It is increasingly apparent that power sector transformation isn’t happening in the future; it’s occurring now. Already, resources are cleaner and more distributed, previously docile customers are actively seeking opportunities to save, consume, and even produce energy in new ways, and unregulated service providers are emerging to motivate customers and make... Read More

The electricity sector components of China’s 13th Five Year Plan reaffirm and strengthen previous commitments to establish electricity markets and to eliminate the generation quota system. The Chinese government has also committed to further reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as with the target to reduce JingJinJi PM2.5 emissions in 2020 by 25... Read More

The European Commission’s recently released Clean Energy Package, has a 2030 target of 30 percent energy savings. An important policy instrument to deliver these are Energy Efficiency Obligation (EEO) schemes. According to new RAP research, not only are EEOs a highly cost-effective way to deliver energy efficiency, but over the long term they can deliver consum... Read More

Broad state authority under the Clean Air Act means regulatory reforms would likely be permitted This is the third of RAP’s four-part series on the merits of greater integration of energy and environmental planning and regulation. The first piece set out the general concept, a process we’ve dubbed “E-Merge.” The second laid out a sample step-by-step proc... Read More

The UK’s energy policy is at crossroads. Ambitious carbon targets, an aging energy infrastructure, rising fuel poverty, and a legacy of fossil fuel investment warrant bold political decisions to ensure the UK transitions to a sustainable low-carbon energy system. Because of the long-term nature of investment in energy infrastructure, decisions made over the nex... Read More

Brexit has opened a new era in British politics. Economic uncertainties and a potential slowdown in investment are likely to stay with us in the short to medium term. The Chancellor has made clear that he is prepared to "reset" fiscal policy after Brexit, and the Prime Minister announced the launch of a "proper industrial strategy." Energy efficiency is a perfect... Read More

New study presents real world examples of Efficiency First from across Europe The EU’s energy infrastructure faces numerous challenges over the next decades. It needs to be decarbonised whilst ensuring the competitiveness of EU industry, providing energy security, addressing energy poverty, and empowering consumers, who play a crucial part in the energy system... Read More

Part one of this series described why it is increasingly necessary to integrate energy and environmental planning and introduced one way to do so, the E-Merge approach. Improvements in public health science, detection technologies, and modeling over the last 25 years require parallel improvements in our decades-old regulatory approach for air quality. Likewise, t... Read More

The German government recently published its Green Paper on Energy Efficiency and launched a consultation process inviting comments on the ideas put forward in the green book. RAP’s detailed response provides evidence and examples of the essential role that end-use energy efficiency must play in a faster and lower-cost transition to a clean energy economy. The ... Read More

Im Fokus der weiteren Reform des europäischen Energiemarktes sollen nach dem Willen der Europäischen Kommission, des Europäischen Rates und des EU-Parlaments die Haushalte und Geschäftskunden stehen. Der gemeinsame EU-Strommarkt mit den gekoppelten nationalen Strommärkten erspart den Verbrauchern in der EU bereits heute Kosten in Milliardenhöhe. Allerdings ... Read More