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Energy

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.

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
Journal Article

The Role of Mobility Data Hubs in an Integrated Decarbonized Transportation Future

This paper identifies key players and data architectures emerging in a service-based mobility market, explores use cases where data hubs have enabled greater outcomes, and discusses key issues that need to be resolved to leverage emerging hubs towards a sustainable future.

Nov 5, 2021
Journal Article

Disaster Risk Creation and Cascading Disasters Within Large Technological Systems: COVID-19 and the 2021 Texas Blackouts

Here we describe the 2021 Texas blackouts during the COVID-19 pandemic through the lens of disaster risk creation and cascading disaster, showing how risk emerges and propagates across large technological systems.

Oct 15, 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
Report

Developing the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: An Opportunity to Reduce Risk and Impacts of Future Spills in Freshwater

In 2016, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to establish the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. This report makes recommendations for the center, its staffing, potential partnerships, and location.

Aug 31, 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
Commentary

Depoliticizing Russian Gas in Europe

At their June 16 Summit in Geneva, Presidents Biden and Putin might consider how to reduce the sharp tensions over the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. Cooperation among governments and companies may offer potential.

Jun 11, 2021
Commentary

Is DarkSide Really Sorry? Is It Even DarkSide?

The U.S. military relies heavily on commercial energy assets, making the implications of events like the Colonial Pipeline outage more serious than just higher prices at the gas pump. The origins and severity of an attack dictate what the United States might do in response.

May 19, 2021
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
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
Commentary

China Does Not Have to Be America's Enemy in the Middle East

China and Iran made a deal in which China promised to boost its investment in Iranian infrastructure in exchange for a steady supply of oil. This uptick in Chinese influence does not necessarily erode U.S. power in the region. The United States may even find overlapping interests with China since both have a stake in containing conflicts and instability.

Apr 19, 2021
Commentary

Now Is (Finally) the Time to Future-Proof Our Infrastructure

The world is barreling toward a more volatile climate with infrastructure designed for the past. With infrastructure widely expected to be prioritized in Congress soon, every infrastructure bill is also a climate bill. It is critical that we make our infrastructure climate-safe.

Apr 1, 2021
Commentary

Navigating Speed Bumps to a Possible Federal Vehicle Miles Traveled Fee

It's been clear for years that the gas tax has been losing its ability to pay for America's existing roads and bridges, let alone improvements and new construction. A vehicle miles traveled fee could provide a potential option for a 21st-century transportation funding system.

Mar 26, 2021
Commentary

The Pentagon Could Help Improve Resilience of the U.S. Electric Grid

The resilience and robustness of the U.S. electric grid needs to be improved, especially given the likely increased occurrence and magnitude of natural disasters due to climate change. This is where government entities that operate large facilities in the United States, such as the Department of Defense, can potentially play a role.

Mar 25, 2021
Journal Article

Infrastructure Resilience to Navigate Increasingly Uncertain and Complex Conditions in the Anthropocene

Resilience theory can help infrastructure managers navigate increasing complexity of the systems and environments in which they operate.

Mar 4, 2021

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