RMI

Expensive coal plants mean expensive electricity bills. RMI's analysis shows that the average debt on remaining U.S. coal plants surged from $560 per kilowatt in 2010 to $745 per kilowatt in 2020. These rising costs are passed directly to you, the consumer. But there’s hope! States such as Iowa, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas, which have significantly increased wind and solar since 2010, have seen their electricity rates rise slower than overall inflation. 👏 Clean energy is shielding these states from volatile fossil fuel costs and expensive grid upgrades, Forbes celebrates: https://bit.ly/4cOxQRY

Yesterday I was honored to join Senator Alex Padilla, Carbon Mapper, and residents impacted by landfill pollution for a press briefing on the EPA's opportunity to slash methane emissions and protect communities through updated standards. We need federal action to achieve methane reductions quickly and at scale. We’re excited the EPA is already at work on an update to its landfill standards, and we encourage the agency to move swiftly to embrace the latest best practices and technologies to control landfill methane emissions. Methane pollution from landfills not only heats the planet but also has very real health impacts on surrounding communities. Thank you Senator Padilla for your leadership in joining methane experts and frontline residents to emphasize the need for federal action to #CutMethane. Read more about the pathways to reduce U.S. waste methane emissions at https://lnkd.in/gKe4sSAz

Companies are setting ambitious decarbonization goals for the coming decades, but they can’t reach net-zero on their own. Supply chain emissions from materials like #concrete and #steel pose a challenge for companies who don’t directly procure these materials or can’t access low-emissions alternatives in their market. What if we could use that demand to drive investment into sustainable materials? A new report from RMI and Microsoft On the Issues explores a #BookAndClaim solution for supply chain emissions, and makes the case for leveraging corporate demand to boost the production of low-emissions concrete and steel. https://bit.ly/469RPHW The report includes: 🌱 An exploration of how environmental attribute purchases through a book and claim system can support the decarbonization of the steel and concrete sectors. 📈 Recommendations for the market infrastructure needed to facilitate environmental attribute purchases of steel and concrete. 🎓 Learnings from a pilot purchase exploration within these two sectors. It’s time we scaled low-emissions concrete and steel, and corporate demand can help get us there. #Decarbonization #Sustainability #EmissionsReduction

As summer heatwaves threaten to disrupt power supplies, the US is better equipped to beat the heat and avoid blackouts thanks to a record 5 million solar installations, up from just 1 million in 2016. Solar energy is not only reducing electricity costs and enhancing grid resilience but also helping keep our homes cool and our lights on. 👏 An additional 25 GW of solar capacity has been added since last year, ensuring we have adequate supply for peak energy demands, CNET reports: https://cnet.co/4eQrMcS 🎨 By: nicolekelner

Ammonia – an essential ingredient in chemical fertilizers – is usually made with fossil fuels. As a result, ammonia production centers tend to be concentrated in low-cost natural gas and coal regions such as the US Gulf, China, and Russia, necessitating lengthy and complicated supply chains to deliver the final product to end users. Distributed "green" ammonia made with renewable energy would reduce transportation costs and emissions, as well as provide additional flexibility and security to the ammonia industry. In the United States, Midwest states such as Minnesota are a major consumer of fertilizer and would benefit from the lower transportation costs associated with access to localized green ammonia production. RMI has put together a roadmap for advancing the decarbonization of ammonia production and the direct application of ammonia as a fertilizer in the state: https://bit.ly/4d3IzaT #Minnesota #Ammonia #Decarbonization #Fertilizer #Agriculture

Utilities must seize the incredible opportunities of the Inflation Reduction Act. 👏 Investors should be looking at states and utility systems that are making the most of this golden opportunity. RMI electricity experts dive into what promising signs to look for in the MSCI Inc. podcast, featuring RMI’s Uday Varadarajan and Jonathan Rea: https://bit.ly/4eYdHKv

🔊The fight against climate change keeps evolving. On Climate Now, James Lawler and RMI's Dina Cappiello hash out the Supreme Court’s landmark rulings against regulatory agency expertise, analyze The Economist's solar report, and discuss a methane tax on livestock. Plus, insights on climate insurance, greenwashing lawsuits, and Mexico's energy challenges. Don't miss out — listen now: https://bit.ly/3RZHjx6

Every day is garbage day at WasteMAP, a tool that visualizes the methane emissions from landfills around the world. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and understanding its sources is the first step toward reducing its impact. Additional data is being integrated into the WasteMAP platform as new methane monitoring technology comes online. "The reason why we have this pretty complex architecture in place for WasteMAP is that as we start getting more data, we can start stitching it together," RMI’s Tom Frankiewicz told Waste Dive. In a recent article, they explore the organizations – including Carbon Mapper, Industrious Labs, WM, and the Environmental Research & Education Foundation – that are working together to measure and reduce the climate impacts of our waste: https://bit.ly/3zFC5k0 #ClimateAction #Methane #WasteMangement

We are proud to engage in the eighth Global Think Tank Summit in Beijing, China, hosted by China Center for International Economic Exchanges. Focusing on development uncertainties, the summit gathers global leaders to advance innovative development solutions. The global climate is a central topic with insights from leaders including our CEO, Jon Creyts, “When I look at the exponential trends happening in clean energy, it covers about three-quarters of the overall climate challenge. One-quarter of the problem is where we need to build up our technical innovations.” Kingsmill Bond, RMI energy strategist, also emphasized, “We can drive this energy transition, but we will need to work night and day to make it happen. This is the fight of our time.”

From food to fashion — shipping containers carry the cargo that help us live our lives. But getting those containers off ships and away from ports is still a polluting process, with diesel-powered cranes, forklifts, and yard tractors doing the heavy lifting — and accounting for 15% of port emissions.    That’s why the Port of Los Angeles (POLA) and the Port of Long Beach (POLB) — two of the busiest container ports in the country — are working to accelerate pilots and deployment of zero-emissions cargo handling equipment with the goal of transitioning all cargo handling equipment to zero emissions by 2030.    In partnership with the Bezos Earth Fund, RMI and Mission Possible Partnership analyzed the total cost of ownership of four types of cargo handling equipment to provide stakeholders with an understanding of the technologies available today and their operational costs: https://bit.ly/461h2EC   #California #Decarbonization #EmissionsReduction #PortEmissions #EnergyTransition