The international climate policy community aspires to limit global average warming to well below 2°C, including the possibility of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Countries, states, communities, and companies are trying to understand their potential decarbonization roles, opportunities, and risks, as well as develop decarbonization and risk management strategies. Stakeholders, including investors and regulators, are also interested in company climate risks and their disclosure. Understanding the differences and similarities in regional decarbonization opportunities and risks is essential for developing practical, viable, and cost-effective policies and strategies. Using existing available global and U.S. modeling results, this study evaluates differences in regional decarbonization opportunities—globally and within the United States (U.S.). The study finds that decarbonization opportunities and costs vary significantly between global regions and within the U.S. with, among other things, regional emissions reduction rates not equal across regions or to the global or national rates respectively. U.S. regional power sector decarbonization opportunities and pathways vary significantly due to relative regional differences in endowments, current conditions, and future opportunities, with endowments and future low-carbon alternatives the primary factors defining cost-effective regional decarbonization opportunities and transition differences; and, R&D, markets, and policies that encourage utilization of regional endowments and comparative advantages facilitating management of societal transition trade-offs (e.g., costs, reliability, local development, equity). This study is part of EPRI’s suite of technical resources associated with climate risk assessment and greenhouse gas target setting.
Authors Steven Rose and Anahi Molar Cruz