New England region must boost efforts to meet carbon reduction goals, study finds

A new study recently found that officials in New England will have to significantly accelerate the deployment of clean energy strategies if the region wants to achieve its goal of 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.

The study – done by the Brattle Group – found that municipalities and organizations will have to add clean energy generation resources, expanding energy efficiency, and substantially increasing the electrification of the building and transportation sectors to meet these goals. The rate of deployment will need to increase to 4–7 GW annually on average, or 9 percent, through 2050. Electricity will play a critical role in decarbonizing the New England economy, Brattle economists revealed. Consequently, electricity demand will grow substantially and could well be twice the current level by 2050. Also, solar photovoltaic (PV) and offshore wind will play a critical role.

“Achieving the GHG reduction goals set by New England states will require significantly accelerating clean energy resource deployment. This is feasible, but it is important to realize that the ambitious goals will require large-scale investment,” Jürgen Weiss, a Brattle principal and study co-author, said. “Given that more and more states and communities are adopting GHG reduction goals, the findings about New England are broadly applicable to regions that are currently examining the mechanisms by which they can reduce their carbon footprints, even if the details differ.”

The report — “Achieving 80% GHG Reduction in New England by 2050: Why the Region Needs to Keep its Foot on the Clean Energy Accelerator,” – was authored by Weiss, Senior Associate Michael Hagerty, Senior Research Analyst Maria Castañer, and Research Analyst John Higham.