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Horowitz, Russell

Publications and source records attributed to Horowitz, Russell.

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

Energy system analysis of cutting off Russian gas supply to the European Union

The reduction of European Union's pipeline gas imports from Russia as a consequence of the Russian war against Ukraine has had severe economy-wide implications for the EU. Using a multisector integrated assessment model (GCAM), we find that a potential complete cut-off of Russian pipeline gas exports to the EU unevenly impacts the energy mix, prices, and trade flows of different subregions within the EU, depending on their access to alternative gas pipelines and LNG infrastructure. Moreover, there are also large changes in the volume and geographical distribution of global gas infrastructure capacity additions and stranded assets. Our results show that by significantly reducing demand for natural gas, the EU Fit-for-55 policy framework already improves resilience against a complete and persistent cut-off of Russian pipeline gas. However, further improvements in energy efficiency and renewable targets could further soften impacts, while bringing climate objectives closer in sight.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Role of Biofuels and Biomass Feedstocks for Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050 - (DECARB) Decarbonizing Energy Through Collaborative Analysis of Routes and Benefits

Utilizing biomass resources, such as cellulosic biomass and waste, can greatly contribute to decarbonization efforts in the U.S. economy. The U.S. bioenergy sector includes corn ethanol production, biodiesel, renewable diesel production, and the utilization of biomass wastes for electricity generation being the primary applications. Within the electricity sector, biopower can play a crucial role as a stable low-carbon resource. Enhancing the electricity mix's diversity could enhance grid reliability. If the issues regarding hot gas cleanup can be resolved, flexible biopower resources like biomass gasification facilities could complement the integration of variable renewable energy sources due to their quick ramp-up and ramp-down times. The criticality of bioenergy deployment lies in its ability to decarbonize hard-to-electrify sectors, such as aviation, where alternative decarbonization options may not be viable in the short term. Moreover, bioenergy has the potential to be converted into process heating, building materials, and plastics, which are not considered in this study. A set of pathways was carefully chosen to represent viable options for converting ample herbaceous and woody cellulosic feedstocks into fuels, chemicals, and electricity in this study. In conclusion, biomass pathways provide flexibility by generating various types of bioenergy and bioproducts, including electricity, hydrogen, liquid fuels, biochemicals, and bioplastics. When paired with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS), specific bioenergy approaches can effectively extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus providing an effective decarbonization option for the transportation sector.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2022

The energy system transformation needed to achieve the US long-term strategy

The authors designed and executed the integrated assessment modeling for the United States long-term strategy. They bring diverse expertise to the modeling and analysis of United States decarbonization. Russell Horowitz, Matthew Binsted, and Haewon McJeon are scientists at the Joint Global Change Research Institute, a partnership between Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and the University of Maryland. Allen Fawcett, James McFarland, and Morgan Browning are economists at the Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Economics Branch. Claire Henly is White House Fellow at the Office of the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. Nathan Hultman is the Director of the Center for Global Sustainability at the University of Maryland.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Win-win transportation strategies for India: Linking air pollution and climate mitigation

Here, this article analyzes road transport in India to explore linkages between air pollution and climate change policies in the transportation sector. Five teams modeled five policy scenarios – fuel efficiency, electrification, alternative fuels, modal shifts, and moderation in transport demand – to explore which policy brings the largest synergetic effects in reducing carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) emissions. The teams also modeled the comprehensive scenario which included policy measures from individual scenarios. The paper concludes that all of the measures provide strong co-benefits in reducing air pollutant and CO 2 emissions. The modeling results show that increased energy efficiency of passenger and freight vehicles has the largest protentional for reducing both CO 2 and PM 2.5 emissions. It is possible to reach even a larger reduction of air pollutants and CO 2 emissions by combining several policy measures in the comprehensive scenario.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Charting a Path for Research and Development of Reliability and Resilience in South Asia's Power Sector

The power sector in South Asia faces several trends with the potential to impact its reliability and resilience. Rapidly increasing demand, coupled with an increasing reliance on variable renewable resources and the circular linkages with climate change points to an increasing need to understand the extent of climate impacts on both the electricity load and the electricity generation. These larger shifts are also coupled with opportunities near the grid edge that could have a large impact on system planning and operations, such as electrification of the transport sector, increased reliance on buildings to serve a broader set of loads and be flexible resources for utilities, more efficient use of industrial and agricultural loads, and growth in distributed energy resources such as rooftop solar and batteries. It is critical that as this transformation takes place that expectations for reliability and resilience of the grid continue to increase in the region. The South Asia Group for Energy (SAGE), composed of USAID, the US Department of Energy, and three national laboratories, has been tasked with providing an overview of the research and development resources necessary to understand the upcoming challenges for the power system as it pertains to reliability and resilience. This discussion paper identifies some of the key trends and connections that are important for power sector reliability and resilience and provides a starting point for eliciting feedback from power sector stakeholders about their experiences and needs.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fossil energy deployment through midcentury consistent with 2°C climate stabilization

Energy system transformation scenarios satisfying particular climate stabilization objectives, such as 2°C, suggest that a wide range of fossil energy outcomes could be consistent with such objectives. The underlying drivers of variability in these outcomes cannot, however, be easily separated. This paper attempts to shed light on such drivers using a single, state-of-the-art global integrated assessment model (GCAM) to evaluate the energy system implications of climate stabilization near 2°C. We focus specifically on the role of fossil primary energy through midcentury under different assumptions about carbon capture and storage (CCS) and bioenergy supply. In our scenarios, coal and natural gas primary energy are most sensitive to the availability of CCS, with bioenergy supply having a secondary impact on these sources. Looking across primary energy sources, we find that primary energy from coal declines by midcentury relative to 2015 in all GCAM mitigation scenarios considered here, whereas primary energy from natural gas and oil increases by midcentury relative to 2015 in most of the scenarios in which CCS is available. We explain these results in terms of fundamental energy-economic relationships and discuss the implications of these findings for broader energy policy and planning.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗