By FREE Staff As the U.S. shifts to the electrification of its transport and other systems, one of the biggest and most difficult challenges the country faces is how to ensure the electric grid can handle the added stress. The country’s network of hundreds of thousands of miles of powerlines is taking center stage in […]
Read More »‘Low-Carbon Planning for All’: How to Create an Equitable Energy Transition
By FREE Staff The U.S. is in the midst of a historic energy transition. With the passage of massive federal legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, states and local communities are making tangible progress in the transition to a clean energy-fueled economy. Such a shift is set to improve the lives of millions of Americans, […]
Read More »How Decentralized, Polycentric Governing has Led to Innovation and Progress in the Fight Against Climate Change
“The largest city in Massachusetts, Boston, has recently started its own community clean energy (CCE) and plans to build out 100 MW in solar installations to service its low-income community members.” Over the last two decades, one of the most frustratingly consistent aspects of federal climate change policy has been inaction. The national Republican Party […]
Read More »Environmental Justice and Renewable Energy
By Thomas S. Benson According to a March 2022 survey by the Pew Research Center, a majority of Americans favor the U.S. taking steps to become carbon neutral by 2050, with 69% calling for the U.S. to prioritize the development of alternative energy, such as wind and solar, and 31% calling for the U.S. to […]
Read More »The Scale of the Energy Access Gap
By Benjamin M. Attia Access to electricity is a key catalyst correlated with economic development. The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently estimated that over 1.5 billion people do not have access to affordable electricity, representing one quarter of the world’s population [1]. In the absence of aggressive new policies and significant financing, it is estimated that […]
Read More »Post-Paris Agreement: FREE’S Focus on Subnational Climate Action
By Job Taminiau and Joseph Nyangon Accelerating climate action and finance at subnational level based on the Paris Agreement. The 21st Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP 21 (also known as the Paris climate summit) closed in Le Bourget, France after two weeks of intense negotiations, with negotiators agreeing on […]
Read More »Why the U.S. Urgently Needs to Invest in a Modern Energy System
By Joseph Nyangon Investment in ‘smart’ energy offers a viable and effective long-term solution that allows the energy industry to shift its supply sources, build new transmission and storage systems, and increase its energy efficiency goals. In a speech commemorating the thirty-fifth anniversary of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2009, former U.S. secretary of state, […]
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