Category: Net Zero Emissions

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part B) 1/23/24

WHAT IS THE COST OF GOING GREEN? Perspectives from Ghana (PART B)

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Paulina Lanz, and Justine Huang are on this podcast (part B) discussing what the real costs of going green are, and who is going to pay the bill?  In Part B of the episode, Jim chats with a panel of Payne Institute student researchers from Ghana at the Colorado School of Mines – Eben Manful-Sam, John Ayaburi, Rueben Anafo and Felix Ayaburi– who help us better understand the challenges of sustainable development from a sub-Saharan Africa perspective. January 23, 2024.

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part A) 1/19/2024

What is the Cost of Going Green? (Part A)

Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Jim Crompton, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, Paulina Lanz, and Justine Huang are on this podcast discussing what are the real costs of going green, and who is going to pay the bill?  Brad Handler breaks down why we are still investing so much in fossil fuels, the investments that might be needed to support the growth of renewable energy, and how we might redirect investments towards developing countries that will play a large role in the energy transition. We also dive into why oil companies have been so profitable, whether divesting from fossil fuels is a good idea, and the role that Wall Street and the fossil fuel industry might play in the energy transition.  January 19, 2024.

Building Trust through an Equitable and Inclusive Energy Transition 1/17/2024

Building Trust through an Equitable and Inclusive Energy Transition

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this report by the World Economic Forum that provides a framework and 10 critical questions, aiming to build trust, encourage collaboration and guide policy-makers and business leaders in the energy sector towards advancing a just, equitable and inclusive energy transition.  January 17, 2024.

Fast-growing ‘carbon-neutral’ energy company ramps up oil and gas production 1/16/2024

Fast-growing ‘carbon-neutral’ energy company ramps up oil and gas production

Payne Institute Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler contributed to this article about the Canadian wildfires this past summer, killing at least 17 people and burning more than 45.7 million acres — blazes that were made 50% more intense by climate change fueled by the burning of fossil fuels — some Canadians took out their anger on their country’s pension plan. They demanded that the Canadian Pension Plan Investment Board stop investing their retirement savings in a Colorado oil and gas company that’s ramped up its extraction activity in recent years, drilling near homes, schools and parks.  January 16, 2024.  

Lithium nexus: Energy, geopolitics, and socio-environmental impacts in Mexico’s Sonora project 12/22/2023

Lithium nexus: Energy, geopolitics, and socio-environmental impacts in Mexico’s Sonora project

Vlado Vivoda, Payne Institute Director Morgan D. Bazilian, Asmaa Khadim, Natalie Ralph, and Ghaleb Krame write about how the global transition to low-carbon energy systems has dramatically increased the demand for lithium, essential for energy storage and transport electrification—with lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries as the dominant technology in both market segments.  Enter the Sonora Lithium Project in Mexico, home to what could be one of the world’s largest lithium deposits.  This paper delves into these challenges using the Sonora Project as a lens, aiming to provide clarity and insights for various decision-makers, stakeholders, and researchers.  December 22, 2023.

Nations strike historic deal to transition off fossil fuels 12/13/2023

Nations strike historic deal to transition off fossil fuels

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how nearly 200 countries agreed to “transitioning away” from fossil fuels in energy systems in an agreement reached at the global climate summit.  The use of the “transitioning away” language comes after a contentious debate about whether or not the agreement should “phase out” fossil fuels or simply reduce their use.  December 13, 2023.

COP28: 5 big takeaways on a historic climate agreement 12/13/2023

COP28: 5 big takeaways on a historic climate agreement

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how this year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP28) has ended with a historic new agreement: For the first time, world governments have said countries should transition away from fossil fuels.  Climate advocates have praised it as a step forward, but also raised concerns about potential loopholes in its language and criticized it for not going further as the climate crisis deepens — and fossil fuel production continues to increase. December 13, 2023.

What does the groundbreaking COP28 agreement mean for the US? 12/13/2023

What does the groundbreaking COP28 agreement mean for the US?

Payne Institute Director Morgan Bazilian contributed to this article about how the unprecedented agreement reached at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai this week is unlikely to prompt a dramatic upheaval in the U.S. energy landscape, but it could bolster efforts to shift the country toward energy sources that are less harmful to the planet. The text, released Wednesday, calls for a “transition away” from planet-warming fossil fuels, marking the first time such language has appeared in a COP agreement. It further calls for tripling renewable energy development and doubling energy efficiency.  December 13, 2023.

Transition finance advances at COP28 12/12/2023

Transition finance advances at COP28

Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how announcements made during the COP28 climate talks signal progress on several fronts when it comes to unlocking finance to support the energy transition.  Transition finance holds the key in terms of giving the owners of emitting assets the financial incentive for closure or conversion, but flows of transition finance have not risen to the challenge so far.   December 12, 2023.

STACKING 45Q WITH VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKETS 12/11/2023

STACKING 45Q WITH VOLUNTARY CARBON MARKETS

Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield and Fellows Siew Chiang and Mike Matson write about how CCS has been at the forefront of decarbonization commitments in public and private sectors, with the development of CCS projects rapidly accelerating in the U.S. following the signing of federal incentives of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).  They explore the economic pathways for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, beginning with “credit stacking” voluntary carbon market credits and Section 45Q tax credits, with additional pieces on both the California-based Low Carbon Fuel Standard and Section 45Z tax credit.  December 11, 2023.