Resources for the Future (RFF) maintains a suite of 14 influential, high quality energy system models designed to analyze how different aspects of the energy system might change under different economic, policy, and technology conditions. Funds from this grant will support a project to expand, augment, and improve the sophistication of RFF’s models in three areas of model development that are of critical importance to the study of the U.S. energy system: transportation, land use, and energy equity. With respect to transportation, RFF will build on its previous efforts to model the consumer, light-duty transportation sector and will develop a new model component that addresses the medium- and heavy-duty vehicle and truck sector. With respect to land use, RFF will update its Carbon and Land Use Model (CALM) to better represent alternative types of land use that could advance or hinder carbon storage and emissions reductions. This includes studying factors such as deforestation, ethanol production, or land use for building and construction. With respect to energy equity, RFF will better represent the equity and distributional impacts of alternative energy policies in one of its flagship power sector models, known as E4ST. In doing so, RFF will examine the equity implications of various energy policies, including policies deliberately designed with energy and environmental justice considerations in mind, such as those that prohibit the siting new fossil fuel power plants in vulnerable communities, and those where equity considerations are secondary considerations. The results of this analysis are expected to be widely valuable for both research and policy purposes.

Different communities have unique histories with local energy systems, stand in different relationships to local policymakers, and face different threats related to climate change. Implementing sensible, effective policies for ensuring just energy transitions will thus require the development of local solutions that take these factors into account. This grant funds work by a team led by legal scholar Nadia Ahmad of Barry University and Elise Harrington of the University of Minnesota to develop conceptual frameworks that tie together both place-based and overarching considerations that can inform how just energy transitions might occur across multiple localities. Ahmad, Harrington, and their team will conduct a series of interviews and community-level focus groups in four states (Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, and Pennsylvania) to better understand the place-based dynamics of energy transitions and to illuminate the multiple theoretical dimensions of energy justice. The resulting case studies will highlight different challenges for place-based energy transition policymaking, including the relationship between urban and rural areas, tradeoffs associated with agricultural and industrial land use, re-use of existing energy infrastructure, and local climate resilience efforts. In each case, the team will partner with local community organizations who will help co-develop interview questions, refine the developing conceptual framework, create opportunities for collaborative outputs, and determine how this research can directly benefit local communities. The project is expected to contribute to a growing body of scholarship on energy transitions, facilitate interstate learning in policy design, and advance greater inclusion of place-based considerations in state and federal energy transition initiatives.