Knowledge Center
We believe that sharing our expertise and collaborations in clean energy policy is how real, effective change happens.
From reports and policy briefs, to webinars and podcasts—RAP advisors have built an extensive collection of resources providing in-depth analysis and practical solutions to today’s energy challenges.
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Policymakers across the globe are searching for solutions to reduce the use of fossil fuels and their associated climate impacts. Attention has focused on the heating sector, which relies heavily on fossil fuels and was responsible for almost 40% of… View Summary +
Slovakia’s climate plans call for decarbonising buildings, shifting to clean technologies and reducing energy consumption. Fossil fuels currently provide 45% of heat and hot water in buildings, with biofuels and district heating — also fossil-fuel based — making significant additional… View Summary +
Deployment of heat pumps is a key part of greenhouse gas reduction goals set out in the Inflation Reduction Act. In this paper, a collaboration between RAP and CLASP, the authors analyze impacts of the IRA on heat pump… View Summary +
In this Power System Blueprint deep dive, Dominic Scott and Monika Morawiecka discuss the merits of different types of two-sided contracts for difference (CfDs). Written in the style of a three-act Shakespearian play, the authors take a look at… View Summary +
As electrification continues to gain momentum, the implications for system reliability will be profound. Not only is demand likely to grow, but daily and seasonal patterns of energy use may shift. The Midcontinent Independent System Operator, for one, has highlighted… View Summary +
To add vast new amounts of solar, wind and other variable renewable generation, the electricity system will need to become far more flexible. Customers have a central role in achieving this, by adapting how and when they use electricity. This demand-side… View Summary +
The European energy sector is facing a triple challenge: ensuring a speedy and cost-efficient rollout of renewables, protecting consumers from price shocks and safeguarding security of supply. As the 2022 energy crisis showed, political acceptance of high electricity prices is… View Summary +
States are increasingly confronting the reality that burning fossil fuels for heat creates cost burdens for their residents, particularly for low-income households and struggling small businesses, while harming health and the environment. Importing those fuels imposes a drain on the… View Summary +
Decarbonisation of heating must accelerate if we are to meet European Union (EU) climate and renewable energy targets and achieve reliable and affordable supply of heat for all. Space and water heating in buildings accounts for around a third of… View Summary +
For over 50 years, a wide variety of reforms has been tried to correct the flaws of traditional methods of utility regulation generally and rate-making specifically. One category of reforms implemented by many jurisdictions to remedy some of those flaws… View Summary +
Time and again statements asserting that high penetrations of clean energy resources like energy efficiency and renewable energy could endanger electric system reliability have proven false. We refer to these assertions collectively as “playing the reliability card” against clean energy. View Summary +
Energy efficiency programs reduce utility bills, reduce emissions of multiple pollutants, and reduce the overall cost of delivering electricity services. Measuring and considering the full spectrum of benefits delivered by energy efficiency is pivotal to capturing all cost-effective efficiency resources. View Summary +
Some describe natural gas generation as the “Swiss army knife” of generation technologies, and gas’s current abundance and low price have driven calls for large-scale investments in gas infrastructure. Yet a Swiss army knife, versatile as it is, would not… View Summary +
Utilities face unprecedented changes in the way power is generated and delivered. With the ramp-up in distributed generation, energy efficiency and demand response, electric vehicles, smart appliances, and more, the industry must rethink its rate structures to accommodate and encourage… View Summary +
Studies show that creative rate design can achieve up to a 35 percent reduction in customer usage during critical peak hours, and up to a 15 percent difference in total consumption over the course of a year. Demand charges have… View Summary +