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Reassessing the UK’s hydrogen strategy as the government prepares its update
The UK's hydrogen strategy requires a course correction to prioritize hard-to-electrify sectors and resolve policy misalignments across government departments. While the UK has established production targets and funding streams like the Hydrogen Allocation Rounds (HAR), inconsistent frameworks between the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Department for Transport (DfT) create investment barriers. The document warns that slow policy delivery and high energy costs risk turning decarbonisation into deindustrialisation, as seen in the shutdown of the UK ammonia industry. It recommends integrating hydrogen strategy with broader industrial decarbonisation, aligning low-carbon fuel standards, and increasing stakeholder representation in decision-making bodies like the Hydrogen Delivery Council.
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Document type: Statement
Moving Beyond Carbon: Advancing Aviation Contrail Accounting and Reporting
RMI conducted pilots with BCG, Roland Berger, and Estuaire to compare contrail accounting methods. The results show that a bottom-up, flight-specific approach is significantly more accurate than the standard 1.7x multiplier, revealing that 2% of flights cause 80% of contrail impacts. The report advocates for a phased transition toward high-fidelity accounting to enable targeted corporate travel policies and alignment with emerging EU regulations.
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Document type: Executive summary
Role of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage in Decarbonizing India’s Steel Sector
The report evaluates CCUS as a primary decarbonization lever for India's steel sector, specifically targeting the emission-intensive BF-BOF route. It identifies single-point pre-combustion capture with gas conditioning as the most cost-effective technical approach, with a net CO2 abatement cost of USD 5560/tCO2. The study maps seven steel clusters in Eastern India and finds significant geological storage potential, primarily in deep saline aquifers (estimated at 62 Gt). To overcome high capital costs, the report proposes novel financing instruments like Partial Deep Discount Carbon STRIPS (PDDCS) bonds and the establishment of a Carbon Capture Finance Corporation (CCFC). It concludes that a breakeven carbon price of approximately INR 2,099 (USD 25)/tCO2 is necessary for project financial viability in a mature market.
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Document type: Report
Recalibrating UK hydrogen towards a demand-led, systems-based approach
The UK's current hydrogen strategy is criticised for misaligning production targets with actual demand, leading to high public costs and inefficient funding. The author recommends prioritising hydrogen for industrial clusters and low-carbon fuels, strengthening methane emission standards, and redesigning the Hydrogen Allocation Round (HAR) to support the entire value chain from production to end-use.
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Document type: Policy brief
Fuelling the future: financing sustainable transport through expanded EU carbon market
Carbon Market Watch asserts that the EU's Sustainable Transport Investment Plan (STIP) is insufficient without expanding the EU ETS to cover all aviation and shipping emissions. The organization estimates that covering all flights leaving the EEA would generate an additional €9 billion annually, rising to €58 billion if non-CO2 effects and private aviation are included. While the STIP utilizes the EU Innovation Fund and European Hydrogen Bank for cleaner fuels, the author argues that funding should shift away from biofuels toward e-kerosene and railway infrastructure, such as the Trans European Transport Network (TEN-T), to adhere to the 'polluter pays' principle.
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Document type: Statement
Fuel Taxation in Aviation
The report analyzes 32 Air Service Agreements (ASAs) among COFFIS member states, finding that while the Chicago Convention does not prohibit aviation fuel taxes, specific bilateral and multilateral ASAs may create legal barriers. It identifies two categories of agreements requiring reform: those with full tax prohibitions and those with non-discrimination clauses. The report suggests that while bilateral reforms are possible, a global or multilateral Joint Agreement would be a swifter method for bulk reform. For EU member states, the EU Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) is the primary barrier, though an international agreement could override it. The report also includes emission quantifications and revenue estimates for three UK-based ASAs.
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Document type: Report
The $4.4tn Climate Investment Opportunity
The report identifies a conservative USD 4.4 trillion pipeline of creditworthy sustainable bonds from 12 climate-leader countries through 2035. It argues that global megatrends—such as electrification, urbanisation, and the rise of AI—will further accelerate this pipeline beyond current projections. The document also outlines policy levers, including taxonomies and monetary policy, that governments can use to channel capital into mitigation and resilience projects.
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Document type: Report
Resiliente, mas ainda não transformador: o setor de petróleo e gás do Brasil em um mundo em descarbonização
The document analyzes Brazil's position as a top global oil producer, noting that while its current production is economically resilient to most climate scenarios, the pursuit of new frontiers like the Equatorial Margin carries high stranded asset risks. It highlights Brazil's potential to lead in low-carbon fuels and critical minerals but warns that a lack of coordinated industrial policy and investment in innovation may limit its competitiveness. The author recommends using advanced modeling to optimize investments in refining and green fuels and suggests leveraging diplomatic ties with China and the EU to diversify the economy post-fossil fuels.
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Document type: Case study
Driving economic growth: How the UK’s climate targets unlock business action and investment
The UK has reduced emissions by 50.4% since 1990 while growing its economy by nearly 80%, with the net zero economy contributing £83.1 billion to GDP in 2024. However, the report identifies a 'policy implementation gap,' noting that as of June 2025, credible plans existed for only 38% of the reductions needed for the 2030 NDC. The document calls for a holistic approach to electrification, the creation of lead markets for green technologies, a national retrofit strategy for housing, and a comprehensive plan to close a green skills gap of up to 400,000 workers. It also emphasizes the need to align climate goals with nature recovery and to overcome political polarization by communicating the economic benefits of the transition to the public.
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Document type: Report
Blueprints for Bankability
The document outlines five key strategies to make Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) projects more investable, focusing on risk-sharing through corporate commitments, the use of take-or-pay contracts to attract lenders, and the implementation of robust 'Book and Claim' systems for tracking Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs). It emphasizes the need for cashflow stability for both physical fuel and EACs, and argues that projects delivering higher carbon intensity reductions should be able to capture the value of their innovation through tradability.
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Document type: Executive summary
H.R. 1 expands 45Z clean fuel production credit for conventional biofuels while cutting sustainable aviation fuel tax credit
H.R. 1 expands the 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit through 2029 but reduces the maximum credit for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from $1.75 to $1.00 per gallon. By excluding indirect land use change (ILUC) emissions from carbon intensity (CI) scores, the bill increases subsidies for conventional corn ethanol and soy biodiesel. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates these changes will cost taxpayers $25.7 billion from FY25-34, a significant increase from previous estimates, without providing proportional greenhouse gas emission reductions.
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Document type: Briefing
Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California
The report analyzes the potential for California to meet its 2045 CDR target of 75 MMT CO2e by diversifying its portfolio with Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) systems. Using seven scenarios based on cost and social acceptance, the study finds that BiCRS can remove between 13 and 75 MMT CO2e annually. Scenarios utilizing high biomass availability estimates show that BiCRS alone could meet the state's target, potentially reducing costs and increasing bioenergy and job production by up to 10 times compared to the DAC-heavy 2022 Scoping Plan. However, scenarios with limited forest biomass availability fail to meet the target. The report highlights a trade-off between optimizing biomass for CDR versus sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production and recommends expanding the state's CDR portfolio beyond hydrogen-based BECCS.
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Document type: Report
Exploring Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) Scenarios for California
The report explores the potential of Biomass Carbon Removal and Storage (BiCRS) to help California meet its 2045 CDR target of 75 MMT CO2e. By modeling seven scenarios based on cost and social acceptance, the analysis finds that BiCRS could potentially meet the entire target under high biomass availability estimates without competing with food production. The report highlights that while lower-cost pathways rely on established technologies like combustion with CCS, higher social acceptance pathways require advanced technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification. BiCRS is projected to generate significantly more bioenergy and jobs than the current direct air capture (DAC)-focused Scoping Plan.
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Document type: Executive summary
Resilient, but not yet Transformative: Brazil’s Oil and Gas Sector in a Decarbonising World
Brazil has become a top global oil producer due to pre-salt reserves, with production expected to peak at 5.3-5.4 mbd by 2029-30. While the sector is cost-competitive and the national economy has limited overall dependence on oil revenues, specific regions like Rio de Janeiro are highly vulnerable. The document argues that Brazil can leverage its renewable energy potential and critical minerals to diversify its economy into low-carbon fuels, provided it improves technological innovation and coordinates Petrobras' investments with national industrial policy.
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Document type: Case study
Fuel Taxation in Aviation
The report analyzes 32 Air Service Agreements (ASAs) among COFFIS member states to identify legal obstacles to taxing aviation fuel. It finds that while the Chicago Convention does not prohibit such taxes, many bilateral ASAs contain prohibitions or non-discrimination clauses that require reform. The authors propose a 'Joint Agreement' as a multilateral mechanism to bulk-amend these treaties. For EU states, the Energy Taxation Directive (ETD) remains a primary structural barrier, though international agreements can override it. The report also estimates that taxing three specific UK flight routes could generate up to USD 3.1 billion in revenue.
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Document type: Report
Catalytic Procurement
The report argues that corporate procurement can be a transformative driver for decarbonizing heavy industry and transportation. It proposes strategies such as demand aggregation, environmental attribute certificates, and advanced purchasing commitments to overcome early-market barriers and reduce costs for low-emission technologies.
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Document type: Report
Airports and the Advancement of Net-Zero Aviation Innovation
Based on workshops in Utah and Colorado, RMI identifies sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) as the primary near-term solution for decarbonizing aviation, while hydrogen and electric propulsion require long-term infrastructure planning. The report highlights that airports are structurally limited in leading this transition because they do not control fuel demand or aircraft certification. Key recommendations include investing in pilot programs, developing long-term master plans for new propulsion technologies, and forming regional airport coalitions to share risks. A preliminary analysis suggests that regional routes under 1,000 nautical miles with aircraft under 90 seats are the most viable early candidates for hydrogen transition.
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Document type: Report
Sky polluters, time to chip in... How comprehensively covering aviation’s climate impacts under the EU ETS could help generate revenue for the green and just transition Citizens, time to cash in!
Carbon Market Watch proposes extending the EU ETS to include all departing flights from the European Economic Area (EEA), non-CO2 aviation effects, and private jets. The brief argues that the current limited scope—covering only intra-EEA flights—fails to address the sector's full climate impact and misses significant revenue opportunities. By implementing these extensions and applying carbon price multipliers for private jets, the EU could generate substantial funds to finance e-kerosene development, upgrade railway infrastructure via the Trans-European Transport Core Network (TEN-T), and meet international climate finance targets. The author specifically recommends replacing support for biofuels with a focused e-kerosene scheme extended to 2040.
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Document type: Policy brief
The geography of clean energy investments in the U.S.
The document analyzes how federal clean energy incentives have driven over $321 billion in investments across the U.S. between Q2 2022 and Q1 2025, highlighting that these investments are heavily concentrated in Southern and Western states and Republican-held congressional districts. It argues that rolling back these incentives would disproportionately harm these regions and jeopardize significant outstanding investments in states like Louisiana and North Dakota, as well as major projects in emerging hubs like Southern Arizona and the Southeast.
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Document type: Briefing
Feedback to call for evidence - ETS1 review
Carbon Market Watch argues that the EU ETS1 fails to drive industrial decarbonisation due to the continued allocation of free emission allowances, which it claims undermines the carbon price signal for sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals. The submission calls for the complete phase-out of free allocations and indirect cost compensation, suggesting that any remaining benefits be tied to decarbonisation milestones. It further advocates for expanding the ETS scope to cover all departing flights from 2027, including non-CO2 effects and flights to third countries, and extending maritime coverage to 100% of extra-EEA routes and all small ships by 2027. Regarding market stability, the document suggests maintaining existing Market Stability Reserve (MSR) and Linear Reduction Factor (LRF) rules until 2035 to preserve investment signals. Finally, it strongly opposes the integration of carbon removals into the EU ETS to avoid mitigation deterrence and the risk of using removals as a substitute for actual emission reductions.
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Document type: Statement