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RAP experts keep their finger on the pulse of the energy sector and provide timely analysis of topics impacting stakeholders TODAY.
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March 18, 2019
Five Suggestions to Promote China Power Sector Transition
- Frederick Weston ,
- Max Dupuy
Even the casual observer of China during the last thirty years can’t help but be awestruck by the country’s transformation—across all sectors, but especially the power sector, the central infrastructural industry on which economic development depends. What had been a… View Summary +
March 14, 2019
Renovating Energy Policy to Encourage Beneficial Electrification
- Jessica Shipley ,
- Donna Brutkoski
RAP’s recent papers on the beneficial electrification of space heating and water heating draw a picture of great potential. Electrification of these fossil-fueled end uses could cut carbon emissions significantly while saving consumers money and providing power system operators with… View Summary +
February 7, 2019
EU at risk of missing 2020 energy efficiency targets: Lessons for 2030
Energy consumption in the EU is rising despite targets to reduce demand across Europe. This should not come as a surprise and is explained mainly by GDP growth, writes Samuel Thomas. It’s 1992. The Republicans have been in the White… View Summary +
December 26, 2018
Energy markets will deliver the flexible, decarbonised power system that we need, not capacity markets
- Michael Hogan ,
- Philip Baker
Energy-only markets will enable the integration of the European electricity market and development of the flexible resources needed to support a decarbonised future. Philip Baker and Michael Hogan offer a critique to RTE’s impact assessment of the French capacity market. View Summary +
December 20, 2018
A perfect match: Using carbon revenues to finance energy efficiency
- Catharina Wiese ,
- Richard Cowart
Europe is racing to meet ambitious 2030 and 2050 climate goals but is still stumbling over one of the foundation stones of a cost-effective clean energy transition—investments in end-use energy efficiency. While this month’s “yellow vest” protests in France are… View Summary +
December 11, 2018
EVs’ Rise Doesn’t Need to be Auto Dealers’ Demise
Some argue that the growth of electric vehicles will be the end of auto dealerships. Car dealers today derive significant revenues by providing parts and service for the internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles they sell. If EVs, with their… View Summary +
November 13, 2018
Back to the future: A strong electric vehicle benchmark can cut transport emissions and help modernise Europe’s electricity grid
Over a century ago, electric vehicles (EVs) were the best-selling cars on the market. In 1900, 28 percent of cars on the road in the U.S. were electric. If the competing combustion engine technology had not taken over, today’s policymakers would likely face a… View Summary +
November 1, 2018
Britain’s capacity market: What Europe can learn
- Philip Baker
The U.K.’s marketwide capacity mechanism for electricity provides a solution to a supply problem that has yet to emerge, writes Phil Baker. A targeted strategic reserve is likely to be a more cost-reflective alternative, he argues. In 2014 Great… View Summary +
September 17, 2018
Electricity Reforms in India Depend on Getting the Politics Right
- Navroz Dubash ,
- Sunila Kale ,
- Ranjit Bharvirkar
The Indian economy is among the fastest-growing in the world. Sustaining this growth requires a healthy electricity sector that is able to meet increased demands, ideally alongside an eye to environmental sustainability. Yet electricity consumers continue to face unreliable supply,… View Summary +
September 7, 2018
Replacing copper with negawatts—how RIIO-2 could revolutionise network regulation
Ofgem’s recent framework decision on improving its performance-based regulation scheme, RIIO, indicates that it may be ready to take a much-needed step toward levelling the playing field between supply-side and customer-side resources. However, it is not yet clear what the… View Summary +