Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs - United States -- energy policy

Hedging Against Uncertainty: US Strategy in an Interdependent World

William Hogan — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:25:35 -0500

Energy is important, but energy independence is a dangerous myth. The U.S. National Petroleum Council recently observed: "There can be no U.S. energy security without global energy security." Oil flows in a world market and events anywhere affect the price of oil everywhere. There is no escaping these oil price shocks. Even if the United States were to substantially reduce its own oil consumption, there would be no immunity from the effects of high world oil prices that would determine domestic energy prices and ripple through the world economy. Geology and politics make the world deeply interdependent and policy should be crafted to promote and secure energy interdependence. Real energy security comes from robust energy systems with diversity and flexibility, not through isolation and energy autarky.

Running on Empty and Spreading the Blame

Henry Lee — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:17:05 -0500

July 16, 2008

Who is to blame for $4.00 gasoline?

Analysis of Policies to Reduce Oil Consumption and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector

Kelly Sims Gallagher and Gustavo Collantes — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 12:18:31 -0500

This study examines different policy scenarios for reducing GHG emissions and oil consumption in the U.S. transportation sector using a variant of the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS).

DOE FY09 Budget Request for Energy Research, Development & Demonstration – Commentary

Laura Diaz Anadon, Kelly Sims Gallagher and Matthew Bunn — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:52:42 -0500

Anadon, Gallagher, and Bunn offer their insight and analysis on the President's FY09 budget request for U.S. Department of Energy spending for energy research, development, and demonstration.

Returns to Scale in Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure and Deployment

Jeffrey Bielicki — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:23:23 -0500

In this Belfer Center discussion paper, Bielicki describes SimCCS, a cost-minimizing geospatial deployment model used to deploy CCS for a variety of combinations of CO2 sources and injection reservoirs. The purpose of SimCCS is to determine the returns to scale for CCS deployment and to unravel the determinants thereof.

Biofuels and the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Program: The Statute, Policy Issues, and Alternatives

Gustavo Collantes — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:17:59 -0500

This paper investigates the relationship between the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) program and the supply of biofuels in the United States.

Addressing Global Climate Change with a Comprehensive U.S. Cap-and-Trade System

Robert N. Stavins — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 10:24:57 -0500

There is a growing impetus for a domestic U.S. climate policy that can provide meaningful reductions in emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. The paper describes and analyzes an up-stream, economy-wide CO2 cap-and-trade system which implements a gradual trajectory of emissions reductions (with inclusion over time of non-CO2 greenhouse gases), and includes mechanisms to reduce cost uncertainty.

Free: College Curriculum Package Simulates Oil Crisis

Eric Rosenbach — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:00:54 -0500

Securing America's Future Energy (SAFE), in collaboration with the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, has created a free college curriculum box set that includes all of the materials needed to conduct an energy crisis simulation in your classroom. The exercise is based on Oil ShockWave™, SAFE's one-of-a-kind oil crisis simulation, which has featured participants such as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Dan Yergin and former director of the CIA R. James Woolsey.

Ending the Energy Stalemate: A Bipartisan Strategy To Meet America’s Energy Challenges

John P. Holdren — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 15:18:19 -0500

John P. Holdren provides the context for and an overview of the recommendations made by the National Commission on Energy Policy its 2004 and 2007 reports to the President and Congress of the United States.

DOE Budget Authority for Energy Research, Development, and Demonstration Database

Kelly Sims Gallagher — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 10:42:46 -0500

This document contains 2008 updates to a database on U.S. government investments in energy research, development, and demonstration (ERD&D). The database, in Microsoft Excel format, tracks budget requests on ERD&D from 1978-2009 and includes several charts.

The Dimensions of the Policy Debate Over Transportation Energy: The Case of Hydrogen in the United States

Gustavo Collantes — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 15:42:40 -0600

The broad concern of this paper is the study of the process by which environmental and politico-strategic concerns have driven the increase in policy activity related to transportation in the United States, and the identification of the main issues of this highly complex policy debate.

Giving Green to Get Green: Incentives and Consumer Adoption of Hybrid Vehicle Technology

Kelly Sims Gallagher and Erich Muehlegger — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 21:30:48 -0600

Federal, state and local governments use a variety of incentives to induce consumer adoption of hybrid-electric vehicles. The authors study the relative efficacy of state sales tax waivers, income tax credits and non-tax incentives and find that the type of tax incentive offered is as important as the value of the tax incentive.

Energy Technology Innovation Policy Research Group Launches New Energy R&D Project

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:02:26 -0600

The Belfer Center's Energy Technology Innovation Policy research group is launching a new three-year project to develop energy research policy recommendations, prepare annual budget commentaries, and assess energy technology innovation around the country.

Fuel for Thought

Madeline Drexler, Henry Lee and William Clark — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 11:19:02 -0600

As the Biofuel industry surges with investments and new entrepreneurial players, Kennedy School scholars are analyzing it working to develop new ways to create carbon-neutral fuels. Madeline Drexler writes on the Kennedy School's input on this emerging new way to lower greenhouse gas emissions and become less dependent on non-renewable energy resources.

Bali Climate Change Conference: Key Takeaways

Robert N. Stavins and Joseph Aldy — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 00:00:00 -0600

The Bali climate change conference was a qualified success. Before we went to Bali, we observed that it will be good news if there’s no bad news coming out of the negotiations. This was achieved, and then some.

Natural Allies

Xenia Dormandy — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Anirudha Dutta of CLSA-U interviews Xenia Dormandy on the issues surrounding the U.S.-India bilateral relationship.

Professor John P. Holdren Interviewed on the Response of U.S. Business to Climate Change

John P. Holdren — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program Director John P. Holdren was interviewed for "Ahead of the Curve: Business Responds to Climate Change", a Sea Studios Foundation video about how U.S. corporations are responding to the challenge of reducing greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining competitiveness and profitability.

Architectures for Agreement: Addressing Global Climate Change in the Post-Kyoto World

Joseph Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The Kyoto Protocol serves as an initial step to mitigate the threats posed by global climate change but policy-makers, scholars, businessmen, and environmentalists have begun debating the structure of the successor to the Kyoto agreement. Written by a team of leading scholars in economics, law and international relations, this book contributes to this debate by examining the merits of six alternative international architectures for climate policy.

Getting It Done: The Policy Environment in the US and China

Jeffrey Bielicki, Aleksandra Kalinowski and Lifeng Zhao — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 15:18:20 -0500

The United States and China account for about 43% of global emissions. What are the barriers, incentives and policy solutions to deployment of carbon capture and storage technologies in the world's biggest two CO2-emitting countries?

Frankel Proposal: Formulas for Quantitative Emission Targets

Jeffrey Frankel — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

September 5, 2007

Jeffrey Frankel has proposed a climate policy architecture that builds on the quantitative targets and timetables infrastructure of the UNFCCC and Kyoto Protocol. He calls for a sequence of negotiations (one per decade) to determine the global greenhouse gas emissions cap and a formula for allocating this global cap among all participating countries.

Powerpoint: Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements

Joseph Aldy and Robert N. Stavins — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0500

September 5, 2007

This powerpoint presentation provides an easy-to-understand overview of the project, the six potential frameworks that are its starting point, the Kyoto Protocol, and the current state of international climate negotiations.

The Changing Face of Energy Security

Joseph S. Nye — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 00:00:00 -0500

"...the oil-supply problem has become worse and energy security more complex."

Policy Options for Reducing Oil Consumption and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions from the U.S. Transportation Sector

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The goal of this paper is to contribute to the current policy debate about how to effectively limit or reduce oil consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.

Testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission

Kelly Sims Gallagher — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The economic and national security of the United States is now inextricably connected to China’s energy consumption with respect to the environment, oil and gas security, and the economy.

Status and Progress of IGCC and Co-Production Technology in the United States

Ananth Chikkatur and John P. Holdren — Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Presented at "a Joint Workshop on IGCC & Co-Production and CO2 Capture & Storage" in Beijing, May 23 - 24, 2007.

CCS Program and Geological Assessment for CO2 Storage in the US

Aleksandra Kalinowski — Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Presented at "a Joint Workshop on IGCC & Co-Production and CO2 Capture & Storage", Beijing, May 23 - 24, 2007.

Sea Change in the Politics of Climate

Kelly Sims Gallagher and John P. Holdren — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Kelly Sims Gallagher and John P. Holdren weigh in on climate change on PostGlobal, a Newsweek- and Washington Post-sponsored online forum hosted by David Ignatius and Fareed Zakaria.

Energy Policy Recommendations to the President and the 110th Congress

John P. Holdren, William K. Reilly, John W. Rowe, Philip Sharp and Jason Grumet — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0500

The National Commission on Energy Policy proposes revised policies regarding a cap and trade proposal for addressing global climate change, increases in fuel economy standards, approaches for the storage of nuclear waste, development and deployment of advanced coal technologies, adoption of a national renewable energy standard, and other major energy policy issues.

Remarks at Climate Workshop on Bingaman-Specter Discussion Draft

Kelly Sims Gallagher — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:00:00 -0600

Remarks at Climate Workshop on Bingaman-Specter Discussion Draft; U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, March 2, 2007.

Belfer Center's John Holdren Co-authors UN/Sigma Xi Climate Change Roadmap Report

Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00:00 -0600

February 28, 2007

Belfer Center's John Holdren Co-authors UN/Sigma Xi Climate Change Roadmap Report