It’s been two years since Winter Storm Uri swept across Texas, and the question of whether and how to end the isolation of the state’s grid remains. Nonresident scholar Julie Cohn offers a brief history of the standalone Texas grid to explore how the lessons of the past can inform the state’s electric power future.
As the energy transition continues, the viability of our power system is at stake. Nonresident scholar Julie A. Cohn explains the need to prepare for next-generation grid technology if we are to maintain a stable, economical and secure power system.
Carbon nanotubes are critical components for future decarbonization strategies and a clean energy revolution. If the U.S. is to reestablish climate leadership, advanced nanotechnology solutions must be a national priority, argues the author.
In the transition to a renewable energy future, we must invest in a new transmission infrastructure – some crossing state borders – that connects intermittent power, traditional power and users, write Center for Energy Studies experts.
Kenneth B. Medlock III, Olivera Jankovska, Julie A. CohnFebruary 22, 2021
Integrating a life-cycle dimension into future policies to assess the social, environmental and economic implications of various products across their life cycle and throughout their value chain is critical to achieving sustainability and a circular economy, writes Rachel A. Meidl, fellow in energy and environment.
Energy fellow Rachel A. Meidl writes that it is imperative to consider and assess innovative recycling technologies that could have enormous economic value in transforming waste plastics into the building blocks for new, higher-value products.
A well-managed U.S.-Mexico border is essential not only for millions of border residents in both countries, but for the U.S. economy and federal budget. This brief lays out recommendations to strengthen the institutional scaffolding that could allow for a safer and more prosperous North American continent.
Immigration is not only a domestic issue for the United States, but a regional one. This brief lays out a policy framework to address the root causes of migration from Mexico and Central America and promote legal, orderly mobility.
With the cost of virgin plastic directly affected by oil and natural gas prices, the global plastics economy is highly vulnerable to shocks. The authors argue that in order to advance sustainability and solve existential crises like resource depletion and the environmental and social impacts of climate change, high-income countries should take the lead on the development of transparent, closed loops for plastics.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.25613/JXVH-K250
Rachel A. Meidl, Vilma Havas, Brita StaalJanuary 21, 2021
The authors assert that the time is ripe for the United States and Europe to take the lead on shepherding a systems-level change in the recycling market, strengthened by government regulation and legislation. They examine the economic, social, and environmental impacts of mismanaged waste and argue that the Covid-19 pandemic could serve as a catalyst for action toward a global, circular economy.