Category Archives: Greenhouse Gas

Does Your Rooftop Solar System Reduce Your Carbon Footprint? It Depends…

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Scott Anders

At first glance this is a pretty straight forward issue. If you put solar modules on your home or business, you are generating clean, emissions-free electricity. Right? Well, it depends…in part on how you paid for your system. If you … Continue reading →

Causation as the Basis for Attributing Greenhouse Emissions from Electricity

Posted on May 25, 2016 by Scott Anders

I have written about the importance of electric emissions factors to estimating greenhouse gas emissions in inventories and the impacts of policies to reduce emissions (see here, here, and here). This post discusses the issue of attributing emissions from electricity … Continue reading →

Posted in Greenhouse Gas | Tagged climate action plan, climate planning, electric, Electricity, greenhouse gases, methodology | 3 Comments

GHG Emission Targets v. Limits: The Constitutionality of Executive Orders S-3-05 and B-30-15

Posted on May 11, 2016 by Joe Kaatz

Recently, Legislative Counsel Dian F. Boyer wrote an opinion answering questions from State Senator Jean Fuller of California’s 16th Senate District regarding California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (commonly known as AB 32) and Executive Branch Authority. The nonbinding … Continue reading →

Posted in CEQA, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Uncategorized | Tagged AB 32, California, Carbon Dioxide, CEQA, climate planning, CO2, CO2e, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation | 2 Comments

The Role and Prices of RECs and Offsets in Climate and Energy Plans

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Dr. Nilmini Silva-Send

Many thanks to Cameron Berhardt for his research assistance for this post. Although renewable energy credits (RECs) are primarily relevant for entities that must comply with the California Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS), all types of RECs, whether bundled, unbundled or … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable Energy | Tagged Carbon Offsets, climate plans, energy plans, prices, RECs, SRECs | 2 Comments

Achieving Mandatory GHG Reduction under a Regional Independent Systems Operator

Posted on March 9, 2016 by Joe Kaatz

A structural question arises when evaluating the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) expansion. What will drive the greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in a regional independent system operator (ISO) or regional transmission operator (RTO) that spans multiple states and out of … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation | Tagged AB 32, California, Carbon Dioxide, Electricity, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable | Leave a comment

Role of Renewable Energy Credits and Carbon Offsets

Posted on March 2, 2016 by Dr. Nilmini Silva-Send

(Many thanks to Cameron Bernhardt for his research for this post) This second post continues the discussion of the role of Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) and Carbon Offset Credits in California policies started in the last post. In the next … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged California, Cap and Trade, Carbon Offsets, climate planning, Electricity, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable, Renewable Energy Credits, RPS, SDG&E, Voluntary Renewable Electricity | 4 Comments

Renewable Energy Credits and Carbon Offset Credits

Posted on February 17, 2016 by Dr. Nilmini Silva-Send

(Many thanks to Cameron Bernhardt for research and writing for this post) While EPIC has written about renewable energy credits in California in the past, this constitutes the first of a series of blog posts related to renewable energy credits … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Renewable Energy, Uncategorized | Tagged CAFE, California, Carbon Credits, Carbon Dioxide, Carbon Offsets, climate planning, Electricity, Emission Factor, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable, Renewable Energy Credits, Voluntary Renewable Electricity, WREGIS | 5 Comments

Center for Biological Diversity et al., v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Newhall Land and Farming Company: the Burden of CEQA Land Use GHG Emission Reduction Analysis at the Local Level

Posted on January 20, 2016 by Joe Kaatz

The Center for Biological Diversity et al., v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and The Newhall Land and Farming Company, 62 Cal.4th 204 (2015)(hereafter, the Newhall Land case) addresses three issues: 1) whether the project level environmental impact report … Continue reading →

Posted in CEQA, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Litigation, Uncategorized | Tagged AB 32, California, CEQA, climate planning, General Plan, Greenhouse Gas, Land Use, Project Emission Reductions | Leave a comment

Estimating the GHG Emissions Impacts of Reducing or Displacing Electricity: Is it time for a standard method in California?

Posted on January 13, 2016 by Scott Anders

California has adopted legislation and has executive orders in place laying out aggressive, long-term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. There are also specific energy policies including those to increase efficiency, generate more renewable electricity, and to reduce fossil fuel use … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable Energy | Tagged AB 32, California, Carbon Dioxide, CEQA, climate planning, Electricity, Energy, Greenhouse Gas, Renewable | 2 Comments

Addressing the Role of Electric Vehicles in Greenhouse Gas Reduction: California Independent System Operator Action

Posted on December 15, 2015 by Joe Kaatz

Source: Kempton and Tomic 2005. Journal of Power Sources This is the third post in a series looking at legislative and regulatory action addressing Electric Vehicle (EV) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions(See previous posts on the CPUC and State Legislative … Continue reading →

Posted in Greenhouse Gas, Legislation, Transportation, Uncategorized | Leave a comment