Energy efficiency is an important factor in an economy, since it helps meet energy needs, decrease costs, and lower environmental impacts. A review of the evolution of energy intensity in European and Former Soviet Union countries indicates a positive trend: high-energy-intensity countries have now reached the level of medium-energy-intensity economies 15 years earlier, and in the same period, medium-energy-intensity ones had similarly evolved to levels of low-energy-intensity. At the same time, the fast transitioning economies of Central Europe converged towards similar levels of energy intensities, in line with EU Directives, while successful EU-15 countries managed to maintain economic growth while keeping energy use flat. This report looks at how countries effect the transition from high- to medium- to low-energy-intensity, exploring whether leapfrogging is possible (it s not) and what policies can be particularly helpful. Some of the lessons include: energy prices tend to evolve from subsidized levels to full-cost-recovery to full-cost-recovery-plus environmental externalities; industrial energy efficiency is often the starting point, with privatization and competition driving companies to reduce production costs, including energy; successful countries excell at governance (setting targets, building institutional capacity, creating and improving the legal and regulatory framework, and monitoring and evaluating); households tended to be the last, and most difficult, area of reform, starting with pricing improvements, outreach campaigns, financing programs, and building certificates programs."

In Eastern Europe and Central Asia there are significant pressures for residential energy tariffs to rise, as government budgets are increasingly stretched and cannot afford to pay large energy subsidies. Further pressures for tariffs to rise come from environmental concerns, as the tariff levels that households now face do not cover the social costs of energy production. Because reforms that would increase energy tariffs are likely to affect significantly the poor and the middle class, their political feasibility may be questioned unless appropriate ways of cushioning the impacts can be devised. Balancing these competing claims-fiscal and environmental concerns on the one hand, affordability and political economy concerns on the other-is a task that policy makers in the region are increasingly unable to put off. While challenging, the reforms needed for this balancing act can build on much that has been learned in the last decade in terms of improving the effectiveness of social assistance systems and increasing energy efficiency. This report suggests that a policy agenda that focuses on cutting subsidies to the energy sector, while investing in energy efficiency and supporting households at the bottom of the distribution, amounts to a new wave of policy reforms for the energy sector in transition countries. The feasibility of such an integrated policy agenda and the ability of these policies to balance the competing claims of fi scal responsibility and social concerns are explored through different policy scenarios, which, in their simplicity, help clarify the parameters of the policy choices many countries ECA are facing. This report is a part of a series of 3 regional reports. The series includes 'Growing green: The economic benefits of climate action in Europe and Central Asia', 'Balancing act: Cutting energy subsidies and protecting affordability' and 'Lessons learned from energy efficiency success cases'.

The Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010, which was included in the final legislation (H.R. 3183, Public Law 111-85), directed the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop this report outlining domestic unconventional fossil energy resource opportunities and associated technology applications, in support of overall research, development, and deployment (RD&D) strategy for the further development of these resources. While the strategy report is prepared by DOE, the scope of the RD&D opportunities and associated technology application is nationwide. Based on the current state of ongoing private and public research efforts, the report summarizes: the potential magnitude of the resource base for each of the unconventional fossil energy sources; the technical, safety, and environmental challenges that have been identified in connection with each of the unconventional resources; and the current status of research activity, both public and private, focused on these resources. From this review of past research activity, the report identifies the following principal remaining technological and environmental challenges: production of residual oil that remains in large domestic oil reservoirs while simultaneously storing carbon dioxide (CO2) in those same reservoirs; potential development of the nation's unmineable coal resource via underground coal gasification; the producibility of natural gas from methane hydrate and the potential for simultaneously sequestering CO2; development of gas shale and tight gas sands; application of advance computational methods for evaluating cumulative environmental and socioeconomic impacts of simultaneous development of conventional and unconventional resources on a regional basis; collection and archiving of historical baseline data related to unconventional fossil fuel resources that may facilitate collaborative efforts among researchers; and quantifying the environmental and safety impacts of unconventional resource development and identifying ways to reduce and/or mitigate these impacts, thereby improving environmentally sustainable production of the resources.

This EA presents information on the potential impacts associated with the distribution of a grant to Conergy for the construction of a solar facility in Philadelphia. This EA was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA; 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); the National Environmental Policy Act, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) regulations 40 CFR Parts 1500-1508; and DOE NEPA Implementation Procedures 10 CFR 1021. This EA analyzes the following resource areas: Natural Resources - including water resources, geology, topography and soils, vegetation and wildlife, air quality, and noise; Historic Resources - including visual, and historical resources; Infrastructure - including roadways and traffic, potable water, storm water management, sanitary sewer, energy systems, solid waste, and hazardous material; Socioeconomic Resources - including land use, planning policies, demographics and environmental justice, and human health and safety. DOE's purpose and need is to ensure that SEP funds are used for activities that meet Congress's statutory aims to improve energy efficiency, reduce dependence on imported oil, decrease energy consumption, or promote renewable energy. However, it is not DOE's role to dictate to Pennsylvania how to allocate its funds among these objectives or to prescribe the projects it should pursue. PEDA's purpose and need is to take action to help fulfill its mission to finance clean, advanced energy projects in Pennsylvania, including solar energy projects. Applications are evaluated using criteria including but not limited to technical and financial feasibility of the project, number and quality of jobs created or preserved, and other economic benefits for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Projects must show financial commitment from at least one source other than PEDA and demonstrate a net environmental benefit to Pennsylvania. Conergy's purpose and need is to facilitate green job creation, economic development and growth and improve and drive the solar market place in Pennsylvania.

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to evaluate the potential environmental consequences of providing a financial assistance grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) (Recovery Act; Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115) to Battelle Memorial Institute to facilitate the installation of 540 additional solar panels, 10 solar concentrating modules, and 8 small wind energy systems at the City of Ellensburg's Renewable Energy Park located in Ellensburg, Kittitas County, Washington. This EA analyzes the potential environmental impacts of DOE's proposed action of providing the Recovery Act funding and of the No-Action Alternative. In this EA, DOE evaluated impacts to air quality, noise, aesthetics and visual resources, soils and geology, water resources, biological resources, and cultural resources. After performing a screening analysis of other environmental resource areas, DOE concluded that impacts to some aspects of the environment would not be likely to occur or would be negligible. The proposed project would be designed in compliance with federal and state air quality regulations, would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and would have a net beneficial impact on air quality in the region. Operation of the concentrating solar modules and eight small wind systems would cause a negligible increase in noise outdoors near the adjacent interstate and Recreation Park. The aesthetics of the City of Ellensburg's Renewable Energy Park would change with the addition of ten 18-foot diameter solar concentrating modules and eight wind towers ranging from 40 to 100 feet in height; however, these changes would be in compliance with the City and County proposed regulations for wind turbines. Adverse impacts to visual resources would be minimal. There would be no adverse impacts to the 100-year floodplain profiles associated with Reecer Creek, and no increase in risk to lives or property in the area from the project. Developing 3 acres for further construction of the Renewable Energy Park would not adversely impact any plant or animal species because the project site is small and isolated from larger tracks of undisturbed land, and because plant and animal species found there are common and widespread in the region. The risk of collisions between the wind turbines and migratory birds and bats is not likely due to the configuration of the turbines (parallel to bird movements toward the wetlands and grouped configuration), the relatively short height of the turbines, and placement in previously disturbed habitat. In support of this EA, a cultural resources inventory was conducted for the area of potential effect (project site). No archaeological resources were identified, and DOE determined that no historic properties would be affected by Battelle's project. In summary, expanding the Renewable Energy Park with additional solar panels, solar concentrating modules, and small wind turbines would not likely result in significant adverse environmental impacts, particularly considering the other existing surrounding uses.

This environmental assessment (EA) addresses the potential environmental impacts of a proposed project located at the Morgantown, West Virginia, site of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The Performance Verification Laboratory (PVL) project was proposed in response to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Facilities and Equipment Upgrade Lab Call #09-002. NETL will design, construct, and make operational a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) PVL facility for verifying the energy performance of selected appliances and equipment to facilitate improved enforcement of DOE energy conservation standards and DOE/Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ENERGY STAR(r) programs. The PVL facility will build upon the capabilities of NETL's existing Appliance Technology Evaluation Center (ATEC). Currently, ATEC is used to help DOE improve its test procedures through experimental investigations (testing and other evaluations) of appliances/equipment. PVL will expand the current ATEC capabilities and add large-scale performance verification testing that will complement DOE's increasing focus on emerging equipment and appliance standards activities. The resulting data from this facility will enhance existing standards and test procedure development at NETL, as well as provide a valuable resource to support compliance and enforcement activities for the Energy Conservation Standards program within DOE. Executive Order 13123, "Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management," requires federal agencies to improve their environmental and energy performance and to meet specified environmental performance goals. Constructing an energy efficient "green" building would allow NETL to reduce electricity use and meet environmental performance goals. This EA has been prepared to satisfy requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 (42 United States Code 4321 et seq.) and its implementing regulations found in Title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 1500-1508 (Council on Environmental Quality) and Title 10, CFR, Part 1021 (Department of Energy). Results of this assessment indicate that the construction activities associated with the proposed project would potentially have minor impacts on permitted discharge areas, groundwater, and greenhouse gases (GHGs). An increase in the number of cars and trucks associated with the construction activities would negatively impact traffic and public facilities and services. Operation of heavy machinery during construction would also have an adverse effect on air quality (i.e., dust and exhaust particulate air emissions) and increase noise and vibration in the immediate vicinity of the work area. These effects would be controlled to the greatest extent possible to minimize their impact. The construction of the PVL facility would positively impact the local area through the creation of 24 jobs. Operation of the PVL facility would result in the creation of approximately 14 permanent jobs at the Morgantown NETL site, most of which would be new hires. Traffic and public facilities and services would be negatively impacted by the increased flow of cars and delivery trucks to the new facility. Because the operation of this facility would support the increased penetration and acceptance of energy-efficient appliances and equipment in the marketplace, the work done at the PVL would ultimately contribute to a reduction in GHG productio

The Department of Energy (DOE) prepared this Environmental Assessment (EA) to assess the potential for impacts to the human and natural environment of its Proposed Action-providing financial assistance to FutureFuel under a cooperative agreement. DOE's objective is to support the development of the EDV industry in an effort to substantially reduce the United States' consumption of petroleum, in addition to stimulating the United States' economy. More specifically, DOE's objective is to accelerate the development and production of various EDV systems by building or increasing domestic manufacturing capacity for advanced automotive batteries, their components, recycling facilities, and EDV components. This work will enable market introduction of various electric vehicle technologies by lowering the cost of battery packs, batteries, and electric propulsion systems for EDVs through high-volume manufacturing. Under the terms of the cooperative agreement, DOE would provide approximately 50 percent of the funding to FutureFuel to partially fund the retrofitting of an existing manufacturing building to a commercial-scale plant to produce intermediate anode material for high-performance Li-ion batteries (referred to as the "Proposed Project" within this EA). An existing FutureFuel manufacturing building (48,000 square feet, 5 stories) would be retrofitted to accommodate the proposed plant. The existing building that would be reconfigured currently includes over half of the major process equipment and pumps required to produce intermediate anode material. The goal would be to increase the product supply from the current 1,000,000 pounds per year at an off-site plant to 10,000,000 pounds per year, which would be sufficient for supplying over 2,000,000 HEVs. Additionally, the project would create approximately 33 permanent jobs. The environmental analysis identified that the most notable changes, although minor, to result from FutureFuel's Proposed Project would occur in the following areas: air quality and greenhouse gas, surface water and groundwater, transportation and traffic, solid and hazardous wastes, and human health and safety. No significant environmental effects were identified in analyzing the potential consequences of these changes.

For a century, almost all light-duty vehicles (LDVs) have been powered by internal combustion engines operating on petroleum fuels. Energy security concerns about petroleum imports and the effect of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on global climate are driving interest in alternatives. Transitions to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels assesses the potential for reducing petroleum consumption and GHG emissions by 80 percent across the U.S. LDV fleet by 2050, relative to 2005. This report examines the current capability and estimated future performance and costs for each vehicle type and non-petroleum-based fuel technology as options that could significantly contribute to these goals. By analyzing scenarios that combine various fuel and vehicle pathways, the report also identifies barriers to implementation of these technologies and suggests policies to achieve the desired reductions. Several scenarios are promising, but strong, and effective policies such as research and development, subsidies, energy taxes, or regulations will be necessary to overcome barriers, such as cost and consumer choice. Table of Contents Front Matter Overview Summary 1 Introduction 2 Alternative Vehicle Technologies: Status, Potential, and Barriers 3 Alternative Fuels 4 Consumer Attitudes and Barriers 5 Modeling the Transition to Alternative Vehicles and Fuels 6 Policies for Reducing GHG Emissions from and Petroleum Use by Light-Duty Vehicles 7 Policy Options Appendixes Appendix A: Statement of Task Appendix B: Committee Biographies Appendix C: Meetings and Presentations Appendix D: Reports on Transportation Greenhouse Gas Emissions Projections to 2050 Appendix E: Glossary, Conversion Factors, and Acronyms and Abbreviations Appendix F: Vehicles Appendix G: Fuels Appendix H: Modeling

Launched to tie-in with the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen (COP15), Dr Steffen Bohm and Siddhartha Dabhi's new book, Upsetting the Offset: The Political Economy of Carbon Markets, challenges the environmental claims made about carbon markets and carbon offsetting schemes. The book - which collates contributions from more than 30 leading experts - is another voice in the growing criticism about the business of carbon and how it has failed to deliver promised reductions in greenhouse gases. The book contributes to a growing field of critics of carbon markets by highlighting several up-to-date examples of where the system has failed and often led to negative social, economic and environmental impacts in deprived countries. http: //mayflybooks.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/9781906948078UpsettingtheOffset.pdf"

Poorly implemented energy subsidies are economically costly to taxpayers and damage the environment. This report aims at providing the emerging lessons form a representative sample of case studies in 20 developing countries that could help policy makers to address implementation challenges, including overcoming political economy and affordability constraints. The sample has selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including the country s level of development (and consumption), developing country region, energy security and the fuel it subsidies (petroleum fuel, electricity, natural gas). The case studies were supported by data collection related to direct budgetary subsidies, fuel and electricity tariffs, and household survey data. The analysis provides strong evidence of the success of reforms in reducing the associated fiscal burden. For the sample of countries, the average energy subsidy recorded in the budget was reduced from 1.8% in 2004 to 1.3%GDP in 2010. The reduction of subsidies is particularly remarkable for net energy importers. Pass-through of international fuel prices was also notable in the case of electricity generated by fossil fuel. For the sample of countries, the average end-user electricity tariff increased by 50%, from USD 6 cents in 2002 to USD 9 cents per kWh in 2010. In spite of the relatively price inelastic demand for gasoline and diesel, fossil fuel consumption in the road sector (per unit of GDP) declined in the 20 countries examined from 53 (44) in 2002 to about 23 kt oil equivalent per million of GDP in 2008 in the case of gasoline (Diesel). The most notable decline in consumption was recorded in the low and lower middle income countries. This reflects the much higher rate of growth in GDP in this group of countries and underlines the opportunities to influence future consumption behavior rather than modifying the existing consumption patterns, overcoming inertia and vested interests. Similar trends are recorded for power consumption. While there is no one-size-fits-all model for subsidy reform, implementation of compensatory social policies and an effective communication strategy, before the changes are introduced, reduces helped with the implementation of reforms."

The commencement of the World Crisis is attributed to the crash of the housing market in 2006. This, in turn, uncovered the sub-prime mortgage debacle which generated the banking crisis in 2007. The American auto industry demise and the full world recession followed in 2008. This book analyzes that the trouble started before 1979 and the deposing of the Shah of Iran which was related to the issue of oil. The influence of oil caused the desert wars and the 9/11 event in 2001 and the start of the Iraq war in 2002. These actions were the main reasons for the price of oil escalating astronomically from $21 per barrel in 2001 to a spot price of $148 per barrel in 2008. The average 2008 price was $91 per barrel. A price of $80 per barrel represents a yearly cost of $700 billion to the American economy. The book re-emphasizes the importance of transportation to the world's activities and economy. It also stresses the vital need to respond meaningfully to the conversation of oil and to decide on a replacement for it generated from a renewable material. The book is based on truth and fact regardless of social and political correctness.

The basic question underlying our energy policy debates is this: Should we be free to generate more and more energy using fossil fuels? Or should we restrict and progressively outlaw fossil fuels as "dirty energy"? I believe that if we look at the big picture, the facts are clear. If we want a healthy, livable environment, then we must be free to use fossil fuels. Why? Because for the foreseeable future, fossil fuels provide the key to a great environment: abundant, affordable, reliable energy.

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology could provide a technological bridge for achieving near to midterm GHG emission reduction goals. Integrated CCS technology is still under development and has noteworthy challenges, which would be possible to overcome through the implementation of large-scale demonstration projects. In order to assist developing countries to better understand issues related to potential technology deployment, there is a need to start analyzing various numerous challenges facing CCS within the economic and legal context of developing countries and countries in transition. This report is the first effort of the World Bank Group to contribute to a deeper understanding of (a) the integration of power generation with CCS technologies, as well as their costs; (b) regulatory barriers to the deployment of CCS; and (c) global financing requirements for CCS and applicable project finance structures involving instruments of multilateral development institutions. This report does not provide prescriptive solutions to overcome these barriers, since action must be taken on a country-by-country basis, taking account of different circumstances and national policies. Individual governments should decide their priorities on climate change mitigation and adopt appropriate measures accordingly. The analyses presented in this report may take on added relevance, depending on the future direction of international climate negotiations and domestic legal and policy measures in both developed and developing countries, and how they serve to encourage carbon sequestration. We expect that this report will provide insights for policy makers, stakeholders, private financiers, and donors in meeting the challenges of the deployment of climate change mitigation technologies and CCS in particular.|Bodies move, and they express. There is a body language, and there is a language employed to refer to the body, its parts, and the states of its being. Consciously and unconsciously people judge each other according to body and clothing behavior. What one thinks one expresses is not necessarily how one is seen and judged, and the variety of observations made of the body is diverse. Bodily behavior and interpretations of this behavior face change at frontiers of culture areas, or when cultures meet each other as a result of migration. This book addresses and expands upon these issues. Soheila Shahshahani teaches at the Shahid Beheshti University, Teheran, Iran.

The Collapse of Common Sense: Preservation of Big Oil and the Big Three Automakers. In 2003 "FreedomCAR" (Freedom Cooperative Automotive Research) was created as a public-private partnership between the United States Department of Energy, BP America, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell Hydrogen, and The United States Council for Automotive Research (USCAR - a partnership among Daimler/Chrysler, Ford Motor Company and General Motors). What are the oil and automotive corporations doing together? What happened to Toyota's RAV4-EV program that produced 100% electric sports utility vehicles (that's right, SUV's ) that are still running, today, at a cost of two cents per mile? Engineer Nevres Cefo shows how Americans are being systematically misinformed and trapped with only one choice for their future transportation needs: the internal combustion engine and liquid fuels. Can we change the course of where we are going and how we get there? Yes we can, and Cefo shows you how to do it.

This book presents a history of the U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation (SFC) set in the context of the country's last large-scale energy crisis, which hit in the 1970s. 'Synthetic fuels' can be derived from solid coal and oil shale resources, which in the United States contain the energy equivalent many times over of all the oil in the Middle East. The author was Vice President of SFC and head of the U.S. Department of Treasury office overseeing the funded projects for ten years after Congress terminated the program in 1986. "This book recreates a vitally important story about our nation's energy planning that has not been touched on before in any serious fashion. It fills a gap in our understanding of how and why we havw wrestled ineffectively with questions of energy independence for too many decades." -Jack Prostko, Ph.D., The College of Professional Studies, The George Washington University. "This book is the only substantive history of a once-prominent government program that might as well have reached considerable size and scope. Beyond its role as historical resource, the work possesses a relevance to current events on the one hand and an insight into the workings of government on the other." -Douglas Seay, Senior staff on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

This applied study addresses the large flood exposures of Central Europe and proposes efficient financial and risk transfer mechanisms to mitigate fiscal losses from such natural catastrophes. In 2010 the V-4 Visegrad countries (i.e., Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia) demonstrated their historical vulnerability to floods - Poland suffered $3.2 billion in flood related losses, comparable to it $3.5 billion of losses in 1997. Flood modeling analysis of the V-4 shows that a disaster event with a 5 percent probability in any given year can lead to economic losses in these countries of between 0.6 percent to 1.9 percent of GDP, as well as between 2.2 percent to 10.7 percent of government revenues. Larger events could quadruple such losses. The European Union Solidarity Fund is available as a mechanism for disasters but it comes into effect at only very high levels of losses, does not provide sufficient funding, and is not speedy. An insurance-like mechanism for National Governments can be tailored for country-portfolio needs for buildings, properties and critical infrastructure. By virtue of the broad territorial scope, fiscal support should use mechanisms that provide payments triggered by physical flood measurements in selected areas (rather than site-by-site losses as in the traditional insurance industry). A multi-country mechanism for insurance pooling of risks to protect infrastructure can also provide major cost efficiencies for all governments, using parametric-or index contracts. Savings from pooling can range from 25 to 33 percent of the financing costs that each country would otherwise have paid on its own. There are several instruments and options for both insurance, and debt financed mechanisms for funding catastrophes. All instruments can be analyzed based on equivalencies in terms of market spreads. A hybrid-like instrument, the catastrophe bond, is really a risk transfer instrument but structured as a debt security. The V-4 countries should therefore begin to set up the financial mechanisms to prevent major fiscal losses from future catastrophic floods and avoid fiscal disruptions when these occur. The instruments proposed can be market tested and supplemented with exacting studies on hydrology and topography used to fine tune the loss estimations per event and where property and infrastructure are exposed.|Kill the Messenger is perhaps the most thorough and authoritative work in defense of educational testing ever written. Phelps points out that much research conducted by education insiders on the topic is based on ideological preference or profound self-interest. It is not surprising that they arrive at emphatically anti-testing conclusions. Much, if not most, of this hostile research is passed on to the public by journalists as if it were neutral, objective, and independent. This volume explains and refutes many of the common criticisms of testing; describes testing opponents strategies, through case studies of Texas and the SAT; illustrates the profound media bias against testing; acknowledges testings limitations, and suggests how it can be improved; and finally, outlines the consequences of losing the war on standardized testing.

On April 20, 2010, the "Deepwater Horizon" oil rig exploded, killing eleven workers and creating the largest oil spill in the history of U.S. offshore drilling. But this wasn't the first time British Petroleum and its cost-cutting practices destroyed parts of the natural world. It also was not the first time that BP's negligence resulted in the loss of human life, ruined family businesses, or shattered dreams. From Alaska to Kansas to the Gulf, journalist Mike Magner has been tracking BP's reckless path for years, and in "Poisoned Legacy" he focuses, for the first time, on the human price of BP's rise to power.

The U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

In their efforts to increase the share of renewable in electricity grids to reducing emissions or increasing energy diversity, developed and developing countries are finding that a considerable scale-up of investments in transmission infrastructures will be necessary to achieve their goals. Renewable energy resources such as wind, solar, and hydro power, tend to be sited far from existing electricity grids and consumption centers. Achieving desired supply levels from these sources requires that networks be expanded to reach many sites and to ensuring the different supply variation patterns of renewable are combined with existing sources in the grid to ensure the constantly varying demand for electricity is always met. Expanding networks will be crucial to achieve renewable energy objectives efficiency and effectively. Efficiency is important to ensure renewable energy goals are achieved at the lowest cost while considering needed investment in transmission. Besides the cost of transmission, which is often worth, transmission needs be planned and built in such a way that the many sites being taped are connected in a timely fashion. The challenges of ensuring efficiency and efficacy in developing transmission for renewable become surmountable if the right planning and regulatory framework for expanding transmission are put in place. This report reviews emerging approaches being undertaken by transmission utilities and regulators to solve to cope with these challenges of expanding transmission for renewable energy scale-up. Proactively planning and regulating transmission networks are emerging as the premier approach to ensure that transmission networks are expanded efficiently and effectively. Linking planning with clear and stable cost-recovery regulation can also help bringing the private sector to complement the considerable investment needs in transmission. Based on the evolving experience and on established theory and practice on transmission regulation, the report also proposes some principles that could be useful to implement specific rules for the planning, development, and pricing of transmission networks.

Our future depends on what we do about energy. This stark fact, clear since the oil embargo of the 1970s, has been hammered home through crisis after crisis and yet our government has failed to come up with a coherent energy policy. John Deutch, with his extraordinary mix of technical, scholarly, corporate, and governmental expertise in the realm of energy, is uniquely qualified to explain what has stood in the way of progress on this most pressing issue. His book is at once an eye-opening history of the muddled practices that have passed for energy policy over the past thirty years, and a cogent account of what we can and should learn from so many breakdowns of strategy and execution.

Three goals drive any comprehensive energy policy: develop an effective approach to climate change; transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy technologies; and increase the efficiency of energy use to reduce dependence on imported oil. Why has every effort in this direction eventually fallen short? Deutch identifies the sources of this failure in our popular but unrealistic goals, our competing domestic and international agendas, and our poor analysis in planning, policy-making, and administering government programs. Most significantly, "The Crisis in Energy Policy" clarifies the need to link domestic and global considerations, as well as the critical importance of integrating technical, economic, and political factors. Written for experts and citizens alike, this book will strengthen the hand of anyone concerned about the future of energy policy.