Payne Institute Fellow Jeff Colgan writes about an uncertain climate future that makes investors nervous. Multiple events in the past few months indicate that we’re in a new phase in the global effort to address climate change. The action is happening largely outside the United Nations’ negotiations. What changed, and what are the consequences? February 17, 2020.
This policy perspective sums up the main input of four members of the Research Panel for IRENA’s Global Commission on the Geopolitics of the Energy Transformation. The geographic and technical characteristics of renewable energy systems are fundamentally different from those of coal, oil, and natural gas. This has implications for interstate energy relations and will require early attention if states are to exploit opportunities and address challenges. We point to six clusters of renewables’ geopolitical implications that will manifest themselves over different time horizons. Overall, a generally positive disruption is foreseen, but also one that raises new energy security challenges. February 10, 2020.
Payne Faculty Fellow Jessica Smith co-authors a paper on Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) that are a policy tool for local governments to gain more control over unconventional oil and gas development. MOUs ideally empower local governments to minimize potential risks by negotiating more stringent best management practices directly with the operators, who benefit from a more stable regulatory landscape. This study investigates the energy justice dimensions of these MOUs as they were negotiated in the midst of community conflicts in Colorado. February 10, 2020.
Oil and gas development has grown rapidly in recent years in the United States, generating substantial debate over its risks and benefits. A large body of research has surveyed individuals living in and around producing regions to evaluate their views on the industry, with somewhat mixed results. Here, we present the first detailed analysis on this topic using real-world voting data, drawing from precinct-level results of a 2018 election in Colorado that included a vote on Proposition 112, which would have set very large setback requirements on new oil and gas activity. February 7, 2020.
Colorado School of Mines researchers are tackling the question of how to meet demand for critical materials from many angles, from policy to production. February 3, 2020.
Payne Fellow Carolyn Kissane writes a timely piece; the geopolitical security premium is waning under the increasing uncertainty of what’s happening in China. Fear is now a security threat. January 29, 2020.
Post-Doctoral Researcher sought for full-time position at the Payne Institute for Public Policy at the Colorado School of Mines. The research will focus on multi-dimensional aspects of the increasing demand for minerals and metals due to the global transition to more renewable energy. How this changing demand affects markets, trade, security, geopolitics, prices, and technology development are key questions that will be the focus of further research. January 29, 2020.
What is the Levelized Cost of Electricity? LCOE is the net present value of the unit-cost of electricity over the lifetime of a system. We look at the Pros and Cons of LCOE. January 28, 2020.
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Kathleen Hancock comments that the United States seems to be regressing when it comes to renewable energy with Republicans leading the way. But this picture is incomplete. There is strong evidence that the current White House antipathy toward renewables, and support for coal, is off-set by state-led initiatives, even in solidly Republican states. January 27, 2020.
The Payne Institute is pleased to announce a new partnership with the Rocky Mountain Institute, MIT Sustainable Supply Chains, and the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. The Coalition on Materials Emissions Transparency (COMET) aims to build a standard method for measuring greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in materials, “an important step in decarbonising mineral and industrial supply chains”, the partners said. January 22, 2020.