Local communities are increasingly taking on active roles and emerging as new actors in energy systems. Community energy and energy storage may enable effective energy system integration and ensure maximum benefits of local generation, leading to more flexible and resilient energy supply systems and playing an important role in achieving renewable energy and climate policy objectives. In this book, we summarize the different topics covered in the international conference on new pathways for community energy and storage in the form of the 14 articles published in this Special Issue on the same topic. It addresses important developments and challenges related to local energy transitions and the role of community energy and energy storage therein.

Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States provides a "legal playbook" for deep decarbonization in the United States, identifying well over 1,000 legal options for enabling the United States to address one of the greatest problems facing this country and the rest of humanity. The book is based on two reports by the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP) that explain technical and policy pathways for reducing U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. This 80x50 target and similarly aggressive carbon abatement goals are often referred to as deep decarbonization, distinguished because it requires systemic changes to the energy economy. Legal Pathways explains the DDPP reports and then addresses in detail 35 different topics in as many chapters. These 35 chapters cover energy efficiency, conservation, and fuel switching; electricity decarbonization; fuel decarbonization; carbon capture and negative emissions; non-carbon dioxide climate pollutants; and a variety of cross-cutting issues. The legal options involve federal, state, and local law, as well as private governance. Authors were asked to include all options, even if they do not now seem politically realistic or likely, giving Legal Pathways not just immediate value, but also value over time. While both the scale and complexity of deep decarbonization are enormous, this book has a simple message: deep decarbonization is achievable in the United States using laws that exist or could be enacted. These legal tools can be used with significant economic, social, environmental, and national security benefits. Book Reviews "A growing chorus of Americans understand that climate change is the biggest public health, economic, and national security challenge our families have ever faced and they rightly ask, ''What can anyone do?'' Well, this book makes that answer very clear: we can do a lot as individuals, businesses, communities, cities, states, and the federal government to fight climate change. The legal pathways are many and the barriers are not insurmountable. In short, the time is now to dig deep and decarbonize." --Gina McCarthy, Former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator "Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States sets forth over 1,000 solutions for federal, state, local, and private actors to tackle climate change. This book also makes the math for Congress clear: with hundreds of policy options and 12 years to stop the worst impacts of climate change, now is the time to find a path forward." --Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Senator, Rhode Island "This superb work comes at a critical time in the history of our planet. As we increasingly face the threat and reality of climate change and its inevitable impact on our most vulnerable populations, this book provides the best and most current thinking on viable options for the future to address and ameliorate a vexing, worldwide challenge of extraordinary magnitude. Michael Gerrard and John Dernbach are two of the most distinguished academicians in the country on these issues, and they have assembled leading scholars and practitioners to provide a possible path forward. With 35 chapters and over 1,000 legal options, the book is like a menu of offerings for public consumption, showing that real actions can be taken, now and in the future, to achieve deep decarbonization. I recommend the book highly." --John C. Cruden, Past Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice "This book proves that we already know what to do about climate change, if only we had the will to do it. The path to decarbonization depends as much on removing legal impediments and changing outdated incentive systems as it does on imposing new regulations. There are ideas here for every sector of the economy, for every level of government, and for business and nongovernmental organizations, too, all of which should be on the table for any serious country facing the most serious of challenges. By giving us a sense of the possible, Gerrard and Dernbach and their fine authors seem to be saying two things: (1) do something; and (2) it''s possible. What a timely message, and what a great collection." --Jody Freeman, Archibald Cox Professor of Law and Founding Director of the Harvard Law School Environmental and Energy Law Program

This book addresses the problem of building an optimal community energy network in a decentralized distributed energy context. The book introduces a few novel modeling frameworks to assist a single customer or a community of multiple end-user customers in building their optimal electricity system/network and operating their own local energy system. The content of the book is suitable for students, academics and industrial practitioners studying or working in the area of energy management and smart grid energy networks.

Consumers, Prosumers, Prosumagers: How Customer Stratification will Disrupt the Utility Business Model examines customer stratification in the electric power sector, arguing that it is poised to become one of the fundamental drivers of the 21st century power network as distributed energy generation, storage, sharing and trading options become available at scale. The book addresses the interface and the relationship between key players and their impacts on incumbent and disruptive service providers. Topics covered include innovations that lead to consumer stratification, regulatory policy, the potential of service, the speed and spread of stratification, and a review of potential business models and strategies. The work also covers the evolution and potential end-states of electricity service provision, from its basis in current pilot programs as distributed generation scales and its potential to supplant industry norms. Explores the impacts and trajectories of increasing distributed power generation and storage adoption Analyzes the growing number of electricity services and their impact on the existing power grid and service providers, including incumbent and disruptor utilities Discusses future market trends and trends in costs, pricing and business models

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • In this urgent, authoritative book, Bill Gates sets out a wide-ranging, practical—and accessible—plan for how the world can get to zero greenhouse gas emissions in time to avoid a climate catastrophe. Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet's slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding of innovation and what it takes to get new ideas into the market, he describes the areas in which technology is already helping to reduce emissions, where and how the current technology can be made to function more effectively, where breakthrough technologies are needed, and who is working on these essential innovations. Finally, he lays out a concrete, practical plan for achieving the goal of zero emissions—suggesting not only policies that governments should adopt, but what we as individuals can do to keep our government, our employers, and ourselves accountable in this crucial enterprise. As Bill Gates makes clear, achieving zero emissions will not be simple or easy to do, but if we follow the plan he sets out here, it is a goal firmly within our reach.

PROSE Award Finalist 2019 Association of American Publishers Award for Professional and Scholarly Excellence As a follow up to his widely acclaimed Sustainable Urbanism, this new book from author Douglas Farr embraces the idea that the humanitarian, population, and climate crises are three facets of one interrelated human existential challenge, one with impossibly short deadlines. The vision of Sustainable Nation is to accelerate the pace of progress of human civilization to create an equitable and sustainable world. The core strategy of Sustainable Nation is the perfection of the design and governance of all neighborhoods to make them unique exemplars of community and sustainability. The tools to achieve this vision are more than 70 patterns for rebellious change written by industry leaders of thought and practice. Each pattern represents an aspirational, future-oriented ideal for a key aspect of a neighborhood. At once an urgent call to action and a guidebook for change, Sustainable Nation is an essential resource for urban designers, planners, and architects.

Operation of Distributed Energy Resources in Smart Distribution Networks defines the barriers and challenges of smart distribution networks, ultimately proposing optimal solutions for addressing them. The book considers their use as an important part of future electrical power systems and their ability to improve the local flexibility and reliability of electrical systems. It carefully defines the concept as a radial network with a cluster of distributed energy generations, various types of loads, and energy storage systems. In addition, the book details how the huge penetration of distributed energy resources and the intermittent nature of renewable generations may cause system problems. Readers will find this to be an important resource that analyzes and introduces the features and problems of smart distribution networks from different aspects. Integrates different types of elements, including electrical vehicles, demand response programs, and various renewable energy sources in distribution networks Proposes optimal operational models for the short-term performance and scheduling of a distribution network Discusses the uncertainties of renewable resources and intermittent load in the decision-making process for distribution networks