Research Library

With opposition to large-scale energy infrastructure on the rise, transmission service providers find it problematic to build the new power lines essential to a greener grid. This paper highlights the Texas Competitive Renewable Energy Zone initiative (CREZ) — a case study of the difficulties that new power lines face and the policy choices that can facilitate development of this necessary infrastructure. The CREZ experience can inform development of new large-scale transmission infrastructure in other regions.

In this series of papers, the authors argue that Texas has a comparative advantage when it comes to implementing CCUS technologies, given the volume of CO2 emissions from industrial activity, the amount of oil and gas production, the scale of geologic storage potential, and the breadth of engineering and subsurface expertise in the state. Lawmakers and regulators can help facilitate the development of a robust CCUS industry in the state by addressing existing legal and regulatory uncertainties and by carefully considering pathways that can establish Texas as a leader in a low carbon energy future.

Author Julie Cohn traces historical trends and experiences with the U.S. electrical grid to help frame choices as more renewables are brought into the system.

The basis of the federal government's ethanol support and the impact of the most current legislation, the Renewable Fuel Standard, is examined.

Indigenous natural resource wealth can provide a basis for robust economic development and broad macroeconomic development, especially when there is appropriate governance and robust legal and regulatory institutions. But a lack of institutional fortitude in many regions around the world has contributed to failure to translate resource wealth into broader macroeconomic wealth.

In separate papers, two Baker Institute fellows — one Palestinian, the other Israeli — provide their perspectives on a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The authors seek to spark a deeper conversation on the merits of geoeconomics — i.e., using economic instruments to produce beneficial geopolitical results — as a potential source of new and scalable policy options for the US, as well as the EU and its individual member states, to bolster gas supply and national security across Europe.

This paper analyzes the possible impact of Mexico’s energy reform on the country’s environment, as well as the challenges to preserving natural resources and access to water while also supporting the expanding oil and gas sector.

Despite the recent energy reforms in Mexico, the conditions under which some economic sectors operate in Mexico reflect a reality that is still far from a competitive marketplace, and the benefits that such markets generate. The authors of this paper present three factors that, if not recognized in a timely manner, may limit the effective application of the most recent reform in the natural gas and electricity industries.

The economic and geopolitical implications of the United States’ nonconventional hydrocarbons revolution on energy markets throughout North America, including Mexico, and the possibilities for policy coordination in the region are explored in this paper.