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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
Consequences of the War in Ukraine: The Economic Fallout
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, projections estimated global economic growth in 2022 would be around 5 percent. But the war in Ukraine contributed to slowed economic growth in 2022 and a slowed recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. What are the broader consequences for the global economy?
Mar 7, 2023
Commentary
Can China's Green Energy Acceleration Put at Risk the West's Hydrogen Plans?
Hydrogen (H2) plays a key role in the decarbonization plans of the European Union and the United States. Both have launched aggressive hydrogen strategies to increase the generation of H2 and deployment of related technologies. But these bold ambitions may face headwinds due to the acceleration of China's energy transition.
Apr 3, 2023

Explore Energy

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
Commentary
Is Seabed Mining an Opportunity to Break China's Stranglehold on Critical Minerals Supply Chains?
China dominates global supply chains for nearly all critical mineral resources, including the rare earths that power decarbonization technologies. Seabed mining may be a way to diversify critical minerals supply chains and break China's stranglehold on supplies of some of the world's most important natural resources.
Nov 21, 2022
Report
China's Role in the Global Development of Critical Resources
China's extensive foreign investments in energy infrastructure and critical minerals have raised concerns. Case studies in coal power, electricity transmission, and seabed mining examine China's behaviors and suggest ways to build capacity among host nations to minimize the potential effects of an overreliance on China.
Nov 7, 2022
Dissertation
A Proposed Decision Framework for DoD Investment in Nuclear Energy Technology: Focused on Microreactors at DoD Locations in the U.S.
Proposes a decision framework to help DoD decisionmakers determine whether an investment in nuclear energy technologies is worthwhile.
Oct 5, 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
Dissertation
Ovens and Tinderboxes in the Golden State: A Mixed-Methods Exploratory Analysis of Joint Heatwave Power Outage Events
Examines associations between hazards, outages, and health outcomes for California cities from 2008–2020.
Jul 21, 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
Report
Developing a Community-Led Certification Process for Facility Power Outage Resilience: Findings from a Massachusetts Pilot Study
A research team articulated power outage resilience metrics via stakeholder interviews and a literature review, piloted a certification program, and used focus groups to assess the Massachusetts Clean Energy and Resiliency program's effectiveness.
Jun 8, 2022
Commentary
Russia Does Not Seem to Be After Ukraine's Gas Reserves
There seems to be very little reason to believe that the true stakes of the war in Ukraine are the country's natural gas reserves, as some have speculated. Ukrainian gas fields appear too small to justify the costs of the invasion, too hard to keep, and almost impossible for Russia to exploit.
Apr 11, 2022
Report
Defining Recognized and Generally Accepted Good Engineering Practices for Process Safety Management
The author presents the origin and intention of recognized and generally accepted good engineering practices (RAGAGEP), points of disagreement about the definition, and recommendations for complying with RAGAGEP.
Apr 11, 2022
Commentary
How We Might Better Live with Oil in California
As California grapples with the question of balancing environmental stewardship with the recent renewed focus on “local oil,” lawmakers could look to local communities for the best answers to avoid future petro-disasters.
Apr 1, 2022
Periodical
RAND Review: March-April 2022
The cover story describes a yearlong study of a group of military veterans experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles. Other features examine the global digital skills gap and the magnitude and sources of disagreement among gun policy experts.
Mar 10, 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
Report
Equity Metrics for Climate Adaptation in the Electricity Sector
Social equity has become a key concern among public agencies. The authors developed an illustrative set of context-specific equity metrics that Southern California Edison could build on and incorporate into its ongoing work toward climate adaptation.
Feb 17, 2022
Journal Article
Estimating Nuclear Proliferation and Security Risks in Emerging Markets Using Bayesian Belief Networks
Estimating future nuclear proliferation risk using expert elicitation.
Jan 21, 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
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

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Research conducted by

Researcher Spotlight

Edward Geist

Policy Researcher

Edward Geist is a policy researcher at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at Pardee RAND Graduate School. His research interests include Russia (primarily defense policy), civil defense, artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, and the potential impact of emerging technologies on nuclear…
Krista Langeland

Deputy Lead, RAND Space Enterprise Initiative

Krista S. Langeland (she/her) is a senior physical scientist at the RAND Corporation focusing on developing frameworks and models for strategic development and decision making support. She is the deputy lead of the RAND Space Enterprise Initiative, a virtual center that provides a focal point…

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