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Governments give a variety of subsidies to fossil fuel companies, but G20 nations have committed to phasing these out. Erickson et al. analyse subsidies provided to new crude oil fields in the US and find that, at current oil prices, nearly half of them depend on these subsidies to proceed.
Clean energy sources bring environmental and health benefits by reducing traditional electricity sources. Millstein et al. analyse data from 2007–2015 on the expansion of solar and wind power in the US to explore impacts in terms of air pollution, avoided emissions and associated premature mortality.
Electrical energy storage is expected to be important for decarbonizing personal transport and enabling highly renewable electricity systems. This study analyses data on 11 storage technologies, constructing experience curves to project future prices, and explores feasible timelines for their economic competitiveness.
Concentrating solar power with thermal storage offers dispatchable renewable power but has enjoyed less support than photovoltaics. This study of global concentrating solar power projects finds a learning rate of 20%, which should be sustained if policy support and industrial development continue.
Reforms of energy markets are necessary to face the low carbon transition but are problematic to measure. New data evaluate implicit taxes and subsidies for gasoline in almost all countries at monthly intervals showing mixed results that highlight the difficulty in implementing effective policy tools.
