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Presentation given at the 2012 Department of Homeland Security Renewable Energy Roundtable on Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for Renewable Energy (RE).
Presentation given at the 2012 Department of Homeland Security Renewable Energy Roundtable on Algal Fuels.
Presentation given at the 2012 Department of Homeland Security Renewable Energy Roundtable as an introduction to renewable technologies and applications.
Presentation given at the 2012 Department of Homeland Security Renewable Energy Roundtable on Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs) and Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for Renewable Energy (RE)
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) hosted the Equitable Demonstration and Deployment Roundtable on August 25, 2021. The roundtable brought together experts in climate and energy justice, demonstration projects, and renewable energy deployment to explore issues that will lead to greater understanding of the barriers to equity at scale and the role that the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) can play to reduce and mitigate them. A large percentage of the participants included experts in energy equity issues from national and local organizations across multiple sectors, both public and private. These individuals engaged with DOE and national laboratory researchers to identify community-based challenges and propose opportunities for DOE to address those challenges to energy demonstration and deployment. The roundtable examined equity considerations for two phases of the energy development process: demonstration and deployment. These two pathways were selected for discussion during the same workshop because they are inextricably linked within the energy ecosystem. Ensuring the deployment of safe, affordable, and reliable energy deployment is DOE's primary goal and energy demonstration projects are a key driver moving technologies from the laboratory to market to achieve this result.
Financing renewable energy projects in the United States can be a complex process. Most equity investment in new renewable power production facilities is supported by tax credits and accelerated depreciation benefits, and is constrained by the pool of potential investors that can fully use these tax benefits and are willing to engage in complex financial structures. For debt financing,non-government lending has largely been provided by foreign banks that may be under future lending constraints due to economic and regulatory conditions. To discuss renewable energy financing challenges and to identify new sources of capital to the U.S. market, two roundtable discussions were held with renewable energy and financing experts in April 2012. This report summarizes the key messagesof those discussions and is designed to provide insights to the U.S. market and inform the international conversation on renewable energy financing innovations.
Basic research to identify and understand the fundamental principles governing hydrogen processes is essential for achieving a carbon-neutral, hydrogen-based energy and chemical infrastructure. In August 2021, the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES)—in coordination with the US Department of Energy (DOE) technology Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and Nuclear Energy—held a roundtable titled, “Foundational Science for Carbon-Neutral Hydrogen Technologies,” to discuss the scientific and technical barriers for carbon-neutral hydrogen production, storage, and utilization. Four priority research opportunities (PROs) were identified to address these scientific and technical challenges and accelerate progress toward the realization of energy-efficient, carbon-neutral cycles for hydrogen processes. The PROs are as follows: Discover and Control Materials and Chemical Processes to Revolutionize Electrolysis Systems; Manipulate Hydrogen Interactions to Harness the Full Potential of Hydrogen as a Fuel; Elucidate the Structure, Evolution, and Chemistry of Complex Interfaces for Energy- and Atom-Efficiency; and Understand and Limit Degradation Processes to Enhance the Durability of Hydrogen Systems.
Basic research to identify and understand the fundamental principles governing carbon dioxide removal processes of capture, conversion, and storage is essential for achieving zero carbon emissions by 2050. In March 2022, the Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES)—in coordination with the US Department of Energy (DOE) technology Offices of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, and Nuclear Energy—held a roundtable titled, “Foundational Science for Carbon Dioxide Removal Technologies,” to discuss the scientific and technical barriers for CO 2 capture, conversion, and storage. Five priority research opportunities were identified to address these scientific and technical challenges and accelerate progress toward the realization of zero carbon emissions. The PROs are as follows: 1) Master Interfacial Processes of CO2 Transport and Reactivity Across Multiple Length and Time Scales; 2) Create Materials that Simultaneously Exhibit Multiple Properties for CO 2 Capture and Release or Conversion; 3) Discover Unconventional Pathways for Energy-Efficient CO 2 Capture, Release, and Conversion; 4) Control Multiphase Interactions Required for CO 2 Conversion into Minerals and Materials; and 5) Achieve Predictive Understanding of Coupled Processes in Complex Subsurface Geologic Systems for Secure Carbon Storage.
Energy storage helps maximize the benefits of renewable energy systems and provide resiliency. Industry experts discuss how storage will help move us to a more sustainable future.
This report is based on the proceedings of the U.S. DOE Roundtable and Workshop on Advanced Steel Technologies Workshop hosted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy s (DOE s) Advanced Manufacturing Office (AMO) on held on June 23, 2015. Representatives from industry, government, and academia met at the offices of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Washington, DC, to share information on emerging steel technologies, issues impacting technology investment and deployment, gaps in research and development (R&D), and opportunities for greater energy efficiency. The results of the workshop are summarized in this report. They reflect a snapshot of the perspectives and ideas generated by the individuals who attended and not all-inclusive of the steel industry and stakeholder community.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) hosted a limited-engagement Energy Equity and Environmental Justice (EEEJ) Summit on September 28, 2022, with the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Economic Impact and Diversity (DOE-ED) and DOE national laboratories: Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and Savannah River National Laboratory. The goal of the Summit was for labs to highlight their capabilities in the EEEJ space and connect them to DOE-ED’s mission and goals as well as share lessons learned and best practices in our various programmatic spaces. The event commenced with an opening address from Director Shalanda Baker (DOE-ED), which included a call to action for the national labs. Three presentation panels followed, giving insights to the programs stewarded by national laboratories that are currently taking steps to enhance the way science is implemented through equity and justice lenses. A roundtable discussion concluded the Summit and highlighted lessons learned, gaps, challenges, opportunities, and future needs that will improve the impact and partnership of EEEJ work at DOE, national laboratories, at other agencies and institutions, and in other programmatic areas. Interest among participants to stay connected and coordinated and to partner on EEEJ work across labs was emphasized, including a suggestion to establish an intra-laboratory community of practice.
This year’s Financial Innovations Roundtable (June 16-17, 2022) focused on advancing clean energy equity and was co-hosted by the University of New Hampshire's Carsey School of Public Policy and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Clean energy technologies are better than ever, with costs continuing to decline. Yet the low-income and under-resourced communities – particularly communities of color, Native communities, and other traditionally marginalized populations – that are disproportionately impacted by climate and severe weather-related events lag in clean energy investments. Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) have a long track record of providing access to capital to low- and moderate-income communities nationwide. Green Banks, established at state and local levels, use innovative financing to attract private capital and incentivize investments in clean and renewable energy. Together, the nation's network of more than 1,300 CDFIs and 21 Green Banks have the financing expertise and deep market understanding and relationships to finance a transition to clean energy. This event explored how Green Banks and CDFIs can funnel creditworthy projects to market and efficiently raise capital for them. Building on the Carsey School White Paper, Clean Energy Project Development for Low-Income Communities: Strengthening the Ecosystem for Delivering Solar Energy and Deep Efficiency Retrofits (Hangen, 2022), the FIR sought to identify options and create opportunities for Green Banks, CDFIs, and impact investors to collaborate in offering a range of products, approaches, and tools to better serve communities and individuals who have thus far been left out of the transition to clean energy. The event had 101 participants from a variety of sectors including CDFIs, Green Banks, mission-driven clean energy organizations, government agencies, banks, and impact investment professionals.
The Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) is a high-level global forum to share best practices and promote policies and programs that advance clean energy technologies and accelerate the transition to a global clean energy economy. The CEM works to increase energy efficiency, expand clean energy supply, and enhance clean energy access worldwide. To achieve these goals, the CEM pursues a three-part strategy that includes high-level policy dialogue, technical cooperation, and engagement with the private sector and other stakeholders. Each year, energy ministers and other high-level delegates from the 23 participating CEM governments come together to discuss clean energy, review clean energy progress, and identify tangible next steps to accelerate the clean energy transition. The U.S. Department of Energy, which played a crucial role in launching the CEM, hosted the first annual meeting of energy ministers in Washington, DC, in June 2010. The United Arab Emirates hosted the second Clean Energy Ministerial in 2011, and the United Kingdom hosted the third Clean Energy Ministerial in 2012. In April 2013, India hosted the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM4) in New Delhi. Key insights from CEM4 are summarized in the report. It captures the ideas and recommendations of the government and private sector leaders who participated in the discussions on six discussion topics: reducing soft costs of solar PV; energy management systems; renewables policy and finance; clean vehicle adoption; mini-grid development; and power systems in emerging economies.
The application of sustainability principles to the investigation and remediation of contaminated sites is an area of rapid development within the environmental profession, with new business practices, tools, and performance standards for identifying, evaluating, and managing the 'collateral' impacts of cleanup projects to the environment, economy and society coming from many organizations. Guidelines, frameworks, and standards of practice for 'green and sustainable remediation' (GSR) have been released and are under development by the Sustainable Remediation Forum (SURF), the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM), the Interstate Technology Roundtable Commission (ITRC) and other organizations in the U.S. and internationally. In response to Executive Orders from the President, Federal government agencies have developed policies, procedures and guidelines for evaluating and reporting the sustainability of their environmental restoration projects. Private sector companies in the petroleum, utility, manufacturing, defense, and other sectors are developing their own corporate GSR programs to improve day-to-day management of contaminated sites and to support external reporting as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The explosion of mandates, policy, procedures and guidance raises the question of how to determine whether a remediation technology or cleanup approach is green and/or sustainable. The environmental profession has responded to this question by designing, developing and deploying a wide array of tools, calculators, and databases that enable regulatory agencies, site managers and environmental professionals to calculate the collateral impacts of their remediation projects in the environmental, social, and economic domains. Many of these tools are proprietary ones developed by environmental engineering/consulting firms for use in their consulting engagements and/or tailored specifically to meet the needs of their clients. When it comes to the public domain, Federal government agencies are spearheading the development of software tools to measure and report emissions of air pollutants (e.g., carbon dioxide, other greenhouse gases, criteria air pollutants); consumption of energy, water and natural resources; accident and safety risks; project costs and other economic metrics. Most of the tools developed for the Government are available to environmental practitioners without charge, so they are growing in usage and popularity. The key features and metrics calculated by the available public-domain tools for measuring the sustainability of environmental remediation projects share some commonalities but there are differences amongst the tools. The SiteWise{sup TM} sustainability tool developed for the Navy and US Army will be compared with the Sustainable Remediation Tool (SRT{sup TM}) developed for the US Air Force (USAF). In addition, the USAF's Clean Solar and Wind Energy in Environmental Programs (CleanSWEEP), a soon-to-be-released tool for evaluating the economic feasibility of utilizing renewal energy for powering remediation systems will be described in the paper. (authors)
Over the past twenty-one years, the Financial Innovations Roundtable (FIR), located at the Carsey School of Public Policy at the University of New Hampshire, has worked to address problems related to access to capital for low- and moderate-income consumers and communities. Since 2014, the event has been co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Board. The FIR works with a range of financial institutions, government agencies, foundations, and trade associations to access their expertise for problem-solving discussions. The 2020 FIR focused on the expanding field of climate finance and was co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and The Climate Safe Lending Network. The event was originally slated to be in-person in San Francisco in May 2020 but was postponed due to the pandemic and shifted to an online event hosted November 16‒17, 2020. A significant amount has happened in 2020 on climate finance, racial justice, the economy, and COVID-19. The shocks and stresses of climate change are creating risks in low- and moderate-income communities as well as in the financial sector broadly. The 2020 FIR offered an opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities banks and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) face as they address these risks and how these institutions can help increase individual, institutional, and community-wide resilience. The program explored new and modified products that address climate risk in communities and how those products can be scaled. Conversations focused around: • The progress that has been made in the climate finance field and the challenges that lie ahead for financial institutions’ climate impact and climate-related risk. • Promising opportunities to decarbonize investments and finance low-carbon technology and infrastructure. • How lenders, insurers, housing organizations, and the public sector can work together to reduce housing instability due to climate-related factors and increase the climate-resilience of homes and neighborhoods. • Solutions to help communities address a wide range of related issues, including home weatherization and disaster preparation, home insurance loss, and climate gentrification and displacement. • Discussing lessons learned from other sectors such as renewable energy in order to design both people-based and place-based finance solutions that promote racial and economic inclusion. 1 • The need for all financial institutions to acknowledge that climate risks and racial inequity are systemic risks affecting their bottom line. • The role that bank regulators can play in promoting collaboration across the financial sector and in leading by example with regard to climate finance. • Mapping out concrete action-item initiatives including policy and industry pathways to climate safe lending as well as building a financing platform to provide clean energy to low-income communities. • More broadly, in order to systemically address climate risks, we will need to work together as a range of stakeholders across sectors and collaborate on shared goals and projects.