THE NET-ZERO BLOG
Climate policy analysis and updates from Sacramento
Governor’s proposed Clean Energy Central Procurement mechanism could be the most consequential climate policy this decade
The pace of clean energy deployment in California is currently too slow to achieve the state’s ambitious climate targets. The Governor’s proposed Clean Energy Central Procurement mechanism in the 2023-24 energy trailer bill is a powerful policy concept that has the potential to correct this trajectory. In this blog post, we highlight how strategic public procurement of clean energy assets can address critical obstacles to a rapid energy transition in California.
State and federal agencies release first-of-its-kind biomass utilization strategy
Biomass management has been a neglected climate problem in California. That is, until recently – when the 2022 Scoping Plan identified both the significant scale of the biomass challenge and importance of mobilizing organic waste to provide clean fuels and carbon dioxide removal in a net-zero economy. In this blog post we briefly recap California’s biomass challenge before summarizing the top-five recommendations from the state’s newest draft wood utilization strategy from the Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force.
California needs to expand its clean energy. And it starts by expanding its grid
California’s 2022 Scoping Plan identified the unprecedented amount of new clean energy needed to achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, including developing a 20 GW offshore wind industry from scratch and more than tripling the state’s utility-scale solar capacity. How can the state deliver on these major ambitions? In this blog post we highlight the essential role of transmission to enable California’s clean energy deployment goals.
How California can lead the world in decarbonizing aviation
As the United States seeks to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, one of the most challenging sectors to decarbonize will be aviation. Aviation makes up nearly 7% of the total U.S. transportation sector emissions. As planes are expected to remain reliant on liquid fuels for the foreseeable future, commercializing non-fossil, low-carbon alternatives is a critical need. In this blog post, we explore opportunities and recommendations for California to lead on sustainable aviation fuel development.
Op-ed: How forest thinning waste could fund California wildfire prevention
Op-ed announcement: CSG’s Director of Climate and Energy Policy, Sam Uden in partnership with the Sierra Business Council, had an op-ed published in CalMatters that describes how a forest products strategy could help reduce megafires in California.
CARB's opportunity on low-carbon fuels
The California Air Resources Board will soon initiate a series of regulatory proceedings on different programs to cement the ambitions of the 2022 Scoping Plan into state policy. One of the first – and perhaps the most consequential – will be the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. In this blog post, we highlight gaps in the upcoming LCFS rulemaking.