White Papers

In this brief, we assess (1) the potential role that CDR plays in scenarios that limit long-term temperature increase to 1.5°C, and (2) what we should be doing now, given the time needed to develop and deploy these technologies at scale.

The Russian government’s decision to invade Ukraine puts into sharp contrast the deep entanglement between energy, security and geopolitics. Now more than ever, the European Union needs unity and resolve in its response and a focus on resilience in the face of interlinking crises.

Authors from Ember, E3G, Bellona and RAP have collaborated to identify the indispensable role clean energy solutions play in rapidly ending the EU’s reliance on fossil gas imports from Russia.

When we think of climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, we usually envision power plants, factories, cars, and smokestacks — not farms and ranches. But it turns out that agriculture and land use, as well as the larger global food system, are among the biggest contributors to climate change. And, as a result, changing these systems, can be an important source of climate solutions

But how can this be? Isn’t climate change caused by burning fossil fuels, that release carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere?

There’s more to it than that.

Texans will never forget February 2021. Winter Storm Uri crippled the state’s natural gas supply and sparked a cascading failure of our electricity system. More than 4 million homes and businesses lost power, many of them for days. More than 700 people died. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas estimated the electricity crisis cost the state between $80 and $130 billion.
Yet we already have the technological capability to significantly fortify the grid from increasing threats, reduce our reliance on fossil fuel electricity, and reduce electricity-related climate and air pollution.

Using energy data collected from Pecan Street’s network of connected homes in Austin during Texas’ historic 2021 winter storm, this paper demonstrates that we already have the technology to control demand and better protect families from electricity crises.

Climate Solutions at Work, presented by Drawdown Labs, is a how-to guide for employees looking to make every job a climate job.

The all-encompassing climate crisis demands an equally expansive system of solutions, calling on everyone, everywhere to find their inroad—especially in the workplace.

Employees are the backbone of a company’s ability to function, innovate, and survive through uncertain times. Even for the most passionate climate advocates, it can be hard to know how to accelerate action in the workplace and where to begin. This easy-to-browse guide explores creative ways to bring the world’s best private-sector climate solutions to life.

Climate Solutions at Work is a new north star for employees looking to help shift companies beyond net zero.

The transition to clean energy can help mitigate climate change and bring extensive social, health and well-being benefits to all Europeans. This process, however, is not without costs, particularly in the short term. With millions of people living in energy poverty in Europe, policymakers must ensure that these costs, as well as the benefits, are shared fairly among energy consumers.

By unpacking the market, regulatory and policy decisions that determine how costs are passed on through consumer bills, the authors of this report aim to demystify the distributional aspects and impacts on the energy poor. It is critical that the clean energy transition does not require greater expenditure from energy consumers affected by energy poverty.

As the urgency of the climate crisis grows, new analysis reveals that coal is no longer the cheapest way to power the global economy. The cost of clean energy has fallen so far that new renewables are now cheaper than new coal plants virtually everywhere, and there are specific financial strategies that utilities and policymakers can use to engineer a faster phaseout of coal in various regions of the world.

This report lays out options for governments and public finance institutions to accelerate coal phase-out via an integrated three-part approach: refinancing to fund the coal transition and save customers money on day one; reinvesting in clean energy; and providing transition financing for workers and communities.

Pecan Street’s new analysis explores the opportunities for policymakers and utilities to remove a significant barrier to residential electrification. By incentivizing electric service panel upgrades for existing homes and requiring larger capacity panels for new construction, we can clear the path for full residential electrification. This is also a critical opportunity to ensure a just energy transition by creating sliding incentives based on household income levels.

To address climate and equity challenges, utilities will have to transform the way they plan – ensuring that a full range of resources are considered to meet utility customers’ needs. This should include both supply- and demand-side options, as well as distributed energy resources.

One of the most important opportunities to advocate for such outcomes is via integrated resource plans, or IRPs, which regulated utilities submit to their public utility commission. PUC processes need public input, but participation has historically been limited because of the technical and legal expertise required. Participating in Power, the product of a collaboration between RAP and the Institute for Market Transformation, aims to address that barrier.

Our entire country is engaged in a broad and long-overdue examination of the roles that race and racism play in our society – our legal system, workforce, communities, politics, schools and more. Race also plays a role in energy – who has access to it, how much they pay for it, who works in the energy industry, who lives near our power plants, and who has a seat at the table to determine energy choices that town, city, state and federal governments make on our behalf.