Insights and Commentaries

Can the United States Achieve a Low Carbon Economy by 2050?

17th May 2017

Topic(s): Carbon capture, Energy efficiency, Renewables, use and storage (CCUS)

Karl Hausker, PhD, Senior Fellow, Climate Program, World Resources Institute, is the leader of the analytic and writing team for the latest study by the Risky Business Project: From Risk to Return: Investing in a Clean Energy Economy. Co-Chairs Michael Bloomberg, Henry Paulson, Jr, and Thomas Steyer tasked the World Resources Institute with this independent assessment of technically and economically feasible pathways that the US could follow to achieve an 80% reduction in CO₂ emissions by 2050. These pathways involve mixtures of: energy efficiency, renewable energy, nuclear power, carbon capture and storage, increased carbon sequestration in US lands, and reductions in non-CO2emissions. These pathways rely on commercial or near-commercial technologies that American companies are adopting and developing.
 
Dr Hausker presented the results of the study and draw some comparisons to the US Mid Century Strategy report submitted to the UNFCCC. He has worked for 30 years in the fields of climate change, energy, and environment in a career that has spanned legislative and executive branches, research institutions, NGOs, and consulting.

This webinar offered a unique opportunity to learn more about various decarbonization scenarios and to address your questions directly to Dr Hausker.

Here is a browsable version of the slides used in the presentation:

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