The global coal value chain is extensive and spans countries. Nearly 7,000 coal mines collectively produce over 8.5 billion tons of coal every year. More than 2,400 coal-fired power plants across the globe operate with a capacity of 2,175 GW. Then, there are numerous rail networks, trucks, and port terminals that constitute parts of the coal value chain. Yet in a net-zero world, this value chain will need to shrink rapidly, which could negatively impact the economies and communities that currently depend on it.

Evidence assessment—identifying, evaluating, and synthesizing data and findings from previous studies—is important to inform environmental decision-making but can be slow and resource intensive. Users seeking efficiency have developed multiple definitions and methods for rapid evidence assessment (REA), raising concerns about consistency and rigor. To improve consistency and confidence in REA, the authors convened an international group of evidence users and researchers to define REA for environmental applications.

Pairing electric irrigation systems with mini-grids in communities that currently lack electricity has the potential to both increase the productivity and resilience of smallholder farms and contribute to rural electrification in Africa. This research develops a solar mini-grid irrigation viability model to assess the feasibility of such a technology setup.

In response to rising extreme heat risks across North Carolina, this study refines and evaluates the North Carolina Division of Public Health (NCDPH) Climate and Health Program’s Heat Health Alert System (HHAS), a health-based warning framework first introduced in 2018.

Since fall 2024, the Clean Air Task Force and Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability have led in-person and virtual meetings and one-on-one dialogues with Southeastern energy and environmental regulators, utilities, consumer advocates, and businesses to discuss clean firm generation and how it could help meet electricity demand growth.

Affordable, reliable electricity is essential for productive, healthy and thriving communities. Achieving this goal at least partly requires understanding the dynamic relationship between electricity prices and consumer demand is critical for utilities, regulators, and governments seeking to deliver affordable, reliable, and efficient energy. This paper presents updated estimates of a standard measure of price responsiveness in the US residential electricity market—price elasticity of demand for electricity (PEDE)—and explores how it varies across states. 

In fall 2025, ACORE, Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability, the EFI Foundation, and the World Resources Institute convened technology developers, finance providers, large-load customers, and legal and policy experts to explore how to keep finance flowing toward clean electricity sectors. 

Participants defined three central challenges to keeping capital flowing into these projects:

Small-scale fisheries in Kenya support more than 1.5 million livelihoods but face mounting climate and market shocks that threaten food security and income stability. Research led by Duke University and the University of Nairobi evaluated the Keep IT Cool model—a private enterprise linking fishing communities around Lake Victoria and Lake Turkana to higher value markets trough solar-powered cold storage and logistics.

Fishing plays a central role in the livelihoods and food security of many rural communities in Kenya, particularly around Lake Turkana, where climate variability, spoilage of catch, and limited market access have historically constrained economic opportunities. Keep IT Cool (KIC) is a social enterprise that provides solar refrigeration and cold chain logistics for smallholder chicken farmers and fisherfolk in Kenya.

Household biogas can significantly contribute to sustainable energy transition by supporting the decarbonisation and modernization of the cooking energy sector. Nearly 450,000 household biogas plants were reported to have been installed in Nepal as of 2023. This study assesses their sustainability using large-scale household survey data combined with statistical analysis. The findings in this article inform recommendations to improve the performance and sustained use of household biogas systems in Nepal and other countries with similar geographical and socioeconomic conditions.