E-Mail A new study from North Carolina State University finds that the environmental benefits of renewable power generation vary significantly, depending on the nature of the conventional power generation that the renewable energy is offsetting. The researchers hope the work will help target future renewable energy investments in places where they can do the most good. "For years, researchers have taken different approaches to try to assess the environmental benefits of renewable energy," says Harrison Fell, co-author of the study and an associate professor of energy economics at NC State. "The Energy Information Administration started releasing detailed data on renewable power generation in 2018, and we realized that we finally had an opportunity to address this issue using real-world data.