The United States must rapidly decarbonize its industrial and energy production sectors to meet its midcentury climate goals. The International Energy Agency and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have assessed that carbon management technologies, including direct air capture (DAC) and carbon capture and storage (CCS), will play an important role in meeting this objective alongside other necessary decarbonization technologies. Continue reading »
The Great Plains Institute (GPI), in partnership with Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) and with support from the US Department of Energy (DOE), just launched the newly developed R&D GREET Train-the-Trainer program. GREET, which stands for Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies, is a life cycle analysis tool, and R&D GREET is a specific model. Continue reading »
In March 2024, the Great Plains Institute, in partnership with the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, launched Charging Smart. Charging Smart is a free technical assistance program for local governments to increase electric vehicle (EV) adoption. The program, which is funded by the US Department of Energy, is available in several states and will expand nationwide later this year. Continue reading »
The Great Plains Institute (GPI) launched the community engagement phase of its Electric Vehicle Education for All initiative in February 2024, subcontracting with three community-based organizations to carry out the engagement. Our initiative seeks to deeply engage frontline and historically marginalized communities within the Twin Cities area to learn firsthand how they perceive electric mobility, identify electric mobility literacy gaps, and provide educational materials to increase access to electric mobility benefits. Continue reading »
Legislation passed in Minnesota earlier this year to incentivize a new solar permitting tool called “SolarAPP+” that offers direct financial benefits to homeowners, local governments, and Minnesota’s growing solar industry. Continue reading »
A new report by GPI staff for the national SolSmart program, Expanding Solar Access to Underserved Communities Through SolSmart, focuses on centering solar equity as a key principle of solar programs and policies. Centering solar equity will not only make solar energy more accessible but also distribute meaningful benefits to disadvantaged communities. Continue reading »
As the world’s energy landscape evolves, clean hydrogen emerges as a promising solution for achieving clean, net-zero carbon energy. Hydrogen transportation has also emerged as a key challenge to address in the energy space. A new issue brief from a work group of the Hydrogen Economy Collaborative (HEC), convened by GPI, focuses on these challenges and highlights opportunities to address them. Continue reading »
High-voltage electric transmission may not be the most exhilarating component of accelerating the transition to a clean energy economy. However, it’s certainly one of the most important and, unfortunately, one in the most need of new ideas, attitudes, and solutions for how we build it. Continue reading »
La Crescent is the first city in Minnesota and the fourth municipality nationwide to achieve SolSmart Platinum designation. To achieve Platinum, La Crescent took action to increase solar readiness in their community and adopted an automated solar permitting platform. Continue reading »
Photo by Brandon Stengel for BWBR Architects, Inc (www.bwbr.com)
The Great Plains Institute (GPI), along with our project partners, is excited to share a new report for a project focused on creating a model to overcome the significant barriers for underserved Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC)- and immigrant-owned small businesses to access rooftop solar energy. Continue reading »
