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.
Content
Through research on energy, environmental health, policing, water supply, and more RAND is helping Israel's policymakers by providing external analyses of policy options to address major domestic issues, particularly those related to safety, development, infrastructure, and sustainability.
Past Event
Ambassador Charles Ries discusses how energy efficiency in buildings affects energy security and climate change. He gives an overview of the European Union's and Australia's experiences driving energy efficiency in the building sector and the lessons the United States can learn from their efforts.
Multimedia
In this April 12, 2010, Congressional Briefing, Ambassador Charles Ries discusses lessons the United States could learn from the experiences of the European Union and Australia in driving energy efficiency in the building sector.
Report
Three essays explore the implicit private costs of improving vehicle fuel efficiencies, the private benefits and social impacts of electric vehicles, and the implications of a large-scale adoption of electric vehicles for transportation finance.
Content
CUBE 1.0 allows users to explore how estimates of net greenhouse gas emissions of biomass feedstocks change with varying assumptions about uncertainty in scientific data, future agricultural production changes, and development of the biomass resource base.
Past Event
Ambassador Charles Ries will discuss how the EU and Australia have pioneered successful policies to promote energy efficiency in buildings and how we might replicate such successes in the United States.
Journal Article
The authors explore the limits of current knowledge about grid electricity in LCA and carbon footprinting for the U.S. electrical grid, and show that differences in standards, protocols, and reporting organizations can lead to important differences in estimates of CO2, SO2, and NOx emissions factors.
Journal Article
This report is intended to complement extensive documentation contained in the model itself. CUBE 1.0, available for download on the NETL website, determines the life cycle GHG emissions of biomass feedstocks from planting the biomass to delivery to the bioenergy plant gate ("farm-to-gate").
Research Brief
Israel must control future electricity demand. It can build a secure energy infrastructure in which natural gas provides up to 40 percent of electric power generation but only by taking measures to limit supply disruptions.
News Release
Israel can make natural gas usage a bigger part of its energy portfolio without jeopardizing its security, but even more importantly, the nation needs to make conservation measures a priority in its future energy plans.
Report
Israel can make natural gas usage a bigger part of its energy portfolio without jeopardizing its security, but even more importantly, the nation needs to make conservation measures a priority in its future energy plans.
Report
Israel must employ strategic alternatives to make the best use of domestic and imported natural gas. This report explores natural gas-utilization and supply-infrastructure strategies in the face of uncertainty.
Report
Aviation has few near-term options to petroleum-based fuels. Alternative fuels that may be available in the next decade may reduce aviation's impact on air quality and benefit nonaviation sectors.
Commentary
If the United States is to be a global competitor in green building technology, it needs to learn from some of the countries that are at the table in Pittsburgh this week, writes Charles Ries.
News Release
The United States can become more energy efficient and create more "green" jobs by adopting some of the strategies used by the European Union and Australia to rate and disclose the performance of commercial and government-owned buildings.
Report
The United States can become more energy efficient and create more "green" jobs by adopting some of the strategies used by the European Union and Australia to rate and disclose the performance of commercial and government-owned buildings.
Report
U.S. international energy-assistance programs, a potentially important tool for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and increasing energy security, are reviewed and compared with German programs; recommendations are made for further study.
Report
Describes approaches to modernizing the U.S. freight-transportation system that require whole-system modeling, engagement of all stakeholders, and an understanding of the interdependence between local and national costs and benefits.
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
Director of RAND's Environment, Energy, and Economic Development Program Keith Crane will present Imported Oil and U.S. National Security on May 11, 2009.
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