RMI IN BRIEF
News From Around the Institute
COOLING PEOPLE WITHOUT WARMING THE PLANET
The Global Cooling Prize is an international competition that calls on innovators to develop a breakthrough residential cooling technology that will provide people around the world access to cooling without warming the planet. The competition was launched in November 2018 by RMI, Mission Innovation, and the Government of India. In February 2019, the coalition hosted an event in Beijing to engage policymakers and leading AC manufacturers, as China is both the largest manufacturer of room air conditioners in the world today and the largest market for room air conditioners sold annually. The winning technology is expected to prevent up to 75 gigatons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions by 2050 and put the world on a pathway to mitigate up to 0.5°C warming by the turn of the next century.
BROWNFIELD MINES AS SOLAR ENERGY PRODUCERS
RMI’s Sunshine for Mines Initiative partnered with land conservationists and mining companies in Nevada to begin repurposing brownfield mine sites with utility-scale renewable systems. In cooperation with the Nature Conservancy and the Nevada Mining Association, we are supporting the development of solar projects on some of the almost 3 million acres of closed mine sites in Nevada, helping the state meet its 50 percent renewable energy portfolio standard.
THE CARBON-FREE REGIONS HANDBOOK IS A HIT
RMI recently published The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook, a companion guide to the popular Carbon-Free Cities Handbook, released in 2017. US Senator Martin Heinrich, from New Mexico, was so impressed with the Carbon-Free Cities Handbook that his staff met with RMI to discuss our supporting their efforts to drive city and state actions on climate. Senator Heinrich is also handing out copies of The Carbon-Free Regions Handbook and a personal letter to 50 other US senators.
A NEW ELECTRIFICATION MODEL FOR SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
The Dutch National Postcode Lottery awarded RMI $3.2 million for our Sharing the Power project — to bring affordable, efficient, and clean energy to sub-Saharan Africa. The project tackles rural electrification with an innovative bottom-up approach, supporting communities’ efforts to implement affordable electricity and helping communities use the availability of new power for economic development. The Lottery also awarded RMI $1.58 in general support. In all, the Lottery has donated more than €5.8 billion since 1989 to hundreds of charities and social initiatives around the world.
HELPING CORPORATIONS GO RENEWABLE…
In March 2019, RMI spun out its Business Renewables Center (BRC) to become part of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA), a membership association for businesses and organizations seeking to procure renewable energy across the United States. This transition comes on the heels of a record-breaking 6.53 gigawatts of total nonutility renewable energy deals in the United States in 2018. RMI is continuing to support the BRC with the launch of BRC China. Over 50 multinational companies connected with renewable developers and assessed opportunities to meet their sustainability goals in RMI’s BRC China 2018 Annual Workshop. And REBA is also leveraging the BRC to create even more impact with BRC Canada and BRC Australia, helping accelerate corporate purchasing of renewable energy in those respective countries.
...AND HELPING CITIES GO RENEWABLE
To support the more than 100 US cities that have made ambitious renewable energy commitments, RMI, Bloomberg Philanthropies, World Resources Institute, and Urban Sustainability Directors Network launched the American Cities Climate Challenge Renewables Accelerator. The initiative will work with municipalities to access off-site renewable energy, deploy renewables locally, and navigate regulatory and policy barriers. Our work will directly benefit the populations of the 125 US cities with which we are partnering, providing their city leaders with access to the tools they need to move quickly on their renewable energy commitments. The goal is to help cities procure more than 2.8 gigawatts of renewable capacity.
NACFE TURNS 10
This year, the North American Council for Freight Efficiency (NACFE) is celebrating its 10th anniversary of providing unbiased information to help trucking fleets double freight efficiency. Data is critical and NACFE is providing the industry with real-world information that fleets can use to take action. Launched by RMI in 2009, NACFE has produced 16 Confidence Reports covering more than 85 technologies that help improve fuel efficiency, giving fleets confidence to invest in these technologies. NACFE is now producing Guidance Reports on future technologies; the latest three analyze the challenges and benefits of electric trucks.
ACCELERATING THE FUTURE OF MOBILITY
In October, RMI’s Mobility Transformation team successfully launched the first Mobility Project Accelerator Workshop, in partnership with the Midcontinent Transportation Electrification Collaboration. Teams of stakeholders from the midcontinent region tackled specific local challenges to electrifying the transportation sector, focusing on electric school buses, electric vehicle charging at multi-dwelling units, and corridor fast charging. In a separate project, the RMI team worked with Seattle’s public utility, Seattle City Light, to develop its transportation electrification strategy, evaluating the impacts of electric cars, trucks, and buses on the grid and drafting recommended actions for the utility to take that will enable transportation electrification while minimizing the risk of premature investment.
RECOGNITION FOR AN OUTSTANDING RMI ENGINEER
RMI’s own Kaitlyn Bunker and Ana Sophia Mifsud attended the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) annual conference, WE18, in Minneapolis, where they gave a presentation together titled, “Don’t Be Caught With Your Power Lines Down: How Renewable Energy Can Support Resiliency.” Bunker, a manager with RMI’s Islands Energy Program, received the SWE Distinguished New Engineer award, which honors women who have demonstrated outstanding technical performance, as well as leadership in professional organizations and the community, in the first 10 years of their career. Two years ago, Bunker was recognized by her regional SWE group for the same award, and has now earned national recognition. Congratulations, Kaitlyn!
INDIA MOVES AHEAD ON CLEAN MOBILITY
India, with some of the most polluted cities in the world, is getting serious about transforming its mobility sector. In September 2018, the government of India hosted a global mobility summit where RMI served as a knowledge partner. In October, Pune was selected as the first Lighthouse City for an urban mobility lab, a platform to transform the way goods and people move in Indian cities through pilot projects. The idea was first conceived of in a joint report issued by NITI Aayog — India’s premier national policy think tank — and RMI titled India Leaps Ahead. RMI is administering the Urban Mobility Lab with the support of central, state, and city governments.
ZERO-ENERGY HOMES BECOME COST-EFFECTIVE
Zero-energy homes — efficient homes that produce or procure as much renewable energy as they consume over the course of a year — have quietly passed cost thresholds that make them not only good for the environment but also cost-effective. These homes, often more comfortable and healthier than conventional homes, are often marketed as luxury homes. But RMI showed that in most markets, when using solar leasing, they are either at cost parity or within 1–3 percent of the cost of a conventional home. Meanwhile, federal mortgage lender Freddie Mac launched new services to help low-income families make their homes more energy efficient, which RMI had input on through our strategic alliance with the mortgage giant.
MORE OIL AND GAS COMPANIES PLEDGE TO REDUCE METHANE EMISSIONS
Methane’s climate impact is 84 times greater than CO₂’s over a 20-year period and 25 times greater over a century, so it’s critical that we control it. RMI, together with several leading climate and energy NGOs, released a set of guiding principles aimed at reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry at the end of 2017, and a group of eight international oil and gas companies — BP, Eni, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell, Statoil, Total, and Wintershall — signed on. Interest grew last year and Russia’s Gazprom — which holds the world’s largest natural gas reserves — and Qatar Petroleum also signed on to the commitment.
DECARBONIZING LOW- AND MODERATE-INCOME BUILDINGS
The New Energy Model Organization (NEMO), dedicated to reducing greenhouse gas emissions from residential and commercial buildings in low- and moderate-income communities, recently became a part of RMI’s REALIZE Initiative. The REALIZE Initiative is leading the effort to bring the Dutch zero-energy manufactured building component retrofit method called Energiesprong to North America. We are now launching pilots in Boston and Chicago, working with affordable multifamily portfolio owners and managers, project developers, builders, financiers, and other stakeholders.
