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Publication Environmental Justice and Carbon Pricing: Can They Be Reconciled?(2023-01-01) Boyce, James K; ASH, MICHAEL; Ranalli, BrentCarbon pricing has been criticized by environmental justice advocates on the grounds that it fails to reduce emissions significantly, fails to reduce the disproportionate impacts of hazardous co-pollutants on people of color and low-income communities, hits low-income households harder than wealthier households, and commodifies nature. Designing carbon pricing policy to address these concerns can yield outcomes that are both more effective and more equitable.Publication REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUPS - NSF 2026: Priorities and Research Needs for an Equitable Energy Transition(2023-01-01)The working groups used the opinions and suggestions from the workshop partici- pants. A full list of workshop participants is available at the end of this document.Publication Metrics for Decision-Making in Energy Justice(2023-01-01) Baker, Erin; Carley, Sanya; Castellanos, Sergio; Nock, Destenie; Bozeman, Joe F.; Konsiky, David; Monyei, Chukwuka G.; Shah, Monisha; Sovacool, BenjaminEnergy equity and justice have become priority considerations for policy-makers, practitioners, and scholars alike. To ensure that energy equity is incorporated into actual decisions and analysis, it is necessary to design, use, and continually improve energy equity metrics. In this article, we review the literature and practices surrounding such metrics. We present a working definition for energy justice and equity, and connect them to both criteria for and frameworks of metrics. We then present a large sampling of energy equity metrics, including those focused on vulnerability, wealth creation, energy poverty, life cycle, and comparative country-level dynamics.We conclude with a discussion of the limitations, gaps, and trade-offs associated with these various metrics and their interactions thereof.Publication Enabling an Equitable Energy Transition Through Inclusive Research(2023-01-01) Ash, Michael; Baker, Erin; Tuominen, Mark; Venkataraman, Dhandapani; Burke, Matthew; Castellanos, S.; Cha, M.; Chan, Gabe; Djokic, D.; Ford, J.C.; Goldstein, Anna P.; Hsu, David; Lacker, Matt; Miller, C.; Nock, D.; Ravikumar, A.P.; Bates, Allison; Stefanopoulou, Anna; Grubert, E; Kammen, D.M; Pastor, M.; Attari, S.Z,; Carley, S.; Clark, D.L; Dean-Ryan, D.; Kosar, U.; Bowie, Kerry; Johnson, TinaComprehensive and meaningful inclusion of marginalized communities within the research enterprise will be critical to ensuring an equitable, technology-informed, clean energy transition. We provide five key action items for government agencies and philanthropic institutions to operationalize the commitment to an equitable energy transition.Publication Equity-aware Decarbonization of Residential Heating Systems(2022-01-01) Wamburu, John; Bashir, Noman; Grazier, Emma; Irwin, David; Crago, Christine; Shenoy, PrashantMost buildings still rely on fossil energy — such as oil, coal and natural gas — for heating. This is because they are readily available and have higher heat value than their cleaner counterparts. However, these primary sources of energy are also high pollutants. As the grid moves towards eliminating CO2 emission, replacing these sources of energy with cleaner alternatives is imperative. Electric heat pumps — an alternative and cleaner heating technology — have been proposed as a viable replacement. In this paper, we conduct a data-driven optimization study to analyze the potential of reducing carbon emission by replacing gas-based heating with electric heat pumps. We do so while enforcing equity in such transition. We begin by conducting an in-depth analysis into the energy patterns and demographic profiles of buildings. Our analysis reveals a huge disparity between lower and higher income households. We show that the energy usage intensity for lower income homes is 24% higher than higher income homes. Next, we analyze the potential for carbon emission reduction by transitioning gas-based heating systems to electric heat pumps for an entire city. We then propose equity-aware transition strategies for selecting a subset of customers for heat pump-based retrofits which embed various equity metrics and balances the need to maximize carbon reduction with ensuring equitable outcomes for households. We evaluate their effect on CO2 emission reduction, showing that such equity-aware carbon emission reduction strategies achieve significant emission reduction while also reducing the disparity in the value of selected homes by 5× compared to a carbon-first approach.