Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a comprehensive study on renewable energy, entitled Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation. The report finds that by 2050, nearly 80 percent of the world’s energy supply could be provided by renewable energy sources. WRI Analyst Lutz Weischer, who works on renewable energy policies, sat down to talk about the report’s implications.
Jenna Goodward, Rachel Massaro, Benjamin Foster, and Caroline Judy, in collaboration with Alex Perera and Christopher Lau
April, 2011
This Best Practices Guide is intended to assist
commercial and government entities in the process of
organizing and executing a collaborative solar purchase.
This report examines electricity transmission developments and
challenges for renewable energy in the European Union (EU), China, and
the United States.
The Two Degrees of Innovation project works with researchers, engineers, policymakers and other practitioners to create the conditions for global innovation in clean energy, from research to deployment.
Electricity consumers interested in switching to solar often find that traditional utility metering
arrangements based on a “one customer, one meter” model present barriers to selling power
back to the grid, siting projects, or owning systems jointly. These limitations are starting to be
addressed by more flexible net metering policies in many states.
The Federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC) are incentives for
development and deployment of renewable energy technologies. This document provides
an update on their benefits, applicability to specific technologies, and expiration dates.
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, Thilo Hanemann, Lutz Weischer, and Matt Miller
Working Paper: May, 2010
This paper analyzes the global integration of the
solar photovoltaic (PV) sector and looks in detail at the industry’s recent growth patterns, industry cost structure, trade and investment
patterns, government support policies and employment generation potential.
This working paper provides a snapshot of the current investment environment for solar photovoltaic (PV) in the United States and describes the current installation trends, policy landscape, and economics.