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.
Filter >>
Content Filter:
Chinese government involvement in energy efficiency commenced in the 1980s and has become the largest and most comprehensive government-sponsored suite of energy efficiency programs in the world. In 2011, the government placed an energy efficiency obligation on the two large… 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 +
The EU has set an ambitious goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2030. This will require significant investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and photovoltaics as well as measured policies to deal with… View Summary +
The electric utility industry is facing a number of radical changes, including customer-sited generation and advanced metering infrastructure, which will both demand and allow a more sophisticated method of designing the rates charged to customers. In this environment, traditional rate… 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 +
The low price and relative abundance of natural gas bring good news for both consumers and society. Consumers benefit from cheap gas and society benefits from the availability of gas to help reach emissions reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. View Summary +
Energy efficiency, particularly in buildings, should be a front-running strategy to address European energy security. Buildings account for about 40 percent of energy use and more than a third of natural gas use in Europe. Energy efficiency can be viewed… View Summary +
Capacity mechanisms have recently gained the attention of policymakers in Europe. The discussion in Member States is driven by various concerns, including resource adequacy constraints, the often-misunderstood “missing money” issues raised by utilities, and attempts to limit peak demand. In… View Summary +
Under the proposed Clean Power Plan (CPP), traditional air regulation based on solutions at individual generation plants will shift to a more flexible approach based on four building blocks, one of which is energy efficiency. Given most states’ experience with… View Summary +
In the energy field, we often face choices between, on the one hand, resources whose investment costs are largely known and fixed and whose running costs over time are low (e.g., solar photovoltaic (PV) panels or energy efficiency upgrades) and,… View Summary +
Ensuring that an acceptable level of electric system reliability is maintained as the Clean Power Plan is implemented is in everyone’s interest. This short paper suggests ways states can think about their reliability targets and associated tolerance bands in assessing… View Summary +
A responsive demand side is critical to the success of the integrated European electricity market (IEM) and, more particularly, to the cost-effective transition to a decarbonised electricity market. The intermittent nature of renewable technologies such as wind and PV makes ensuring a… View Summary +
As the power sector moves quickly toward decarbonization, authoritative research is demonstrating that a reliable transition that achieves economic, security, and climate goals is not only possible, but can be done at no more than – and possibly less than… View Summary +
Electric vehicles (EVs) are commonly viewed as a crucial mechanism to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, increase energy security, and improve air quality. Widespread adoption of EVs also represents an opportunity for energy utilities and consumers. On April 30, 2015,… View Summary +