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The report identifies a significant 'charging access gap' for U.S. residents in multifamily housing (MFH), who often lack on-site charging and must rely on public infrastructure. Analyzing 69 cities, the study found that no city achieved a 'best in class' ranking, with many cities—particularly in the Upper Midwest and Texas—showing high ratios of MFH units per public charger. The authors argue that this lack of reliable charging is a critical barrier to equitable EV adoption, especially for lower-income and non-white drivers. To address this, the report recommends a combination of EV-ready building codes, right-to-charge laws, curbside charging expansions, and streamlined utility interconnection rules.

The Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) is a peer-reviewed, open-source System Dynamics model created in Vensim that allows users to simulate the effects of various energy and climate policies. It utilizes an economy-wide approach with annual time steps, typically running to 2050, and incorporates a profit-maximizing least-cost optimized electricity model. The EPS can model a wide range of policies, such as renewable portfolio standards and fuel economy standards, and includes embedded modules to translate these changes into economic outcomes (GDP, jobs) and health outcomes based on U.S. EPA estimates. The tool's methodologies have been reviewed by experts from institutions such as MIT, Stanford, and various national laboratories.

The report categorizes hydrogen applications into 'high-value' (primarily chemical feedstocks) and 'low-value' (primarily energy provision), arguing that the latter are often outcompeted by direct electrification. It warns that without strict guardrails on production, electrolytic hydrogen could increase net greenhouse gas emissions. The author recommends focusing infrastructure on tight industrial clusters and utilizing demand-side policies like advance market commitments and contracts for difference to scale high-value uses while minimizing risks in low-value sectors.

The report compares a pathway aligned with U.S. climate commitments against the energy and climate provisions of Project 2025. It finds that Continued Climate Leadership would lead to significant emissions reductions, job growth, and public health improvements, while Project 2025 would increase emissions, reduce GDP, and cause additional premature deaths.

The report presents the Industrial Zero Emissions Calculator (IZEC), an open-source Excel tool that allows stakeholders to visualize the electricity, hydrogen, bioenergy, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) needs required to achieve zero-emission industry. Focusing on U.S. scenario results, the report argues that direct electrification is the most energy-efficient pathway for industrial heat, while green hydrogen should be reserved for high-value feedstocks and steelmaking due to its inefficiency when burned. It highlights that heavy reliance on bioenergy or fossil-based CCS leads to prohibitive land use or capital costs, respectively. The authors emphasize that combining these technologies with energy and material efficiency improvements is critical to making industrial decarbonization feasible and cost-effective.

The briefing examines the global trend of shrinking lakes and reservoirs, highlighting a study that found 53% of nearly 2,000 lakes experienced significant storage declines between 1992 and 2020. It distinguishes between anthropogenic drivers, such as unsustainable consumption seen in the Aral Sea, and climate drivers, such as increased evaporation in Mongolia. The author argues that this attribution allows policymakers to choose between demand management and behavioral changes for overuse, or infrastructure resilience and conservation for climate-driven losses.

The document analyzes the relationship between human emotions and climate action, highlighting that while different emotions trigger different policy preferences, negative emotions like fear and distress can be powerful motivators when paired with a sense of personal threat and collective efficacy. Key findings include the link between guilt and support for personally costly policies in the US, the role of identity-linked threats to the Great Barrier Reef in driving personal energy reduction in Australia, and the influence of personal threat perception on electric vehicle adoption in India.

The policy brief outlines a framework for a production tax credit (PTC) to decarbonize industrial heat. It argues that the credit should target 'useful heat' used in manufacturing processes, be refundable to maximize investment efficiency, and utilize a rate based on heat temperature and power to account for varying technology costs. The author recommends excluding biomass and byproducts while focusing on scope 1 emissions to avoid complexity and ensure the policy targets industrial facilities rather than the electricity grid.

The policy brief proposes a technology-neutral emissions standard for industrial heat, focusing on a declining limit of CO2 and other pollutants per unit of useful heat. It recommends applying the standard to both new and existing equipment, using a long-term legislative schedule to reach zero emissions, and focusing exclusively on direct (scope 1) emissions to encourage electrification without penalizing efficient technologies like heat pumps.

The U.S. Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) version 4.0 incorporates the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), projecting that the U.S. is on track to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 37 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. This trajectory is primarily driven by the electricity sector, where the clean electricity share is expected to rise to 70 percent by 2030, and the transportation sector through increased zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption. The updated model features a redesigned electricity module with hourly dispatch, new power plant types including carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and hydrogen plants, and improved tracking of ZEV and industrial costs.

The research note advocates for "strong 45V rules" based on three pillars: incremental, deliverable, and hourly-matched clean electricity. The author contends that weakening these rules would allow dirty hydrogen production to qualify for subsidies, potentially increasing net CO2 emissions by 100-200 MMT per year and raising wholesale electricity prices by 10%. Conversely, strong rules are presented as a way to drive domestic manufacturing of flexible electrolyzers, align U.S. standards with the European Union, and ensure the long-term viability of the hydrogen industry beyond the tax credit's expiration.

The report finds that U.S. residential electricity rates have generally kept pace with economy-wide inflation since 2010, and that states with high clean energy growth often see rates rise slower than inflation. Instead, the report identifies natural gas price volatility, wildfire mitigation and liability costs, aging coal plant investments, and rising transmission and distribution costs as the primary drivers of rate spikes. It further argues that the regulated utility business model incentivizes capital-heavy investments over more cost-effective operational solutions, which compounds these costs for consumers.

The document argues that the U.S. coal fleet is already in a sustained economic decline, making the EPA's emissions rules a catalyst for prudent utility planning rather than a source of economic or reliability risk. It asserts that the 2032 compliance timeline is sufficient for utilities to procure replacement resources, citing hundreds of gigawatts of 'shovel-ready' projects in interconnection queues. The authors maintain that 'baseload' coal is no longer necessary for grid stability, as portfolios of wind, solar, battery storage, and low-utilization gas can meet peak loads and growing demand without compromising reliability.

The study finds that direct electrification could replace 90% of the energy demand not yet electrified in European industry by 2035. While technologies like heat pumps and electric boilers are mature for low-temperature needs, high-temperature applications in sectors like cement and steel require further development of plasma, shock-wave, and resistance heating. The report highlights that economic barriers—specifically the price gap between electricity and natural gas—and organisational hurdles, such as insufficient grid infrastructure and long equipment lifetimes, are more significant obstacles than technical limitations. It argues that direct electrification is generally more energy-efficient than indirect electrification via hydrogen, particularly for low-temperature applications.

The report examines the potential for direct electrification to decarbonize China's industrial process heating, which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the manufacturing sector's CO2 emissions. It focuses on industrial heat pumps for low-temperature needs (up to 165 °C) and thermal batteries for high-temperature needs (up to 1,700 °C). A techno-economic analysis reveals that while coal-fired boilers currently have the lowest levelized cost, industrial heat pumps become the cheapest option for low-temperature heat when 2030 carbon pricing is included. The report identifies significant barriers, including the high cost of electricity relative to coal and limited equipment availability, and recommends policies such as equipment rebates, carbon pricing expansion, and the optimization of Green Electricity Certificates to accelerate the transition.

The report argues that reconductoring existing transmission lines with advanced conductors can rapidly increase grid capacity and reduce costs, but is hindered by utility incentive structures, rigid equipment standards, and planning gaps. It recommends aligning utility incentives, updating regional planning horizons, establishing efficiency standards, and expanding federal funding and workforce training to overcome these hurdles.

The document examines the integration of clean electrolytic hydrogen into the U.S. electric system, emphasizing its potential as long-duration energy storage for 'last mile' decarbonization. It analyzes how the design of the Section 45V tax credit—specifically the 'three pillars' of incrementality, temporal matching, and deliverability—will determine whether hydrogen production increases net greenhouse gas emissions or supports grid reliability. The authors warn that without these pillars, electrolysis could drive significant load growth (up to 32% by 2032) and potentially increase emissions. The brief also highlights risks related to NOx emissions, water consumption, and public safety, urging developers to engage early with host communities to ensure an equitable transition.

The document examines the barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption for low-income consumers, specifically highlighting that while subsidies like the Inflation Reduction Act address upfront costs, high repair and maintenance costs remain a significant risk. It notes that for low-income households, the loss of a vehicle due to repair costs can lead to job loss and reduced access to healthcare. To mitigate these risks, the author suggests strategic investments in EV government fleets and public transportation, such as the EPA's Clean School Bus Rebates, which provide immediate air quality benefits to environmental justice communities without placing financial risk on vulnerable individuals.

Energy Innovation urges the US Treasury and IRS to uphold the 'three pillars' of incrementality, deliverability, and hourly time-matching for the 45V Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit. The organization warns that weakening these rules would lead to 'greenwashing' and significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions, potentially adding 200 to 1,000 million metric tons of CO2 annually by 2032. It argues that strict rules incentivize innovation in flexible technologies and new renewables, whereas loose rules would encourage a reliance on existing nuclear plants and fossil fuel ramp-ups. The testimony recommends rejecting broad exemptions for existing clean energy and maintaining the 2028 hourly matching phase-in date.

The report finds that while 2023 ZEV sales reached the top end of post-IRA projections, utility-scale clean electricity additions are lagging behind the pathways required to meet the IRA's 40% emissions reduction goal by 2030. Despite a record 32.3 GW of clean capacity added in 2023, the pace remains below the 46-79 GW average annual additions projected for 2023-2024. The authors identify non-cost barriers, such as permitting delays and grid interconnect queues, as the primary obstacles to electricity deployment.