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Alternative and Renewable Energy

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High oil prices and growing worries about climate change have heightened interest in alternative and renewable energy sources, but these frequently cost more than fossil fuels. RAND has explored the feasibility of using renewable resources such as wind power and ethanol to reduce CO₂ emissions and enhance energy security, and analyzed the likely effects of such technologies on consumer energy costs.

Commentary
Micromobility: How Will We Know When It's Working?
Micromobility was positioned as a solution for every urban problem from traffic congestion to air pollution to transit deserts and inequality. Is there a way to know if micromobility can fulfill these ambitious goals?
May 18, 2021
Report
Evaluation of the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program
A process and outcome evaluation of the California Energy Commission's (CEC's) Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program (ARFVTP), relying on quantitative and qualitative methods.
Sep 6, 2017

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Report
Critical Material Supply Chains Should Be More Resilient
The COVID-19 pandemic and Russian invasion of Ukraine highlight the vulnerabilities of supply chains that are dependent on foreign inputs. How can the U.S. Department of Defense increase the resilience of its supply chains for materials essential to national security?
Dec 15, 2022
Blog
U.S. Labor Market, 988 Hotline, Firearm Homicides: RAND Weekly Recap
This weekly recap focuses on the U.S. economy’s uneven pandemic recovery, a new national mental health hotline, firearm homicides, and more.
Jul 22, 2022
Commentary
Rebuilding Ukraine for a Changing Climate
When the war in Ukraine ends, the country will in all likelihood undergo a massive reconstruction. Ukraine could rebuild in a way that would both lower its carbon footprint and construct infrastructure resilient to the effects of climate change.
Jul 8, 2022
Project
Costa Rica's Carbon-Neutral Future
In her final piece for RAND Art + Data, Gabrielle Mérite brings one country's vision for a carbon-neutral future to life. Her designs are based on RAND research that analyzed the potential outcomes of Costa Rica's National Decarbonization Plan.
Feb 23, 2022
Commentary
More Than Green: Leveraging Green Bonds to Invest in Greater Climate Resilience
The significance of green bonds may depend not only on having a lot of them but also on carefully developing, investing, and tracking projects against the larger goal of climate resilience.
Nov 24, 2021
Commentary
The Growing Green Bond Market Could Plateau. How Can It Grow Further?
If green bonds are a viable tool to reduce emissions and adapt infrastructure to the effects of climate change, how can governments encourage the issuance, sales, and growth in the share of green bonds in the total bond market?
Nov 23, 2021
Commentary
Green Bonds Can Leave Issuers in the Red
To achieve the Biden administration's blueprint for solar energy and focus on climate change mitigation and adaptation, green bonds may be worth considering. But, like any other financing instrument, they may be best considered through a cost-benefit lens.
Nov 22, 2021
Report
Evaluation of Energy Systems Network's Moving Forward Initiative in Indiana: Initial Program Outcomes and Potential Impacts
Moving Forward takes a novel approach to developing affordable, energy-efficient housing and transportation. The authors recommend ways to strengthen the program and increase the likelihood of achieving and verifying outcomes as the program matures.
Sep 21, 2021
Commentary
Achieving Decarbonization and Energy Equity Through Reconciliation
The past two years have witnessed increasingly vocal calls for rapid decarbonization of the global economy through a clean energy transition. How can Congress ensure that new costs associated with a clean energy transition do not fall disproportionately on lower-income ratepayers?
Sep 9, 2021
Essay
Costa Rica Leads the Way in Cutting Carbon Emissions
Almost every country has pledged to slash carbon emissions to slow the gears of global warming. Costa Rica's plan provides a glimpse of what a carbon-neutral future will look like. It shows how nations can take action and make investments that hold up, regardless of what future comes to pass.
Aug 30, 2021
Journal Article
Decarbonising UK Transport: Final Report and Technology Roadmaps
The report sets out a series of 7 technological roadmaps to reduce and remove direct emissions from the UK's domestic transport by 2050.
Jul 15, 2021
Report
Incentivizing Solar: Catalyzing Solar Energy Technology Adoption to Address the Challenge of Climate Change
The authors provide an overview of the U.S. solar energy market and identify federal incentives that can help decarbonize the U.S. economy. They also explore solar reliability, job benefits, and availability to disadvantaged communities.
Jul 14, 2021
Multimedia
Successes in the Fight Against Climate Change
RAND senior policy researcher Benjamin Preston presents several climate change successes from recent years.
Apr 22, 2021
Journal Article
Building Clean Energy Support with Young Millennials in the United States
This study analyzes awareness of local clean energy initiatives, risk perceptions, environmental messaging, and environmental orientation influence young millennial support for federal clean energy policy and taxes.
Jul 3, 2019
Journal Article
Pathways to 2050: Scenarios for Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy
Climate change is among the most profound challenges of all time, and the private sector is an essential partner in any decarbonization pathway. Timely business leadership can help ensure choices that are beneficial for both companies and society as a whole.
Jun 4, 2019
Journal Article
Performance Comparison of Solar Photovoltaic Models for Plant Siting in India
India will add 100 GW of solar electric power generation by 2022. This report examines the performance of four annual solar photovoltaic production models against actual generation data from utility-scale plants in Gujarat, India.
Jan 9, 2019
Journal Article
Geographic Smoothing of Solar Photovoltaic Electric Power Production in the Western USA
We examined the geographic smoothing of solar photovoltaic generation from 15 utility-scale plants in California, Nevada, and Arizona and from 19 commercial building installations in California.
Nov 28, 2018
Commentary
A Better Way to Think About Scooters
Unleashed in Santa Monica, California, last September, Bird and its competitors are now in 30 American cities and counting. Cities are responding to the scooter takeover with new regulations and increased law enforcement. But if officials rely only on 20th-century tools to integrate these 21st-century scooters into their cities, they will miss a big opportunity.
Aug 28, 2018
Report
Wanxiang Innovation Energy Fusion City: Recommendations for Developing an Innovation Cluster
RAND authors develop a mission statement and recommend policies to help achieve the Wanxiang Group's vision of developing the Wanxiang Innovation Energy Fusion City into an innovative cluster built around smart and green automotive technologies.
Sep 20, 2017

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