The Policy and Economic Pathways for Deep Decarbonisation in the US

The report “Policy Implications of deep decarbonization in the United States” describes the economic and policy implications of deep decarbonization in the United States.

Conducted by the Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project (DDPP), the report is a “collaborative global initiative to explore how individual countries can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” consistent with the Paris Agreement to keep global mean temperatures below 2°C.

Achieving this goal will require significant reductions in CO2 emissions through the transformation of energy systems, which the DDPP refers to as “deep decarbonisation.”

Based on a detailed year-by-year analysis of the changes in the physical infrastructure needed to attain deep decarbonization by the middle of this century.

The main objective of this report is to focus on climate policy towards the practical implementation of these targets. Starting with the US energy system, the report shows the physical and economic requirements of transitioning to decarbonisation while providing insights on the challenges and opportunities of this transition across sectors, industries, and levels of government.

The report’s analysis shows that deep decarbonisation is not only feasible and economically affordable, but there are also numerous pathways to achieve the 2050 emissions target using existing technologies at a net cost of about 1% of the US GDP.

The report presents a “paradox” to what people believe about deep decarbonisation – that it will cause disruptive lifestyle changes, reduce energy series and higher costs, and present a risk to the economy.

The analysis shows that the energy system’s transformation because of climate change will bring in opportunities to create a system that still supports energy demands with very little difference in net cost but without the negative consequences of the current system to the environment, economy, and society.

As the report states, people should have higher expectations of decarbonised energy systems instead of lower ones.

To read the entire report, CLICK the link in the “Source” section below.