Report
If policies aimed at large reductions of carbon dioxide emissions are enacted, more carbon capture and storage will be needed. RAND researchers explored the ability of the industrial base to support the expansion of carbon storage.
Report
A RAND study evaluated U.S. Department of State contributions to the Global Methane Initiative, an international partnership to promote methane recovery and reuse. The study focused on the strategic contributions and program activities and outcomes.
Report
Executive Summary in English, with French, and German translations. The study aims to assess the environmental impact of the RFID tags themselves as well as the environmental advantages that the use of RFID can provide to product lifecycle management.
Report
The study aims to assess the environmental impact of the RFID tags themselves as well as the environmental advantages that the use of RFID can provide to product lifecycle management. The Final Report presents the findings of our research.
Journal Article
Probability-based estimates can have serious limitations when applied to a problem such as climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change should also consider approaches to decision-making under conditions of uncertainty that do not depend on expert consensus on probabilities.
Journal Article
This paper focuses on the Wellcome Trust's African Institutions initiative, an example of the networked research capacity-building initiatives emerging in response to the need for research capacity growth.
Report
There are large quantities of coal mine water in Pennsylvania—much more than could be used in the coming decade for hydraulic fracturing. Researchers and operators will need to further explore quantity and quality needs to confirm whether coal mine drainage sources represent a viable, large-scale alternative to fresh water.
Commentary
In case after case, the theory that best fits the data is the one that also leads inexorably to the conclusion that human influence is one of the most important forces currently changing the climate, writes Robert J. Lempert.
Journal Article
This study compares two widely used approaches for robustness analysis of decision problems: the info-gap method originally developed by Ben-Haim and the robust decision making (RDM) approach originally developed by Lempert, Popper, and Bankes.
Journal Article
This paper summarizes the additional uncertainty that is created by climate change, and reviews the tools that are available to project climate change (including downscaling techniques) and to assess and quantify the corresponding uncertainty.
Report
The Qatar Foundation is establishing a national research institute to conduct energy, environment, and water research. This book recommends research priorities for the institute and reports on a survey of related research institutions in the region.
Journal Article
Any successful response to climate change--both the challenges of limiting the magnitude of future climate change and adapting to its impacts--will clearly involve policies that evolve over time in response to new information and that are robust over a wide range of difficult-to-predict future conditions.
Journal Article
This paper uses a combinatorial approach in which scenarios are created for all combinations of the technology development assumptions that underlie a smaller, representative set of scenarios.
Commentary
If it were really possible to explain millions of years of Earth data with a theory that doesn't also imply a recent human influence on the climate, some ambitious, self-interested team of scientists somewhere in the world would seek scientific renown by doing so, writes Robert Lempert.
Journal Article
The authors present the concept of robust decision making (RDM), which draws on already-existing knowledge of practitioners to choose actions that are viable in both the short- and long-term.
Report
Orbital debris represents a threat to the operation of man-made objects in space, such as satellite television and weather satellites. Currently, there are hundreds of thousands of objects greater than one centimeter in diameter in Earth's orbit.
Journal Article
This article provides a concise overview of methods for analyzing policy choices that have been used in the study of long-term environmental challenges.
News Release
While on a net basis the United States imports nearly 60 percent of the oil it consumes, this reliance on imported oil is not by itself a major national security threat. The economic costs of a major disruption in global oil supplies—including higher prices for American consumers—pose the greatest risk to the United States.
Past Event
The Obama administration and Congress have called enactment of a cap-and-trade program for limiting U.S. emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases a top priority. Our panelists will address some key questions about cap-and-trade programs that need to be resolved.
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