Emissions and Energy Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act

If goals set under the Paris Agreement are met, the world may hold warming well below 2 C; however, parties are not on track to deliver these commitments, increasing focus on policy implementation to close the gap between ambition and action. Recently, the US government passed its most prominent piece of climate legislation to date, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), designed to invest in a wide range of programs that, among other provisions, incentivize clean energy and carbon management, encourage electrification and efficiency measures, reduce methane emissions, promote domestic supply chains, and address environmental justice concerns. IRA's scope and complexity make modeling important to understand impacts on emissions and energy systems. We leverage results from nine independent, state-of-the-art models to examine potential implications of key IRA provisions, showing economy wide emissions reductions between 43-48% below 2005 by 2035

The Effects of Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Natural Organic Matter on Charged Ultrafiltration Performance

Membrane processes are increasingly used in water treatment to meet more stringent water quality regulations. Ultrafiltration (UF) has been widely used for advanced treatment to remove colloidal particles, pathogens, and natural organic matter (NOM). However, due to large pore sizes, UF alone cannot remove the majority of NOM which can lead to disinfection by-products during the chlorination process. In the laboratory, a negatively charged membrane was used to increase the removal rate of NOM through the utilization of electrostatic interactions. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of NOM hydrophobic and hydrophilic properties on the performance of the UF process using charged membranes and to study the effects of fouling on the membrane caused from these changes

Woody Biomass as an Energy Source for Massachusetts

The production of biomass is one way to harvest abundant solar energy. This report investigates the use of woody biomass in various forms as a source of renewable energy. An investigation was conducted to determine the total renewable quantity of woody-biomass available in Massachusetts as a fuel source. Additionally the report looks at various ways to harness the energy and gives recommendations as to the feasibility, including costs, long-term sustainability and public perception.

Emissions and energy impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act

Economy-wide emissions drop 43 to 48% below 2005 levels by 2035 with accelerated clean energy deployment

Data for Bistline, et al. (2023) "Power Sector Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022"

<p>These files contain input assumptions, results, and figures associated with the Bistline, et al. (2023) article "Power Sector Impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022" in <i>Environmental Research Letters</i>. Please refer to the original paper for details: https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ad0d3b</p&gt

Power sector impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is regarded as the most prominent piece of federal climate legislation in the U.S. thus far. This paper investigates potential impacts of IRA on the power sector, which is the focus of many core IRA provisions. We summarize a multi-model comparison of IRA to identify robust findings and variation in power sector investments, emissions, and costs across 11 models of the U.S. energy system and electricity sector. Our results project that IRA incentives accelerate the deployment of low-emitting capacity, increasing average annual additions by up to 3.2 times current levels through 2035. CO _2 emissions reductions from electricity generation across models range from 47%–83% below 2005 in 2030 (68% average) and 66%–87% in 2035 (78% average). Our higher clean electricity deployment and lower emissions under IRA, compared with earlier U.S. modeling, change the baseline for future policymaking and analysis. IRA helps to bring projected U.S. power sector and economy-wide emissions closer to near-term climate targets; however, no models indicate that these targets will be met with IRA alone, which suggests that additional policies, incentives, and private sector actions are needed