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Incisive commentary from RAP experts
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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August 24, 2018
Voluntary Renewable Energy Markets in China: Key Conditions for Unlocking Demand
- Orrin Cook ,
- Frederick Weston
During the summer of 2017, at the Eighth Clean Energy Ministerial in Beijing, Center for Resource Solutions co-presented a side event highlighting the growing demand for renewable energy in China and new market initiatives, including the Green Electricity Consumption Cooperative… View Summary +
August 8, 2018
Energy efficiency could cut UK home energy use in half
“We have done all the easy stuff on energy efficiency,” Dr. Jan Rosenow was told during a 2016 workshop organised by the National Infrastructure Commission on the future of heat in the United Kingdom. Some participants felt that energy efficiency… View Summary +
July 12, 2018
California’s Mandatory PV Code Amendment: Is It Really Time for This?
- Jim Lazar
The press has been abuzz this summer about the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) new building code amendment that will require most single-family residential and low-rise multi-family dwellings to incorporate PV systems at construction. The amendment takes effect in 2020. Buildings… View Summary +
June 27, 2018
The carbon floor price—a hammer in need of a toolbox
“If your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail,” goes the saying. In the context of climate policy, the leading hammer is carbon pricing. To many economists and carbon market enthusiasts, putting a price on carbon… View Summary +
June 11, 2018
Fuel-Switching: We Just Did This in 1990, So Why Are We Doing It Again?
RAP senior advisor Jim Lazar tells a story about doing a cost and environmental analysis on behalf of the Association of Northwest Gas Utilities in 1990, in which he compared space and water heating run on natural-gas-generated electricity to… View Summary +
April 20, 2018
Without ambitious energy efficiency goals, the EU will fail Paris targets
- Jan Rosenow ,
- Stefan Scheuer
The Paris Climate Agreement’s entry into force has clearly not yet spurred policymakers to charge toward the goal of limiting climate change to “well below 2°C” and targeting 1.5°C, warn Dr. Jan Rosenow and Stefan Scheuer. Energy efficiency remains the… View Summary +
April 18, 2018
A Toolkit of Global Insights as China Builds Its Power Sector of the Future
- Max Dupuy ,
- Fredrich (Fritz) Kahrl ,
- Frederick Weston
China’s current power sector reforms began in March 2015 with Document #9, which was followed by the 13th Five-Year Plan and a series of further policies that aim to reduce renewables curtailment and further integrate renewable energy into… View Summary +
April 6, 2018
When Utility Gas Affiliates Play by Monopoly Rules, Consumers Are Likely to Lose
- David Littell
Can monopolies with market power send business to other regulated monopolies? Can one monopoly create a “need” for which ratepayers will be charged by another related monopoly? As it stands right now, the answer to both these questions is yes. View Summary +
March 29, 2018
„Efficiency First“ muss zum Grundpfeiler der europäischen Energieunion werden
Die deutsche Bundesregierung hat sich „Efficiency First“ auf die Fahnen geschrieben und auch der Koalitionsvertrag der neuen Regierung macht sich dieses Prinzip zu eigen. Andere EU‑Mitgliedsstaaten sind hier offensichtlich noch skeptisch. Laut einem durchgesickerten Dokument des Rates der Europäischen… View Summary +
March 23, 2018
Small district heating systems key to improving Poland’s air quality
- Edith Bayer ,
- Richard Cowart
Small, coal-fired district heating systems are a major source of air pollution in Poland. Applying EU regulations would go some way toward solving this problem, write Edith Bayer and Richard Cowart of global energy policy advisors Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP),… View Summary +