U.S. electric power sector transitions required to achieve 80% reductions in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions: Results based on a state-level model of the U.S. energy system

Technical Report · Mon May 01 04:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1355101· OSTI ID:1355101

Iyer, Gokul C. ^[1]; Clarke, Leon E. ^[1]; Edmonds, James A. ^[1]; Kyle, Gordon P. ^[1]; Ledna, Catherine M. ^[1]; McJeon, Haewon C. ^[1]; Wise, M. A. ^[1]

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1. Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

The United States has articulated a deep decarbonization strategy for achieving a reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 80% below 2005 levels by 2050. Achieving such deep emissions reductions will entail a major transformation of the energy system and of the electric power sector in particular. , This study uses a detailed state-level model of the U.S. energy system embedded within a global integrated assessment model (GCAM-USA) to demonstrate pathways for the evolution of the U.S. electric power sector that achieve 80% economy-wide reductions in GHG emissions by 2050. The pathways presented in this report are based on feedback received during a workshop of experts organized by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Policy and Systems Analysis. Our analysis demonstrates that achieving deep decarbonization by 2050 will require substantial decarbonization of the electric power sector resulting in an increase in the deployment of zero-carbon and low-carbon technologies such as renewables and carbon capture utilization and storage. The present results also show that the degree to which the electric power sector will need to decarbonize and low-carbon technologies will need to deploy depends on the nature of technological advances in the energy sector, the ability of end-use sectors to electrify and level of electricity demand.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 1355101
• Report Number(s): PNNL-26174; EP0100000
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION