Rice U. expert available to discuss Ukrainian refugees
February 28, 2022
Up to 5 million Ukranians could ultimately flee their home country — and even more could be displaced within the country — if the Russian invasion continues, according to an expert from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
February freeze analyzed one year later
February 15, 2022
Last February’s severe winter storm caused sustained peaks in demand for electricity across Texas, triggering tremendous stress on the state’s power grid and widespread outages lasting days. Now a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy examines why the winter storm caused this deadly electricity supply crisis and how it could have been avoided.
Energy transition could be headed for ‘valley of death,’ says report
February 7, 2022
Investments in oil and gas have decreased in favor of alternative energy in recent years, but with alternative energy technologies still able to supply only a small fraction of useable energy, rushing the transition would be a costly mistake, according to a new report from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Winter freeze power resources charted in time-lapse video
December 17, 2021
What happened to electrical power in Texas during last February's freeze? A new time-lapse video of electricity generation created by experts at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy offers an hour-by-hour picture of power plant and customer outages across the state during the devastating storm.
US energy infrastructure mapped by Baker Institute
December 17, 2021
A new, interactive energy map for the United States has just been released by Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, providing an open-source visualization of the country’s energy infrastructure and demography designed to highlight the intersection of energy, environment, policy and society.
Should digital advertisers be taxed on the data they collect from us?
December 7, 2021
Is it legal — or even appropriate — for governments to tax digital advertisers on the user data collected from consumers? That’s one of the many questions public policy makers must grapple with as they look for new ways to collect taxes from the digital economy, according to a new policy brief from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
Manageable K-12 education funding shortfalls should not be an impediment to energy transition, says Baker Institute
November 8, 2021
The funding model for Texas K-12 education relies in part on the state’s energy sector – specifically its fossil fuel industry – raising questions about the impact on the state budget from the shift toward low-carbon and renewable energy. New research from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy forecasts the size of the projected funding shortfall through 2050 and proposes a series of policy solutions to address what the authors describe as a “manageable deficit.”