The Fuse

Additional Articles

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Energy Security

A Pony with Multiple Tricks: Why Transmission is America’s Energy Security Secret Advantage

America is amidst an energy revolution, and we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to control our destiny and realize an energy independent economy. One piece of overlooked infrastructure holds the key: high-voltage electric transmission. Read More

September 25, 2023
topics: Electric grid, Grid Security
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Minerals & Materials

Watch: Untangling the U.S. Government’s Many Critical Minerals and Materials Lists

Watch the SAFE Center for Critical Minerals Strategy's recent webinar which convened experts from the Department of the Interior, Energy, and Defense for a webinar examining the U.S. government’s many critical minerals and materials lists to get clarity about how various departments determine what gets included on these lists and how the different methodologies may change in the future. Read More

September 09, 2023
topics: critical materials, critical minerals, supply chains
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Energy Security

One Year Later, The IRA Is Working

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden on August 16, 2022, was the most significant signal of support for the transition to electric vehicles by the federal government. It serves as a critical part of the effort to achieve the Biden Administration’s goal that 50 percent of all new vehicles sold in 2030 are electric—an essential step toward reducing the United States’ dependence on oil. Read More

August 16, 2023
topics: Electrifcation, Energy, IRA, security
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Minerals & Materials

Deep-Sea Mining: State of Play

Lying on the abyssal plains of oceans at depths of 3,500-6,000 meters, polymetallic nodules contain essential minerals used in the electric vehicle batteries fueling the energy transition. Enriched in manganese, nickel, copper, and cobalt, nodule fields of interest have been identified in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), Penrhyn Basin, and Peru Basin of the Pacific Ocean as well as in the north Indian Ocean. Reserves of certain critical minerals found in the CCZ alone have been estimated to surpass global terrestrial reserves. Read More

June 08, 2023
topics: Materials, Minerals
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Minerals & Materials

Aluminum is Essential To The Green Transition

Aluminum is one of the foundational industrial materials of modern society, integral to everything from passenger airplanes to kitchen appliances.  Recent U.S. legislative incentives – lead by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) – to produce more solar panels, EVs, electrical charging infrastructure, and other clean energy transition products will increase the demand for primary aluminum only further. Read More

May 17, 2023
topics: aluminum, Materials, Minerals
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Transportation Electrification

Illinois Can Help Lead the Transportation Revolution

A transportation revolution is underway around the globe. The most significant shift in how people move from point A to point B since the transition from horse and buggy to Model T is beginning in earnest, bringing significant opportunities for Illinois and the Midwest. Read More

May 17, 2023
topics: critical minerals, Electric Vehicles
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Minerals & Materials

Critical Minerals, Critical Constraints

The Theory of Constraints was developed in 1984 by Dr. Eliyahu Goldratt, an Israeli business management consultant.  Goldratt’s key insight was that every process has at any time one key constraint that limits production flow.  Once the constraint is identified and resolved (through a combination of quick fix and more structural improvements), the next constraint becomes apparent and can be similarly attacked.  The Theory of Constraints (ToC) has since become a powerful management tool frequently used in supply chain and manufacturing.  ToC can also provide insight into the policy maker actions required to hit aggressive regulatory and production targets for EV sales. Read More

May 15, 2023
topics: Electric vehicle batteries, Electric Vehicles, TOC
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Advancing Mobility

Data Holds the Key to a Lower Cost Energy Transition Across the Freight Sector

One of the most transformative roles freight data can play is to accelerate the sector’s energy transition. By bringing digital technologies to scale and leveraging digitalization, we can bridge the efficiency gaps in supply chains and optimize freight movement while achieving broader sustainability goals. Read More

May 04, 2023
topics: Data, Digitalization, Freight, sustainability
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Advancing Mobility

Germany’s Nationwide Transit Pass is a Model for Expanding Travel Freedom Throughout Europe

Germany is betting that making access to transit convenient and affordable will make it a more attractive mobility option and encourage people to shed their cars for most trips. And in doing so, is showing the way for the rest of Europe to transform their transit systems. Read More

May 03, 2023
topics: Germany, Mobility, Mobility Access, Public Transit, Transit
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Transportation Electrification

Rural EV Charging: Road Trip Reflections

With the heightened focus on rural EV charging networks following the announcement of the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program, we would like to share this timely piece written by EC Director of Technical Services Matt Stephens-Rich about a road trip in his 2015 Nissan Leaf, and the lessons he learned about the state of rural EV charging in the United States. Read More

April 19, 2023
topics: Electric Vehicles, sustainability
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Transportation Electrification

How the EPA Can Future-Proof Innovation for School Bus Electrification

One fleet segment in particular is poised to take off in the next few years thanks to the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act: electric school buses. If executed effectively, the Environmental Protection Agency’s $5 billion Clean School Bus (CSB) Program and $1 billion Clean Heavy Duty Vehicle Program will help electrify tens of thousands of the nation’s 480,000 school buses which carry over 26 million kids to and from their local school each week day.  Read More

topics: Electric Vehicles, sustainability
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Advancing Mobility

Paris Bids Adieu to Shared E-Scooters, Giving Up Important Accessible, Sustainable Transportation Progress

Less than 8% of eligible Parisian voters showed up at the polls, voting to ban the popular—especially with younger people—transportation option which some have come to see as a nuisance. The use of a referendum to determine the fate of this mode of transportation was controversial, and certainly seems a blunt way to navigate a complex and evolving ecosystem of new mobility options. Read More

topics: escooters, micromobility, Paris
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Transportation Electrification

Funding Roadwork Without Penalizing EVs

Transportation experts have eyed mileage-based user fees (MBUFs) for all vehicles on the road as an alternative to the gasoline tax. It would be fairer and more accurate than the flat annual fee some experts have proposed. With federal gas taxes static since 1993, road usage charges have been considered since 2005. Two decades and dozens of pilots later, policymakers are closer than ever before to identifying the best practices that can create a replacement policy for the gas tax. Read More

topics: Electric Vehicles
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Advancing Mobility

Shifting Policymakers’ Perspectives: Transportation’s Vital Role in Society

A promising trend is taking shape among policymakers around the future of mobility. It’s a shift in perspective to better understand how inextricably linked transportation policies are to people’s lives and to the vitality of society’s long-term economic, equity, and sustainability goals. Read More

topics: Mobility, Mobility Access
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Advancing Mobility

Canada Invests in Supply Chain Digitalization, the U.S. Should Take Notice

Two weeks ago, Canada announced a C$50 million ($37 million in U.S. dollars) investment in supply chain digitalization that promises to significantly improve efficiency in the movement of goods, a strategy that the U.S. should take note of.  Read More

topics: Digitalization, Freight, supply chain
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Advancing Mobility

5 Trends That Could Transform How People Get Around Their Communities

Improving battery technology, innovative vehicle design, increased infrastructure connectivity, and changing attitudes toward transportation have all laid the groundwork for a potential revolution in how people get around the places they live and work.  These five trends could transform how people get to jobs, shop, meet up with friends, and get their kids to school. But only if policymakers choose to support these trends and allow for greater innovation that increases the mobility choices people have when planning their trips.  Read More

topics: Mobility, shared mobility
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Minerals & Materials

More Electricity Production Key to EU’s Green Future

Most fears around Europe’s energy crisis have dissipated thanks to a warm winter and emergency measures adopted by the European Union (EU) and its members. EU countries seem to have some breathing room as they implement their ambitious plan to speed up the deployment of renewables and zero-emission vehicles Read More

topics: critical minerals, Electric Vehicles, supply chains
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Advancing Mobility

Eyewitness to Transformation:from Tunes to Transport

Twelve years ago, I left one industry undergoing a profound technology transformation – music - and joined another: automobiles. Read More

topics: autonomous vehicles, autonomy
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Transportation Electrification

Unlock Electrification at Scale by Harmonizing Fleets with the Grid

Fleets have higher vehicle miles traveled than passenger vehicles, offering the greatest emissions reduction potential per vehicle over individual owners. Read More

topics: Electric Vehicles, Grid & Infrastructure
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Advancing Mobility

After TradeLens: Where Does the Global Shipping Industry Go from Here?

Freight sector industry leaders widely considered TradeLens to have been a disruptive force across supply chains, making important strides in advancing the digitalization of global trade. Read More

topics: Digitalization, Freight, supply chain