the Energy Policy act of 2005. The program has been highly popular and an economic engine creating over 230,000 jobs in every state with an annual private investment of over $30 billion all while making renewable energy more affordable than conventional energy sources. The program has challenges but is resoundingly successful by relying on private companies to make good investments. The economic needs for African energy are tremendous and aid is simply not enough. At COP26 the US and European Partners committed $7.5 billion in aid for the ailing South African energy sector. Nigeria has publicly stated a request for a comparable amount. These investments are critically needed to upgrade or build grid transmission assets, invest in new clean energy projects, reduce methane (CH4) fugitive emissions, invest in energy access, and launch electric vehicle markets. $400 billion are needed beyond business as usual for each country to achieve a clean energy transition. That is almost a trillion dollars of investment opportunity for US companies to support Just Energy Transitions in just two nations. Rewarding US companies for investing in commercial clean energy projects in Africa will enable a transition that cannot be achieved with public sector funds alone. This can be launched quickly and can be in place November COP27 meeting in Egypt. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Polity found that at least 55 of the largest corporations in the US paid no federal corporate income taxes on their 2020 profits. Over $8 billion in avoided tax a year is in complex offshore structures. The tax incentive we propose correct this by providing the private sector a clear means to back up their public statements of commitment to a Just Energy Transition via direct investments in the neediest and fastest growing markets. This ‘simple’ solution requires only a modest change to the US investment Tax Credit program to extend eligibility to certain international projects. The US direct aid and web of supporting wrap-around services certainly make a difference but are not enough. Extending proven US policy would be a significant catalyst for capital directed to industrializing energy markets. In the past year we have seen multi-billion-dollar investments in solar, storage, and electric vehicles in Angola, plans in Kenya to move from a 4 GW national grid to 100 GW by mid-century, and both Nigeria and South Africa commit to going carbon-free if investment flows to solar, wind, energy storage, electrified transportation, and green hydrogen. The markets are there, the time is now, and what is most needed is a means to move capital. The world’s climate-vulnerable are susceptible to the impacts of climate change, and are the most affected by weaponizing energy. This is a unique moment where political will can bring incremental tax code changes that democratize, de-carbonizes, and decreases the conflict costs of energy around the world. This just might be the match that lights renewable solutions for the rest of the world.   David Williams is a Senior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He serves as Sir Edmund Hillary for New Zealand and is Chief Operating Officer for Valta Energy. He is a renewable energy developer with over 20 years of experience on projects worldwide. Daniel Kammen is the James and Katherine Lau Distinguished Professor of Sustainability at the University of California, Berkeley. He served as Science Envoy in the Obama-Biden Administration and currently serves as Senior Advisor for Energy & Innovation in the US Agency for International Development. Twitter: @dan_kammen Hyperlinks in the text: Mathis, Will (2021) “Building New Renewables Is Cheaper Than Burning Fossil Fuels“, Bloomberg News. June 23. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-23/building-new-renewables-cheaper-than-running-fossil-fuel-plants#xj4y7vzkg US Aid and Assistance to Africa: https://www.usaid.gov/who-we-are/organization/bureaus/bureau-africa

BY SYLVIA EARLE AND DANIEL KAMMEN OCTOBER 25, 2022 1:15 PM EDT Seldom do we have an oppor­tu­nity to stop an envi­ron­men­tal cri­sis before it begins. This is one of those oppor­tu­ni­ties. The min­ing indus­try is on the brink of exca­vat­ing the deep ocean, cre­at­ing a new envi­ron­men­tal dis­as­ter with irre­versible con­se­quences for our ocean and […]

A pro-​​health fuels and stoves agenda based on the World Health Orga­ni­za­tion stan­dards can realign lag­ging progress toward meet­ing the United Nations Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goal 7’s call for uni­ver­sal energy and clean cook­ing access by 2030, com­bat the house­hold energy cri­sis, and pro­mote health and social justice.

Women and low-income households experience a disproportionate burden of energy poverty and have different capabilities to utilize access to energy. Despite this, many electrification plans insufficiently address gender and low-income households. Off-grid solar has and will continue to play a role in expanding access to electricity in rural Sub-Saharan Africa; however, off-grid solar is rarely examined across gender. We draw on a quantitative survey and qualitative interviews from a case study in rural Tanzania to investigate the energy justice implications of off-grid solar. We are the first article to evaluate and compare the primary goods approach and the capabilities approach for off-grid solar. We ask how the distributional benefits of off-grid solar are mediated by gender and class, filling a key gap in the literature of off-grid solar's impact. We find little evidence of gender differentiation from a primary goods approach, suggesting equality within off-grid solar usage, but inequity through a capabilities approach lens. Solar home systems remain out of reach for the lowest-income households. In our case study, off-grid solar is used both as a primary source for low-and-middle-income households, and as a back-up source for middle-and higher-income households. We find that solar energy is under-used as a means of income generation and that payment schemes may not be the key to achieving energy justice. We provide concrete recommendations for rural energy policy and global tracking frameworks to ensure that women and low-income households have not only equal, but equitable access to obtain the capability benefits of off-grid solar.

The impe­tus for build­ings to decar­bonize and move towards rad­i­cal energy and water effi­ciency is increas­ingly strong and iden­ti­fied as a pri­or­ity within the green building sec­tor. The tiny house move­ment offers an oppor­tu­nity to both address the challenges of afford­able hous­ing and con­tribute to res­i­den­tial build­ing decar­boniza­tion. Tiny houses de-​​emphasize mass con­sump­tion and exces­sive belong­ings and […]

Accu­rate wind power fore­cast­ing is essen­tial to reduce the neg­a­tive impact of wind power on the oper­a­tion of the grid and the oper­a­tion cost of the power sys­tem. Day-​​ahead wind power fore­cast­ing plays an impor­tant role in the day-​​ahead elec­tric­ity spot trad­ing mar­ket. How­ever, the insta­bil­ity of the wind power series makes the fore­cast dif­fi­cult. […]

Abstract: 2.9 billion people lack access to clean cooking fuels and technologies. This review analyzes the literature on affordability as a barrier to adoption and consistent use of clean cooking stoves and fuels. We find diverse frameworks, definitions and metrics in use, and frequent discussions on stove price, fuel costs, microfinance, and smaller procurement quantities. We recommend that financing strategies to mitigate unaffordability be based on how low-income households actually earn, spend, and save their money, and that affordability frameworks be expanded to account for gender divides, rural/urban divides, and stove stacking behavior. Our review thus aims to reflect the nuances of a low-income household's ability to pay for clean fuels. Affordability must make sense within the lived experiences of the poor if clean cooking is to achieve universal access.

As California and other municipalities set off on the path to zero-carbon energy economies, there is a worldwide search for ways to provide clean, ever-ready power to the grid to balance intermittent sources of renewable electricity such as wind and solar. In general, there are three ways to provide what is being described as “clean firm power” to balance the load: (1) create methods of storing solar and wind power for long periods, (2) produce clean power from nuclear or geothermal generation, or (3) retrofit existing fossil fuel power plants to capture the carbon they produce.

Accel­er­at­ing the rate of renew­able energy deploy­ment in Small Island Devel­op­ing States is crit­i­cal to reduce depen­dence on expen­sive fos­sil fuel imports and meet emis­sions reduc­tions goals. Though many islands have now intro­duced pol­icy mea­sures to encour­age RE devel­op­ment, the exist­ing lit­er­a­ture focuses on qual­i­ta­tive rec­om­men­da­tions and has not sought to quan­ti­ta­tively eval­u­ate and com­pare […]

Elec­tric­ity and water sys­tems are inex­tri­ca­bly linked through water demands for energy gen­er­a­tion, and through energy demands for using, mov­ing, and treat­ing water and waste­water. Cli­mate change may stress these inter­de­pen­den­cies, together referred to as the energy-​​water nexus, by reduc­ing water avail­abil­ity for hydropower gen­er­a­tion and by increas­ing irri­ga­tion and elec­tric­ity demand for ground­wa­ter pump­ing, […]

The cli­mate emer­gency increas­ingly threat­ens our com­mu­ni­ties, ecosys­tems, food pro­duc­tion, health, and econ­omy. It dis­pro­por­tion­ately impacts lower income com­mu­ni­ties, com­mu­ni­ties of color, and the elderly. Assess­ments since the 2018 IPCC 1.5 Cel­sius report show that cur­rent national and sub-​​national com­mit­ments and actions are insuf­fi­cient. For­tu­nately, a suite of solu­tions exists now to mit­i­gate the cli­mate […]

We study the cost and lock in of car­bon inten­sive tech­nolo­gies due to weak medium-​​term poli­cies. We use SWITCH WECC—a power sys­tem capac­ity expan­sion opti­miza­tion model with high tem­po­ral and geo­graph­i­cal res­o­lu­tion. We test three car­bon cap sce­nar­ios. For each sce­nario, we opti­mize the power sys­tem for a medium time­frame (2030) and a long time­frame […]

Accu­rate wind power fore­cast­ing is essen­tial to reduce the neg­a­tive impact of wind power on the oper­a­tion of the grid and the oper­a­tion cost of the power sys­tem. Day-​​ahead wind power fore­cast­ing plays an impor­tant role in the day-​​ahead elec­tric­ity spot trad­ing mar­ket. How­ever, the insta­bil­ity of the wind power series makes the fore­cast dif­fi­cult. To improve fore­cast […]

Lack of access to mod­ern forms of energy ham­pers efforts to reduce poverty. The pro­vi­sion of elec­tric­ity to off-​​grid com­mu­ni­ties is there­fore a long-​​standing devel­op­men­tal goal. Yet, many off-​​grid elec­tri­fi­ca­tion projects neglect mid– and long-​​term oper­a­tion and main­te­nance costs. When this is the case, elec­tric­ity ser­vices are unlikely to be afford­able to the com­mu­ni­ties that are the […]

In this paper we present an alter­na­tive approach to address­ing the prob­lem of energy poverty. The pri­vate and com­mu­nity own­er­ship in elec­tric­ity fac­tors of pro­duc­tion, eco­nomic cal­cu­la­tion, and the incen­tive for inno­va­tion through the price mech­a­nism are dis­cussed. A brief analy­sis on how this new approach can be used to address energy access prob­lems in […]

Lack of access to mod­ern forms of energy ham­pers efforts to reduce poverty. The pro­vi­sion of elec­tric­ity to off-​​grid com­mu­ni­ties is there­fore a long-​​standing devel­op­men­tal goal. Yet, many off-​​grid elec­tri­fi­ca­tion projects neglect mid– and long-​​term oper­a­tion and main­te­nance costs. When this is the case, elec­tric­ity ser­vices are unlikely to be afford­able to the com­mu­ni­ties that […]

In brief Our study explores how the energy tran­si­tion is unfold­ing in the west­ern United States and the role of stor­age to help pro­vide grid flexibility. Col­lab­o­rat­ing with the Uni­ver­sity of Cal­i­for­nia, Berkeley’s Renew­able & Appro­pri­ate Energy Lab­o­ra­tory (RAEL), we assessed four sce­nar­ios to net zero. We found that sce­nar­ios rely­ing on sig­nif­i­cant renew­ables were most […]

China has enacted a series of poli­cies since 2015 to sub­sti­tute elec­tric­ity for in-​​home com­bus­tion for rural res­i­den­tial heat­ing. The Elec­tric Heat­ing Pol­icy (EHP) has con­tributed to sig­nif­i­cant improve­ments in air qual­ity, ben­e­fit­ing hun­dreds of mil­lions of peo­ple. This shift, how­ever, has resulted in a sharp increase in elec­tric loads and asso­ci­ated car­bon emissions. Here, we […]

Recent news reports have focused on the so-​​called col­lapse of coal, which indeed is in free-​​fall in many nations. And it’s not lim­ited to the news media; an Inter­na­tional Energy Agency report said “… Only renew­ables are hold­ing up dur­ing the pre­vi­ously unheard-​​of slump in elec­tric­ity use.” Coal use is down to record low-​​levels in […]

This piece by Annelise Gill-​​Wiehl and Daniel Kam­men is fea­tured in The Beam #11 – Power in Peo­ple. Sub­scribe now to read more on the subject.   “Each time [the local work­ers] visit, we gain strength from that. To refill [LPG cylin­ders]. To con­tinue on,” says Bibi Matunda (or Grandma Fruit as the old woman […]

ABSTRACT: Mobil­ity on-​​demand vehi­cle (MODV) ser­vices have grown explo­sively in recent years, threat­en­ing tar­gets for local air pol­lu­tion and global car­bon emis­sions. Despite evi­dence that on-​​demand auto­mo­tive fleets are ripe for elec­tri­fi­ca­tion, adop­tion of bat­tery elec­tric vehi­cles (BEVs) in fleet appli­ca­tions has been hin­dered by lack of charg­ing infra­struc­ture and long charg­ing times. Recent research on elec­tri­fi­ca­tion […]

This Should Have Been a Prob­lem, Not a Pandemic By Daniel M. Kammen AS OF THIS WRITING (EARLY APRIL 2020), more than 1 mil­lion peo­ple world­wide are sick with COVID-​​19, 20 per­cent of them in the United States. After claim­ing that COVID-​​19 was noth­ing more than the flu, the U.S. pres­i­dent has been forced to retreat and […]

Mobil­ity on-​​demand vehi­cle (MODV) ser­vices have grown explo­sively in recent years, threat­en­ing tar­gets for local air pol­lu­tion and global car­bon emis­sions. Despite evi­dence that on-​​demand auto­mo­tive fleets are ripe for elec­tri­fi­ca­tion, adop­tion of bat­tery elec­tric vehi­cles (BEVs) in fleet appli­ca­tions has been hin­dered by lack of charg­ing infra­struc­ture and long charg­ing times. Recent research on […]

COVID-​​19 has caused an unprece­dented pub­lic health cri­sis and eco­nomic shock to the global econ­omy. While many coun­tries were affected, regions with an older pop­u­la­tion and weaker pub­lic health inter­ven­tions tended to suf­fer more mor­bid­ity and mor­tal­ity. We devel­oped an open-​​source/​open data age-​​specific and multiple-​​stage susceptible-​​exposed-​​infected-​​recovered-​​hospitalized-​​quarantined-​​dead (SEIR-​​HQD) model Uti­liz­ing the lat­est esti­mates of epi­demi­o­log­i­cal para­me­ters […]

To lis­ten to the pod­cast on clean energy and the path to a car­bon free econ­omy, click here.

A Green Stim­u­lus to Rebuild Our Economy An Open Let­ter and Call to Action to Mem­bers of Congress Green Stim­u­lus Proposal If you agree with us, please click here to sign onto our letter. As a nation we face three con­verg­ing crises: the COVID19 pan­demic and the result­ing eco­nomic reces­sion; the cli­mate emer­gency; and extreme inequality. […]

Regional tree die-​​off events gen­er­ate large quan­ti­ties of stand­ing dead wood, rais­ing con­cern over cat­a­strophic wild­fire and other haz­ards. Gov­ern­men­tal responses to tree die-​​off have often focused on incen­tiviz­ing bio­mass energy pro­duc­tion that uti­lizes stand­ing dead trees removed for safety concerns. How­ever, the full dis­tri­b­u­tion of poten­tial woody bioen­ergy feed­stock after tree die-​​off has not been eval­u­ated […]

To spur action, the perception of discarded plastics must change from burdensome waste to a physical store of non-renewable resources. Major investment in developing catalysts, processes, and infrastructure for energetically efficient chemical recycling is critical. It is time for governments to commit to “mining” plastics.

IPCC's 2018 Special Report is a stark and bracing reminder of climate threats. Yet literature, reportage, and public discourse reflect imbalanced risk and opportunity. Climate science often understates changes' speed and nonlinearity, but Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) and similar studies often understate realistic mitigation options. Since ~2010, global mitigation of fossil CO2—including by often-uncounted modern renewable heat comparable to solar-plus-wind electricity—has accelerated to about the pace (if sustained) needed for a 2 °C trajectory. Mitigation has uncertainties, emergent properties, feasibility thresholds, and nonlinearities at least comparable to climate's, creating opportunities for aggressive action. Renewable electricity's swift uptake can now be echoed as proven integrative design can make end-use efficiency severalfold larger and cheaper, often with increasing returns (lower cost with rising quantity). Saved energy—the world's largest decarbonizer and energy 'source' (bigger than oil)—can then potentiate renewables and cut supply investments, as a few recent efficiency-centric IAMs confirm. Optimizing choices, combinations, timing, and sequencing of technologies, urban form, behavioral shifts, etc could save still more energy, money, and time. Some rigorous engineering-based national studies outside standard climate literature even imply potential 1.5 °C global trajectories cheaper than business-as-usual. A complementary opportunity—rapidly and durably abating hydrocarbon industries' deliberate upstream CH4 releases from flares and engineered vents, by any large operator's profitably abating its own and others' emissions—could stabilize (or more) the global methane cycle and buy time to abate more CO2. Together, these findings justify sober recalibration of the prospects for a fairer, healthier, cooler, and safer world. Supported by other disciplines, improved IAMs can illuminate this potential and support its refinement. Ambitious policies and aggressive marketplace and societal adoption of profitable new abatement opportunities need not wait for better models, but better models would help them to attract merited attention, scale faster, and turn numbing despair into collectively powerful applied hope.

The need for tran­si­tion­ing towards low-​​carbon energy sys­tems, and the recent boom in avail­able data, allows for a con­stant re-​​evaluation of global elec­tric­ity sec­tor decar­boniza­tion progress, and its under­ly­ing the­o­ret­i­cal assump­tions. Arguably, the exist­ing decar­boniza­tion lit­er­a­ture and insti­tu­tional sup­port frame­works focus on top-​​down sup­ply side mech­a­nisms, where poli­cies, goals, access to financ­ing, and tech­nol­ogy inno­va­tion […]

Cur­rently, there are upwards of one mil­lion Rohingya refugees liv­ing in Cox’s Bazar. For all the talk of mov­ing the Rohingya else­where, such as Bashan Char Island, or repa­tri­at­ing them to Myan­mar, it is almost cer­tain that they will remain where they are for an indef­i­nite period of time. His­tory has shown that the aver­age age […]

Bold actions are necessary to unlock the potential for economic empowerment by eradicating energy poverty (UN Sustainable Development Goal 7) by 2030. This will require a sustained commitment to significant levels of new investments. Delivering on the promise of universal energy access and improved life quality has eluded policy-makers and governments over the past seven decades. Affordability of energy services for every global citizen, spanning vastly diverse regions and local contexts, requires the development and massive diffusion of technologies that offer ``point-of-use'' options combined with new business models. Social innovations and flexible governance approaches will also need to be integrated with technological advances. The scope and scale of developmental change span large-scale grid systems to decentralized distributed resources at community levels to the households. We recommend a global network of ``energy access innovation centers'' dedicated to providing a dynamic ``extension service'' that bolsters the entire supply chain of talent and expertise, design and operational requirements of system deployment and capacity to embed low-cost, high-performance next-generation technological solutions in the field. To meet the needs of those at the base of the economic and social pyramid, the dual challenges of economic development and transition to a low-carbon energy future make clean energy access the quintessential challenge of the 21st century.

The possibility of installing solar photovoltaics (PV) distributed on rooftops has allowed communities to actively participate in molding the future of sustainable cities. Solar PV owners also experience significant economic benefits in the form of tax credits, rebates, and lower net electricity consumption from utilities, leading to lower electricity bills. It comes at no surprise that the rooftop PV has surpassed 300 GW of installed capacity worldwide, with trends on the rise. In the United States, more than a million rooftops already have solar PV systems on them, with the numbers continuously expanding, contributing to the achievement of bold initiatives to fully decarbonised states’ power sectors, such as those in California, Hawaii and New York.

Increased sens­ing and data col­lec­tion in electric power sys­tems from util­ity to min­i­grid to indi­vid­ual household scale are result­ing in an explo­sion of data col­lec­tion about users and providers of elec­tric­ity ser­vices. In the push to expand energy access for poor com­mu­ni­ties, the collection, use, and cura­tion of these data have his­tor­i­cally taken a back seat to the […]

In 2015, ASEAN estab­lished a goal of increas­ing renew­able energy share in its energy port­fo­lio from approx­i­mately 13–23% by 2025. Renew­able elec­tric­ity, espe­cially inter­mit­tent and vari­able sources, presents chal­lenges for grid oper­a­tors due to the uncer­tain tim­ing and quan­tity of elec­tric­ity sup­ply. Grid flex­i­bil­ity, the elec­tric grid’s abil­ity to respond to chang­ing demands and sup­ply, […]

It is abun­dantly clear that ade­quate, reli­able and clean energy ser­vices are vital for the achieve­ment of many of the Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals (SDGs). In essence, energy access has come to rep­re­sent one of the intractable chal­lenges in devel­op­ment, and there­fore emblem­atic of the call for poverty erad­i­ca­tion, and eco­nomic and social trans­for­ma­tion. This focus […]

Sup­ple­men­tal data for the paper is avail­able here:   Sunter-​​Castellanos-​​Kammen-​​Solar Dis­par­i­ties by Race-​​SupplementalOnlineMaterial

The Beau­ti­ful Rivers—And the Dammed Advances in solar and wind power mean that hydropower is no longer the only renew­able game in town—and that’s good news for the world’s rivers. BY JEFF OPPERMAN, CHRIS WEBER, DANIEL KAMMEN | NOVEMBER 23, 2018, 9:05 AM In Octo­ber, the Inter­gov­ern­men­tal Panel on Cli­mate Change released a report out­lin­ing strate­gies […]

Recommended Citation for Chapter Marcotullio, P. J., L. Bruhwiler, S. Davis, J. Engel-Cox, J. Field, C. Gately, K. R. Gurney, D. M. Kammen, E. McGlynn, J. McMahon, W. R. Morrow, III, I. B. Ocko, and R. Torrie, 2018: Chapter 3: Energy systems. In Second State of the Carbon Cycle Report (SOCCR2): A Sustained Assessment Report [Cavallaro, N., G. Shrestha, R. Birdsey, M. A. Mayes, R. G. Najjar, S. C. Reed, P. Romero-Lankao, and Z. Zhu (eds.)]. U.S. Global Change Research Program, Washington, DC, USA, pp. 110-188, https://doi.org/10.7930/SOCCR2.2018.Ch3.

The inte­gra­tion of small-​​scale Renew­able Energy Sources in the Smart Grid depends on sev­eral chal­lenges that must be over­come. One of them is the pres­ence of devices with very dif­fer­ent char­ac­ter­is­tics present in the grid or how they can inter­act among them in terms of inter­op­er­abil­ity and data shar­ing. While this issue is usu­ally solved […]

Consumption-​​based green­house gas (GHG) emis­sions inven­to­ries have emerged to describe full life cycle con­tri­bu­tions of house­holds to cli­mate change at coun­try, state and increas­ingly city scales. Using this approach, how much car­bon foot­print abate­ment poten­tial is within the con­trol of local gov­ern­ments, and which poli­cies hold the most poten­tial to reduce emis­sions? This study quan­ti­fies […]

Click on the pub­li­ca­tion link to access the video of the pre­sen­ta­tion. or click here.   For images from the talk, click here.

In the con­text of the civil war with no end in sight in South Sudan, this report out­lines how a donor-​​led shift from the cur­rent total reliance on diesel to renew­able energy can deliver short-​​term human­i­tar­ian cost sav­ings while cre­at­ing a longer– term build­ing block for peace in the form of a clean energy infra­struc­ture. […]

For the sup­port­ing online mate­r­ial, click here.

Distributed photovoltaics (PV) have played a critical role in the deployment of solar energy, currently making up roughly half of the global PV installed capacity. However, there remains significant unused economically beneficial potential. Estimates of the total technical potential for rooftop PV systems in the United States calculate a generation comparable to approximately 40% of the 2016 total national electric-sector sales. To best take advantage of the rooftop PV potential, effective analytic tools that support deployment strategies and aggressive local, state, and national policies to reduce the soft cost of solar energy are vital. A key step is the low-cost automation of data analysis and business case presentation for structure-integrated solar energy. In this paper, the scalability and resolution of various methods to assess the urban rooftop PV potential are compared, concluding with suggestions for future work in bridging methodologies to better assist policy makers.

A flaw in Europe’s clean energy plan allows fuel from felled trees to qual­ify as renew­able energy when in fact this would accel­er­ate cli­mate change and dev­as­tate forests   The Euro­pean Union is mov­ing to enact a direc­tive to dou­ble Europe’s cur­rent renew­able energy by 2030. This is admirable, but a crit­i­cal flaw in the […]

This dec­la­ra­tion is based on the data and con­cepts pre­sented at the workshop: Health of Peo­ple, Health of Planet and Our Responsibility Cli­mate Change, Air Pol­lu­tion and Health Orga­nized by the Pon­tif­i­cal Acad­emy of Sci­ences Casina Pio IV, Vat­i­can City, 2–4 Novem­ber 2017, Casina Pio IV   State­ment of the Problem With unchecked cli­mate change and […]

Overview: Energy poverty, is arguably the most per­va­sive and crip­pling threat soci­ety faces today. Lack of access impacts sev­eral bil­lion peo­ple, with imme­di­ate health, edu­ca­tional, eco­nomic, and social dam­ages.  Fur­ther­more, how this prob­lem is addressed will result in the largest accel­er­ant of global pol­lu­tion, or the largest oppor­tu­nity to pivot away from fossil-​​fuels onto the […]

Mexico's recent energy reform (2013) has provided the foundations for increased private participation in attempts to offset or reverse the country's continued decline in fossil fuel production. This country is currently on path to becoming a net energy importer by 2020. Conversely, in 2015, and for the first time in over 20 years, the United States (US) became a net oil exporter to Mexico. One of the strategies being pursued by Mexico to prevent an impending supply–demand energy imbalance is the development of shale resources using horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques. Hence, an evaluation of the inherent risks associated with hydraulic fracturing is crucial for Mexico's energy planning and decision-making process. This paper draws lessons from the recent ‘shale boom’ in the US, and it analyzes and summarizes the environmental, social, economic, and community impacts that Mexico should be aware of as its nascent shale industry develops. The analysis seeks to inform mainly Mexican policy makers, but also academics, nongovernmental organizations, and the public in general, about the main concerns regarding hydraulic fracturing activities, and the importance of regulatory enforcement and community engagement in advancing sustainability. Furthermore, using the US as a case study, we argue that development of unconventional oil and gas resources in Mexico could lead to a short-term boom rather than to a dependable and sustainable long-term energy supply. Our analysis concludes with a set of recommendations for Mexico, featuring best practices that could be used to attenuate and address some of the impacts likely to emerge from shale oil and gas development.

Climate change projections often focus on 2100. But the geological record shows that unless we rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will be locking in drastic increases in temperatures and sea levels that will alter the earth not just for centuries, but for millennia. BY ROB WILDER AND DAN KAMMEN • SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

This file is the Li+ energy storage data set in excel mode -- for open access use with attribution.

This paper presents the first detailed long-term stock turnover model to investigate scenarios to decarbonize the residential water heating sector in California, which is currently dominated by natural gas. We model a mix of water heating (WH) technologies including conventional and on-demand (tank-less) natural gas heating, electric resistance, existing electric heat pumps, advanced heat pumps with low global warming refrigerants and solar thermal water heaters. Technically feasible policy scenarios are developed by considering combinations of WH technologies with efficiency gains within each technology, lowering global warming potential of refrigerants and decreasing grid carbon intensity. We then evaluate energy demand, emissions and equipment replacement costs of the pathways. We develop multiple scenarios by which the annual greenhouse gas emissions from residential water heaters in California can be reduced by over 80% from 1990 levels resulting in an annual savings of over 10 Million Metric Tons by 2050. The overall cost of transition will depend on future cost reductions in heat pump and solar thermal water heating equipment, energy costs, and hot water consumption.

The Arti­cle reviews the United States’ recent deci­sion to with­draw from the Paris Accord and recounts some of the most promi­nent pol­icy dis­cus­sions sur­round­ing this deci­sion. The Arti­cle goes on to explain, that these pol­icy dis­cus­sions reject sci­ence in favor of short-​​term polit­i­cal gains. The Arti­cle reviews new sci­en­tific reports which indi­cates that sea level rise […]

Sus­tain­able Design of Communities  Daniel M. Kammen June 26, 2017  Mov­ing beyond a focus on solar roofs for single-​​family homes, ambi­tious projects are attempt­ing to join blocks of build­ings into sus­tain­able units In the past decade, the con­struc­tion and retro­fitting of indi­vid­ual homes to reduce energy and water use has grown explo­sively. Yet apply­ing green con­struc­tion to […]

This pub­li­ca­tion web­site sup­ports the new paper, in press at Nature Energy, titled: Energy stor­age deploy­ment and inno­va­tion for the clean energy transition as a site where users can down­load the Excel ver­sions of the data sets used i that paper, whose authors Noah Kit­tnera,b, Felix Lillb,c and Daniel M. Kam­men*a,b,d a Energy and Resources […]

This study identifies, characterizes, and values wind and solar electricity resources for 21 countries in the Eastern and Southern Africa Power Pools. We find that many countries possess potential many times their projected demand. However, because the most competitive wind and solar resources are spatially uneven, international transmission could allow the region as a whole to benefit from “no-regrets” or low-cost, low-impact, and highly accessible resources. International energy trade also lowers system costs by reducing the need for conventional power plants and allows lower impact, more accessible renewable energy sites to be cost competitive. Regional interconnections planned around strategic siting opportunities are crucial for realizing no-regrets wind and solar energy development that can be competitive with conventional generation in African countries.

Abstract: Microgrids are a rapidly evolving and increasingly common form of local power generation used to serve the needs of both rural and urban communities. In this paper, we present a methodology to evaluate the evolution of the sustainability of stand-alone microgrids projects. The proposed methodology considers a composite sustainability index (CSI) that includes both positive and negative impacts of the operation of the microgrid in a given community. The CSI is constructed along environmental, social, economic and technical dimensions of the microgrid. The sub-indexes of each dimension are aggregated into the CSI via a set of adaptive weighting factors, which indicate the relative importance of the corresponding dimension in the sustainability goals. The proposed methodology aims to be a support instrument for policy makers especially when defining sound corrective measures to guarantee the sustainability of small, isolated microgrid projects. To validate the performance of the proposed methodology, a microgrid installed in the northern part of Chile (Huatacondo) has been used as a benchmarking project.

The ongoing debate over the cost-effectiveness of renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency (EE) deployment often hinges on the current cost of incumbent fossil-fuel technologies versus the long-term benefit of clean energy alternatives. This debate is often focused on mature or ‘industrialized’ economies and externalities such as job creation. In many ways, however, the situation in developing economies is at least as or even more interesting due to the generally faster current rate of economic growth and of infrastructure deployment. On the one hand, RE and EE could help decarbonize economies in developing countries, but on the other hand, higher upfront costs of RE and EE could hamper short-term growth. The methodology developed in this paper confirms the existence of this trade-off for some scenarios, yet at the same time provides considerable evidence about the positive impact of EE and RE from a job creation and employment perspective. By extending and adopting a methodology for Africa designed to calculate employment from electricity generation in the U.S., this study finds that energy savings and the conversion of the electricity supply mix to renewable energy generates employment compared to a reference scenario. It also concludes that the costs per additional job created tend to decrease with increasing levels of both EE adoption and RE shares.

Planning the appropriate renewable energy (RE) installation rate should balance two partially contradictory objectives: substituting fossil fuels fast enough to stave-off the worst consequences of climate change while maintaining a sufficient net energy flow to support the world’s economy. The upfront energy invested in constructing a RE infrastructure subtracts from the net energy available for societal energy needs, a fact typically neglected in energy projections. Modeling feasible energy transition pathways to provide different net energy levels we find that they are critically dependent on the fossil fuel emissions cap and phase-out profile and on the characteristic energy return on energy invested of the RE technologies. The easiest pathway requires installation of RE plants to accelerate from 0.12T Wp yr–1 in 2013 to peak between 7.3 and 11.6 TWp yr–1 in the late 2030s, for an early or a late fossil-fuel phase-out respectively in order for emissions to stay within the recommended CO2 budget.

With dramatic cost declines and performance improvements, both mini-hydropower and solar photovoltaics (PV) now serve as core options to meet the growing demand for electricity in underserved regions worldwide. We compare the net energy return on energy invested (EROI) of mini-hydropower and solar electricity using five existing mini-hydropower installations in northern Thailand with grid-connected solar PV simulations. Both assessments use a life cycle perspective to estimate the EROI. We find that distributed mini-grids with penetrations of solar PV up to 50% of annual generation can exceed the EROI of some fossil-based traditional centralized grid systems. The analysis will help planners and engineers optimize mini-grids for energy payback and utilize local resources in their design. The results suggest higher EROI ratios for mini-hydropower plants than solar PV, though mini-hydropower plants typically yield lower EROI ratios than their large-scale hydropower counterparts.

Media Report 2016 Summit http://​sf​.uschi​na​press​.com/​2​0​1​6​/​0​7​1​5​/​1​0​7​1​7​1​9​.​s​h​tml 美中绿能高峰论坛硅谷圆满举行 2016-​​07-​​15 22:14 来源: 金山在线 作者:张苗 字号:【大 中 小】 已有11人浏览   诺贝尔奖获得者、前美国能源部长朱棣文做《气候风险和清洁能源的机遇》主旨报告。 美中绿色能源促进会主席吴锡九。 中国驻旧金山总领事罗林泉（前排左7）、美中绿色能源促进会主席吴锡九（前排左6）、诺贝尔奖获得者、前美国能源部长朱棣文（前排左5）、中国科学院院士、中国电力科学研究院名誉院长周孝信（前排左4）、中国国务院参事、中国可再生能源学会理事长石定寰（前排右3）等人出席“2016美中绿色能源高峰论坛”。 【侨报记者张苗7月15日南湾报道】7月15日，由美中绿色能源促进会携手清华大学、重庆大学、华北电力大学、协鑫新能源国际集团、中国电机工程学会等五家组织，联合主办的“2016美中绿色能源高峰论坛”在硅谷举行。论坛以“构建能源互联网以应对气候变化” 为主题，邀请到中美政府官员，以及美中两国在此三大行业——电力行业、可再生能源行业、信息技术行业暨互联网行业——的领军人物，针对目前中美两国在运用“能源互联网”上的现况和成果提出报告。借此给下一代绿色能源领域及互联网技术，特别是智能电网结合，提供进一步应对气候变化的解决方案。 美中绿色能源促进会主席吴锡九在开幕致辞中表示，经济的高速发展给中国的环境带来压力，中国政府也在积极采取措施，应对气候变化和能源危机；而美国在可再生能源创新方面走在世界前断。相信中美在绿色能源方面的合作，将推动中美友好关系进一步发展。 中国驻旧金山总领事罗林泉出席了论坛。他表示，中美是世界上最大的两个经济体，也是最大的能源消耗国，在减少石化能源使用、降低碳排放和环境保护方面肩负共同责任，面临共同挑战。当前，中国正以“创新、协调、绿色、开放、共享”理念为指导，深入实施创新驱动发展战略，大力推进“大众创业、万众创新”，打造中国经济发展新动力。“我们期待有更多硅谷的科技社团、企业家、投资家、科技人员，积极参与到中美科技交流中来，共同推动中美创新创业领域的交流合作，不断向前发展。” 当天的论坛上，诺贝尔奖获得者、前美国能源部长朱棣文在《气候风险和清洁能源的机遇》主旨报告中提出，为保障未来全球的持续繁荣、可持续性和安全的能源供应，大力发展太阳能、风能等清洁能源和可再生能源是必然选择。 中国科学院院士、中国电力科学研究院名誉院长周孝信在《中国能源革命中电力系统的发展趋势和技术要求》报告中，针对中国能源革命的目标和电力的发展前景，电力系统的发展趋势和技术需求，进行了详细的数据分析。他认为，2050年中国能源转型目标的实现，主要依靠可再生能源发电在电力系统中高比例发展。 中国国务院参事、中国可再生能源学会理事长石定寰，斯坦福大学高级研究员（PEEC和胡佛研究所）格伦娜（Dian Grueneich），清华大学能源互联网研究院院长曾嵘协鑫新能源国际集团首席执行长方朋等，也分别在会上作主旨报告。 据主办方介绍，美中绿色能源促进会是一个501© 3非牟利、非政府组织，于2008年在美国硅谷成立。它的宗旨和目标是通过促进美中两国人民、商业、政府、工业及学术组织之间的合作，来应对全球气候变化。 http://​sf​.uschi​na​press​.com/​2​0​1​6​/​0​7​1​5​/​1​0​7​1​7​2​4​.​s​h​tml 美中绿能高峰论坛与会专家答记者问 2016-​​07-​​15 22:29 来源: 金山在线 作者:张苗 字号:【大 中 小】 已有9人浏览 0 【侨报记者张苗7月15日南湾报道】“2016美中绿色能源高峰论坛”硅谷召开期间，为向公众更加全面、客观地介绍当前的气候变化、能源转型等问题，增强各界对绿色能源发展和中美能源合作的正确认识，论坛主办方——美中绿色能源促进会安排与会专家答现场媒体记者问。 美中绿色能源促进会主席吴锡九（左5）、中国科学院院士、中国电力科学研究院名誉院长周孝信（右4）、中国国务院参事、中国可再生能源学会理事长石定寰（右3）. 美中绿色能源促进会主席吴锡九在会上介绍了“2016美中绿色能源高峰论坛”的缘起，以及论坛的宗旨和已取得的成绩。他说，巴黎气候协议已经达成，气候变化、能源问题为世界各国所重视，发展绿色能源也成为各国共识。要具体落实巴黎协议，离不开能源消耗最大的中美两国的合作。举办这次论坛，目的就是为中美优秀能源专家搭建交流平台，促进两国间的技术合作，最终带动解决气候变化的任务。 吴锡九介绍，绿色能源的发展步骤为以下5个方面：通过发展再生能源、智能电网、绿色IT、智能交通，最后实现建设智能城市的目标。 于1956年追随钱学森回国的吴锡九，曾参与中国“12年科学规划”。他认为，当今的绿色能源发展计划，和当年的科学规划有着共同之处，因此他对2050年基本解决中美乃至全球空气污染和气候问题充满信心。 被问及中国能源革命过程中，电力系统发展技术上最迫切的需求时，中国科学院院士、中国电力科学研究院名誉院长周孝信表示，可再生能源发电存在间歇性和随机性问题，输出的不稳定性给电力系统造成很大障碍，所以当前最迫切的需求是发展储能、预测风能等先进技术。 中国国务院参事、中国可再生能源学会理事长石定寰介绍了在可再生能源发展领域，中美两国政府和民间两个层面开展的一系列合作。1979年中美签订了政府间的合作协议后，两国展开长期的科技合作。例如在清洁能源方面，朱棣文担任美国能源部长期间，两国成立了几个清洁能源合作中心。他强调，今后中美两国应在可再生清洁能源领域加强合作，尤其应充分利用民间合作的良好机制，搭建平台，促进双方的交流与合作。         http://​sf​.uschi​na​press​.com/ http://www.worldjournal.com/4175508/article-%E7%B6%A0%E8%83%BD%E8%AB%96%E5%A3%87-%E8%AB%87%E7%BE%8E%E4%B8%AD%E3%80%8C%E5%A4%A9%E4%BD%9C%E4%B9%8B%E5%90%88%E3%80%8D/ 綠能論壇 談美中「天作之合」 記者林亞歆／聖他克拉拉報導 July 16, 2016, 6:00 am 22 次 中美綠色能源高峰論壇邀請兩國政府、產業代表分享，盼推動綠能領域與技術。左起吳錫九、周孝信、石定寰。（記者林亞歆／攝影） 為應對全球暖化及氣候變遷，先進國家皆積極尋求能源轉型、推動綠能經濟。美國和中國是全球最大經濟體與能源消耗國，在永續能源的生產和投資方面皆全球名列前茅，也深深影響綠能產業的發展動向。 為促進兩國產業界和政界交流，美中綠色能源促進會攜手其他五個相關組織，聯合主辦「美中綠色能源高峰論壇」，15日於聖他克拉拉進行峰會。 峰會組織委員會主席張曉楓表示，論壇開辦至今已第九屆，「最初多是將美國專家請到中國。但今年許多中國專家、企業、協會都想藉交流機會與國際接軌。」她指出，今年論壇以「構建能源互聯網以應對氣候變化」為題，邀請兩國政府、產業代表分享「能源互聯網」發展現況和成果，讓美中雙方了解彼此需求，盼繼續推動下一代綠能領域及互聯網技術。 美中綠色能源促進會主席吳錫九強調：「解決能源問題一定要中、美合作，且兩國可說是天作之合。」他指出，中國對能源需求龐大，而美國有創新技術、產品，「尤其是引領美國智能電網、互聯網、電動車等技術發展的矽谷更有發展綠能潛力。」 中國可再生能源學會理事長石定寰認為，近年來中美兩地政府與民間的綠能產業合作十分積極，但指出，雙方合作領域以清潔煤、電動車等領域為主，「太陽能、風力等再生能源的合作較少，應加強投入。」 […]

Link to Dan Kammen’s state­ment on uni­ver­sity fos­sil fuel divestment

To prepare for an urban influxof 2.5 billion people by 2050, it is critical to create cities that are lowcarbon, resilient, and livable. Cities not only contribute to global climate change by emitting the majority of anthropogenic greenhouse gases but also are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change and extreme weather.We explore options for establishing sustainable energy systems by reducing energy consumption, particularly in the buildings and transportation sectors, and providing robust, decentralized, and renewable energy sources. Through technical advancements in power density, city-integrated renewable energy will be better suited to satisfy the high-energy demands of growing urban areas. Several economic, technical, behavioral, and political challenges need to be overcome for innovation to improve urban sustainability.

We present an integrated model, SWITCH-China, of the Chinese power sector that we use to analyze the economic and technological implications of a medium to long-term decarbonization scenario while accounting for very-short-term renewable variability. On the basis of the model and assumptions used, we find that the announced 2030 carbon peak can be achieved with a carbon price of ∼$40/tCO2. Current trends in renewable energy price reductions alone are insufficient to replace coal; however, an 80% carbon emission reduction by 2050 is achievable in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Target Scenario with an optimal electricity mix in 2050 including nuclear (14%), wind (23%), solar (27%), hydro (6%), gas (1%), coal (3%), and carbon capture and sequestration coal energy (26%). The co-benefits of carbon-price strategy would offset 22% to 42% of the increased electricity costs if the true cost of coal and the social cost of carbon are incorporated. In such a scenario, aggressive attention to research and both technological and financial innovation mechanisms are crucial to enabling the transition at a reasonable cost, along with strong carbon policies.