Building off the needs identified at the Deployment of Deep Decarbonization Technologies workshop in July 2019, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will appoint an ad hoc consensus committee to assess the technological, policy, social, and behavioral dimensions to accelerate the decarbonization of the U.S. economy. The focus is on emission reduction and removal of CO2, which is the largest driver of climate change and the greenhouse gas most intimately integrated into the U.S. economy and way of life. The scope of the study is necessarily broad and takes a systemic, cross-sector approach. The committee will summarize the status of technologies, policies, and societal factors needed for decarbonization and recommend research and policy needs. It will focus its findings and recommendations on near and mid-term (5-20 years) high- value policy improvements and research investments and approaches required to put the United States on a path to achieve long-term net zero emissions. This consensus study will also provide the foundation for a larger Academies’ initiative on Deep Decarbonization.The committee will produce an interim report and a final report. The interim report will provide an assessment of no regrets policies, strategies, and research directions that provide benefits across a spectrum of low carbon futures. The final report will assess a wider spectrum of technological, policy, social, and behavioral dimensions of deep decarbonization and their interactions. Specific questions that will be addressed in the final report include the following:
• Sectoral interactions and systems impacts—How do changes in one sector (e.g., transportation) impact other sectors (e.g., electric power) and what positive and negative systems level impacts arise through these interactions; how should the understanding of sectoral interactions impact choices related to technologies and policies?
• Technology research, development, and deployment at scale—What are the technological challenges and opportunities for achieving deep decarbonization, including in challenging activities like air travel and heavy processing; what research, development, and demonstration efforts can accelerate the technologies; how can financing and capital effectively support decarbonization; what are key metrics for tracking progress in deployment and scale up of technologies and key measurements for tracking emissions?
• Social, institutional, and behavioral dimensions—What are the societal, institutional, behavioral, and equity drivers and implications of deep decarbonization; how do the impacts of deep decarbonization differ across states, regions, and urban versus rural areas and how can equity issues be identified and the uneven distribution of impacts be addressed; and what is the role of the private sector in achieving emissions reductions, including companies influence on their external supply chains; what are the economic opportunities associated with deep decarbonization; and what are the workforce and human capital needs?
• Policy coordination and sequencing at local, state, and federal levels—What near-term policy developments at local, state, and federal levels are driving decarbonization; how can policies be sequenced to best achieve near, medium, and long-term goals; and what synergies exist between mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and economic development?
The study will coordinate with and leverage other efforts within the Academies and outside groups that cover energy technologies, innovation, science, behavior, and policy. The committee will have expertise across engineering, policy, social and behavioral sciences, economics, and the physical sciences.