Zachary Pierce

An Interview With Zachary Pierce of the AES Corporation

Daniel Lee
Although the gestures of the bill were certainly made clear, there is still much discussion and clarification to be had, let’s say, concerning the manufactured in America part. The provisions currently seem to demand that 40% of the manufactured components in the facility to be manufactured within America to be...
The exterior of "Timber House," courtesy of Mesh Architectures

Timber House: Can Mass Timber Help Decarbonize Real Estate?

Bryson Wiese
Real estate is the source of around 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, including 11% that come just from making building materials. Mass timber panels, which consist of small pieces of softwood glued together, offer a lower-emissions alternative to steel and cement, as well storing carbon sequestered by trees. Driven...
This warehouse is not the only there there-house

This site in Lynchburg, VA evokes tobacco production - but the whole region can embrace clean energy generation. (Photo by Kipp Teague, via Flickr Creative Commons.) 

​​​​​​​Policy Memo: Using Experience to Transition the Tobacco Region's Energy Mix

Michael Brown
The Tobacco Region of Virginia, as its name shows, knows economic transitions. It can use its expertise in workforce development and industrial support to train workers and incentivize investors to speed the clean energy transition through this historic section of a rapidly changing state.
In the nation's Covid epicenter, a well-funded park stokes wellness

Policy Memo: The USA's Housing Department Should Inventory - and Slash - Emissions

Jennifer Gottlieb Elazhari
In its $62.7-billion budget, HUD subsidizes 4.5 million units of housing in a portfolio directly owned or controlled through HUD partners. Furthermore, HUD resources are used by private developers through project-based vouchers and HOME funds. HUD has a great deal of power to drive the adoption of higher energy standards...
This photo of a Buffalo, MN wastewater treatment site comes from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Flickr page.

Dirty Business: How Municipal Governments Can Lead in Reducing Emissions and Promoting Renewables

One proposed solution is to incentivize municipal wastewater treatment facilities to implement anaerobic digestion of biosolids and biogas capturing methods to produce Renewable Natural Gas (RNG), a renewable fuel used in the generation of heat and electricity, onsite or at a nearby centralized facility shared by multiple treatment facilities. This...
We look at some of the investments, like onshore wind near farmland, that seem compelling with the Inflation Reduction Act in place

Explainer: Who Can Now Benefit From US Tax Equity Policy?

Daniel Lee
Two core incentives take center stage to enhance the market penetrability of renewable energy under the IRA: (ITC) and (PTC). What are the ITC and PTC? Who is eligible? What are the revisions made under the IRA? If these questions sound familiar, this explainer...
David Millar, Wartsila Energy

With incentives for investors and developers to pour renewable electrons onto the grid, says Millar, markets will reward companies who provide around-the-clock power from a mix of sources. 

David Millar Focuses on United States Energy Markets After the Inflation Reduction Act

Lauren Gomez Cullen
David Millar is the Principal of Markets, Legislative and Regulatory Policy at Wärtsilä Energy, a Finnish energy company that claims to “lead the transition to a 100% renewable energy future”. In a recent talk at CBEY, Millar highlighted three trends to watch within the energy markets related to Distributed Energy...
Solar Farm in Mountains

Explainer: How Does the Inflation Reduction Act Relieve Doubts About Clean Energy Tax Credits?

Allan Zhang
Most investment in solar and wind power involves drawing cash from investors who use those technologies' tax credits. The Inflation Reduction Act removes some barriers and doubts about the tax credits, signaling a rise in their use. But nothing is ever simple, and investors are bringing vital questions about timing...
It's morning in America

Could hydrogen signal a dawn in all sorts of clean infrastructure? 

Explainer: Can Tax Incentives Help Green Hydrogen Outgrow Its Promise?

Douglas Leung
Hydrogen investors say the abundant element can replace carbon throughout economies. Hydrogen skeptics (and shorts) say that producing adequate hydrogen supply requires intolerable amounts of carbon pollution. Some startups are looking at chemistry - and tax credit financing via the United States' Inflation Reduction Act - to increase the supply...
This photo of Arkabutla Lake, Mississippi evokes a hydropower project this fund has staked.

This photo of Arkabutla Lake, Mississippi evokes a hydropower project this fund has staked. (Photo by Sean Davis via Flickr Creative Commons.)

Policy Pinpoint: Bring a Flashlight on a Camping Trip

Alec Appelbaum
The Inflation Reduction Act blazes miles upon miles of trail with clear markers in what had been overgrown backcountry. And the inconclusive recent climate negotiations that the United Nations sponsored in Egypt work as charcoal-gray clouds overhead. Where are attentive capitalists placing investment now that scale is possible and challenges...