Energy plays a vital role in the global economy: fossil fuel dependency, the stability of the supply chain, and the prospects for harnessing previously untapped resources affect a range of policy concerns, from national security and international affairs to economic development and climate change. RAND's energy research covers the spectrum from energy conservation and security to emerging technologies and energy use by the U.S. armed forces.
Report
Testimony presented before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Subcommittee on Energy and Power on May 5, 2011.
Past Event
Liisa Ecola discusses how to make up for the declining revenues generated by the federal fuel tax due to inflation and improved fuel economy.
Report
U.S. power plants seek to diversify their fuel sources and biomass energy is a renewable resource that generally has lower life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions than fossil fuels. This model estimates the cost and availability of biomass energy resources from U.S. agricultural lands from the perspective of an individual power plant.
Report
The federal government could fully fund its surface transportation infrastructure needs by levying a percentage tax on crude oil and imported refined petroleum products.
News Release
The federal government could fully fund its surface transportation infrastructure needs by levying a percentage tax on crude oil and imported refined petroleum products.
Report
This paper explores how much British citizens might be willing to pay for carbon emissions reduction, and the implication of this for climate change policies.
Report
Develops a unified decisionmaking approach for selecting aeronautics research agendas that quantifies the social and economic reasons for the research, balances competing perspectives, and enables transparent explanation of the resulting decisions.
Journal Article
Explore options for conducting a set of trials to test the feasibility of transitioning from fuel excise taxes to a system of road use charges based on vehicle miles of travel.
Report
Examines the potential for better feedback on electricity usage to reduce household energy consumption.
News Release
If the U.S. military increases its use of alternative fuels, there will be no direct benefit to the nation's armed forces.
Report
If the U.S. military increases its use of alternative fuels, there will be no direct benefit to the nation's armed forces. It makes more sense for the military to direct its efforts toward using energy more efficiently.
Journal Article
The authors perform a technical and economic assessment and estimate the economic costs and net GHG reductions from U.S renewable electricity mandates. GHG emissions reductions from such policies could be as much as 670 million metric tons per year. Depending on technological development, economic costs are $13-$45 billion per year. Lower costs depend on favorable technological progress.
Commentary
A proposed 15-cents-a-gallon gas tax is worth a second look. Among various painful options put forward in the Deficit Reduction Commission's draft report, this tax hike may be well justified, writes Martin Wachs.
Report
To break the impasse over how to deal with spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants policymakers should focus on how various waste management strategies address societal priorities related to nuclear energy.
News Release
To break the impasse over how to deal with spent nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants, policymakers should focus on how various waste management strategies address societal priorities related to nuclear energy.
Report
Testimony presented before the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future on November 15, 2010.
Report
The U.S. Congress and federal agencies are considering legislative proposals to promote the development of unconventional fuels in the United States. RAND assessed the effectiveness of various federal financial incentive packages that could successfully promote early commercial experience with coal-to-liquids production.
Journal Article
Public perceptions of carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and other low-carbon electricity-generating technologies may affect the feasibility of their widespread deployment.
Report
Studies price-setting behavior in the retail gasoline industry.
Commentary
The principle of paying for roads and transit by charging those who use the system has served our nation well, but in its current form it will soon outlive its usefulness, writes Martin Wachs.
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