Research

This study uses Haiku, an electricity planning model, to explore potential strategies for lowering the costs of meeting Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA) emissions targets, and finds flexibility in compliance is key to lowering ratepayer costs.

This report for The Virginia Employment Commission examines the effects of a proposed Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This report assesses direct air capture with carbon storage (DACCS) use relative to other carbon capture methods and examines its side effects for global energy, water, and land systems.

Population projections provide an approximate idea of the expected future population size and are used in urban planning, resource allocation for emergency services, prioritizing public and private investments, and in many other ways. By using past observations with present trends and making certain plausible assumptions, we built the official 2020 projected population for each of […]

It is difficult to name any data source that is more reputable than the U.S. decennial census data, which is collected every ten years. The enormous effort to collect the demographic information of every U.S. resident for the 2020 Census required half a million workers and a budget of over 14 billion dollars (more than […]

Both of us—one a demographer and one a religious studies grad student—have long been interested in the demographics of religion. Teaming up allowed us the opportunity to merge personal interest with professional curiosity and explore the religious makeup of Virginia and its localities—specifically, the importance of geography in determining a region’s religious characterization. Were individuals […]

This study shows how the availability of direct air capture (DAC) affects the quantity of stranded assets – fossil fuels and infrastructure that remains unused – created under the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°-2°C.

Whenever a prediction, forecast, or projection for the future is made, the natural question that arises is “how good is it?” After our office prepared population projections for the 50 states and D.C., we’ve been eagerly awaiting the 2020 Census results so we can answer this question for ourselves. The answer: the accuracy of our […]

This paper models the use of direct air capture and other negative transmission technologies (NETs) in China to understand the role of NETs in helping China and the international community achieve carbon neutrality by 2060.

This report covers recent trends in Virginia’s electricity demand and then forecasts how Virginia’s electricity demand will change through 2050.