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Issue Brief: Energy Storage
This issue brief from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute examines the role of energy storage technologies in mitigating electricity industry challenges, integrating renewable energy, and improving grid reliability. It details various storage technologies—ranging from pumped hydro and compressed air to advanced batteries and flywheels—and analyzes the impact of U.S. federal policies, specifically FERC orders and Department of Energy (DOE) initiatives, in overcoming implementation barriers.
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Document type: Briefing
Energy Storage
This policy brief from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) examines the role of energy storage technologies in mitigating electricity industry challenges, integrating renewable energy, and improving grid reliability. It provides a technical overview of various storage methods, analyzes the impact of U.S. federal policies and legislation, and highlights specific large-scale implementation projects across the United States.
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Document type: Policy brief
Combined heat and power (CHP)
This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute describes combined heat and power (CHP) technology, which integrates the production of heat and electric power into a single process to increase energy efficiency and reliability. It details the current state of CHP in the United States, its economic and environmental benefits, its role in disaster resilience, and the policy barriers and goals associated with its expansion.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Heat Pumps
This report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) examines the economic and environmental costs of heating oil in the Northeast United States and proposes heat pumps as a viable, low-cost alternative to both oil and natural gas expansion.
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Document type: Report
sei-2013-www-nexus-article-b5f7a55018e97853.pdf
This research paper argues for the implementation of systematic approaches to understand the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus across various scales and sectors to achieve sustainable development goals. It presents a continuum of assessment tools, ranging from qualitative methods like index building to quantitative data-driven modelling, to support cooperative governance and resource management.
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Document type: Research paper
Don’t Suppress Military-Led Innovation
Amory Lovins criticizes a Senate Armed Services Committee vote that restricts the U.S. Department of Defense from purchasing alternative fuels that cost more than traditional fossil fuels, arguing that such restrictions stifle military-led innovation and potential civilian economic savings.
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Document type: Statement
TURB CHARGING EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS
The report "TURB CHARGING EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS" by RMI provides a framework for electric utilities to increase energy savings by pursuing both "broader" (increasing participant numbers) and "deeper" (increasing savings per participant) strategies. It identifies systemic barriers, such as the historical monopoly structure of utilities and rigid regulatory frameworks, and offers recommendations to improve marketing, sales execution, transaction costs, and collaboration.
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Document type: Report
A Snapshot of Renewable Energy Deployment
This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute provides a comparative analysis of renewable electricity technologies—water, wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar—against conventional power sources in the United States. It examines metrics such as installed capacity, capital costs, construction timelines, and carbon displacement to highlight the flexibility and growing cost-competitiveness of renewables.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Reinventing Fire
This document is a technical guide and methodology supplement for the book 'Reinventing Fire', published by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). It outlines a roadmap for transitioning the United States energy system from oil and coal to efficiency and renewables by 2050, emphasizing a business-led, profit-driven approach that avoids reliance on new inventions or legislative acts.
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Document type: Guide
South Africa's Energy Security in the Context of Climate Change Mitigation
This research paper examines the challenges South Africa faces in diversifying its energy sources away from coal to ensure energy security and meet climate change mitigation goals, emphasizing the need for institutional reform and a coordinated government vision.
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Document type: Research paper
Moving Away from Oil: Biofuels and Biobased Products
A statement from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute advocating for a transition from petroleum to biofuels and biobased products to reduce national oil dependence, improve climate outcomes, and create jobs.
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Document type: Statement
Nuclear Nonsense
Amory B. Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), critiques a chapter on nuclear power from Stewart Brand's book, 'Whole Earth Discipline: an Ecopragmatist Manifesto'. Lovins argues that Brand's support for nuclear energy is based on flawed logic and ignores empirical data regarding economics, carbon efficiency, and the viability of decentralized renewable alternatives.
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Document type: Statement
Profitable solutions for oil, climate, and proliferation
This research paper by Amory B. Lovins argues that climate change, oil dependence, and nuclear proliferation can be addressed through profitable, market-driven energy efficiency and decentralized renewable energy. The author contends that saving fuel is cheaper than buying it, and that transitioning away from oil and nuclear power is economically advantageous and enhances global security.
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Document type: Research paper
What can we do to fix the climate problem?
This research paper by Amory B. Lovins argues that climate protection is profitable rather than costly, primarily through energy efficiency and the adoption of decentralized 'micropower' systems. The author contends that market-driven transitions to energy productivity and low-carbon supplies can eliminate oil dependence and reduce carbon emissions without requiring new taxes or mandates.
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Document type: Research paper
Renewable Energy Fact Sheet
This fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) provides an overview of photovoltaic (PV) technology, detailing its operational mechanics, environmental benefits, economic costs, and associated challenges as of May 2006.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Wind Energy
This 2006 fact sheet from the Environmental and Energy Study Institute provides an overview of wind energy in the United States, covering its capacity, costs, environmental benefits, and the impact of federal tax credits on industry growth.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Cleaner Energy, Greener Profits
This 2005 report by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) argues that fuel cells can be cost-effective distributed energy resources (DER) by capturing economic benefits beyond simple energy generation, such as deferring utility distribution investments and providing premium reliability for the digital economy.
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Document type: Report
Hydrogen Economy: Not So Difficult—Without Nuclear Power
This research paper, submitted as a 'Brief Communication Arising' to Nature, argues that a United States hydrogen economy is practical and economically viable without the expansion of nuclear power. The author contends that fuel cells will accelerate the decline of nuclear power by providing cheaper energy services and that wind power is a more cost-effective method for hydrogen production via electrolysis than nuclear electricity.
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Document type: Research paper
A Strategy for the Hydrogen Transition
The document proposes a strategic commercialization path for fuel cells and hydrogen (H2) that avoids the need for immediate, massive bulk-supply infrastructure. The strategy relies on the development of "Hypercars"—ultralight, high-efficiency vehicles—and the integration of fuel-cell deployment between buildings and vehicles. By first establishing fuel cells in buildings for co- or trigeneration and using decentralized "hydrogen appliances" for production, the market can build the volume necessary to reduce fuel-cell costs to levels competitive for vehicles. Ultimately, the strategy envisions a transition from decentralized production to bulk supply, including wellhead reforming of natural gas with carbon sequestration and the conversion of hydroelectric dams into "Hydro-Gen" plants.
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Document type: Research paper
Speeding The Transition: Designing A Fuel-Cell Hypercar
This research paper by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) proposes the 'hypercar'—an ultralight, low-drag, hybrid-electric vehicle platform—as a means to accelerate the adoption of proton-exchange-membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). By drastically reducing the energy required for propulsion, the hypercar platform mitigates the traditional challenges of hydrogen storage and fuel-cell cost, potentially allowing for the commercialization of hydrogen-powered transport years earlier than conventional vehicle designs would permit.
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Document type: Research paper