Implications of Generation Efficiencies and Supply Chain Leaks for the Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Natural Gas-Fired Electricity in the United States.

Uncertainties in supply chain emissions raise questions about the benefits of natural gas as a bridge fuel, but recent efficiency improvements in gas-fired electricity generation remain overlooked. Our comprehensive analysis of supply chain infrastructure and electricity generation across the United States informs spatially and temporally resolved estimates of life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. Results show decreasing life cycle emissions over each year examined: 629, 574, and 525 kg CO eq MWh in 2005, 2010, and 2015, respectively.

Linking energy sector and air quality models through downscaling: Long-run siting of electricity generators to account for spatial variability and technological innovation.

Modeling the air pollution implications of long-term energy transitions requires a downscaling process as an intermediate step between national-scale energy models and fine-scaled air quality models. Traditional "Grow-in-Place" (GIP) downscaling methods assume that future patterns of generator siting and emissions will be similar to those in the past. However, rapid technological change and shifting policy might yield very different future spatial patterns of power emissions.

Predictability of state-level flood damage in the conterminous United States: the role of hazard, exposure and vulnerability.

Understanding historical changes in flood damage and the underlying mechanisms is critical for predicting future changes for better adaptations. In this study, a detailed assessment of flood damage for 1950-1999 is conducted at the state level in the conterminous United States (CONUS). Geospatial datasets on possible influencing factors are then developed by synthesizing natural hazards, population, wealth, cropland and urban area to explore the relations with flood damage.