Decarbonizing the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle (MHDV) sector is crucial for a sustainable clean energy transition. This paper focuses on the challenges and opportunities associated with integrating medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles (MHD EVs) into the electric grid. With large trucks and buses being responsible for a significant share of transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions, the…
2023
Who Knows What: Information Barriers to Efficient DER Roll-out in the U.S.
Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are increasingly popular. Their relevance to the functioning of energy systems and emissions reduction has spurred a flurry of policy discussions and research into the measures needed to facilitate integration of these resources. However, the majority of that work focuses on systems characterized by complete and perfect information, while in reality,…
Modeling CO2 Pipeline Systems: An Analytical Lens for CCS Regulation
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is regularly depicted as a crucial technology to reduce the social cost of achieving carbon neutrality. However, its deployment critically depends on the installation of CO2 infrastructures. As the regulatory procedures governing their provision are yet to be clarified, this paper aims to assess the social and environmental impacts of…
Making Electricity Capacity Markets Resilient to Extreme Weather Events
The devastating 2021 blackout in Texas, among others, has highlighted the need to reform electricity markets to make them resilient to extreme weather events. We review related efforts by system planners and operators within electricity market contexts, focusing on Europe and the United States, and we analyze possible reforms to electricity capacity markets. To account…
Enhancing the Reliability of Bulk Power Systems against the Threat of Extreme Weather: Lessons from the 2021 Texas Electricity Crisis
The February 2021 cold weather outages in Texas remain a subject of important investigation, and lessons learned from the crisis have broader relevance for bulk power systems around the world. This article focuses on the policy responses to what we view as the root causes of the extended blackouts: the insufficient preparation of electric generating…
Issues in The Future of Ground Transportation
Winter Ends
There is a common assumption that all-electric automobiles, powered by lithium-ion batteries, are the future of vehicle transportation. It is argued here that this is not the likely outcome, especially in the less-developed countries. Use of photovoltaic (PV) cells, in conjunction with gasoline or hydrogen-hybrids, will be less expensive, and more likely to be adopted…
Book Reviews
How Should We Think About Pricing Electricity in the Context of Potential Life-Threatening Weather Events?
This paper argues that in markets characterized by highly inelastic demand, such as markets for electricity, market-clearing can force some individuals—particularly those with limited financial resources—out of the market, subsequently exposing them to significant risk. In the particular case of abnormally cold temperatures, as with the Texas deep freeze, or particularly hot temperatures, as may…
Electric Vehicles are Good, Actually
Electric vehicles are the primary alternative to transportation based on internal combustion engines and the most promising route to decarbonization of light- and medium-duty transportation systems. A transition to electric vehicles does face important challenges in terms of scaling of battery production, charging infrastructure, and grid coordination, which may make aggressive EV targets difficult to…