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1. Corporate emissions targets and the neglect of future innovators

   https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adl5081  

   Robiou_du_Pont, Yann; Rogelj, Joeri; Hsu, Angel; van_Vuuren, Detlef; Hoepner, Andreas_G F (April 2024, Science)

   Targets can distort competition in favor of incumbent firms 

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2. Committed Emissions of the U.S. Power Sector, 2000–2018

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2020AV000162  

   Shearer, Christine; Tong, Dan; Fofrich, Robert; Davis, Steven J. (September 2020, AGU Advances)

   Abstract Annual carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from the U.S. power sector decreased 24% from 2000 to 2018, while carbon intensity (CO₂per unit of electricity generated) declined by 34%. These reductions have been attributed in part to a shift from coal to natural gas, as gas‐fired plants emit roughly half the CO₂emissions as coal plants. To date, no analysis has looked at the coal‐to‐gas shift from the perspective of commitment accounting—the cumulative future CO₂emissions expected from power infrastructure. We estimate that between 2000 and 2018, committed emissions in the U.S. power sector decreased 12% (six GtCO₂), from 49 to 43 GtCO₂, assuming average generator lifetimes and capacity factors. Taking into consideration methane leakage during the life cycle of coal and gas plants, this decrease in committed emissions is further offset (e.g., assuming a 3% leakage rate, there is effectively no reduction at all). Thus, although annual emissions have fallen, cumulative future emissions will not be substantially lower unless existing coal and gas plants operate at significantly lower rates than they have historically. Moreover, our estimates of committed emissions for U.S. coal and gas plants finds steep reductions in plant use and/or early retirements are already needed for the country to meet its targets under the Paris climate agreement—even if no new fossil capacity is added. 

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3. Emissions rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01332-6  

   Davis, Steven J.; Liu, Zhu; Deng, Zhu; Zhu, Biqing; Ke, Piyu; Sun, Taochun; Guo, Rui; Hong, Chaopeng; Zheng, Bo; Wang, Yilong; et al (May 2022, Nature Climate Change)
4. On the Feasibility, Cost, and Carbon Emissions of Grid Defection

   https://doi.org/10.1109/SmartGridComm.2019.8909691  

   Bansal, Akansha Singh; Irwin, David (October 2019, IEEE International Conference on Communications, Control, and Computing Technologies for Smart Grids (SmartGridComm))

   Distributed solar generation is rising rapidly due to a continuing decline in the cost of solar modules. Nearly all of this solar generation feeds into the grid, since battery based energy storage is expensive to install and maintain. Unfortunately, accommodating unlimited intermittent solar power is challenging, since the grid must continuously balance supply and demand. Thus, governments and public utility commissions are increasingly limiting grid connections of new solar installations. These limitations are likely to become more restrictive over time in many areas as solar disrupts the utility business model. Thus, to employ solar without restrictions, users may increasingly need to defect from the grid. Unfortunately, batteries alone are unlikely to become cost-efficient at enabling grid defection for the foreseeable future. To address the problem, we explore using a mixture of solar, batteries, and a whole-home natural gas generator to shift users partially or entirely off the electric grid. We assess the feasibility and compare the cost and carbon emissions of such an approach with using grid power, as well as existing “net metered” solar installations. Our results show that the approach is trending towards cost-competitive based on current prices, reduces carbon emissions relative to using grid power, and enables users to install solar without restriction. 

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5. Identifying Sources of Conducted Emissions by Measuring the Coherence Function

   https://doi.org/10.1109/EMCSI39492.2022.9889585  

   Yan, Xin; Ma, Fuwei; Zhang, Wei; Ghosh, Kaustav; Walunj, Sameer; Sochoux, Philippe; Khilkevich, Victor (August 2022, 2022 IEEE International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility & Signal/Power Integrity (EMCSI))