North American Electric Reliability Corporation cheers NASEM report on obstacles to decarbonizing
As the United States pivots increasingly toward decarbonization as a course, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) this week released a report focused on obstacles to that path.
The Accelerating Decarbonization in the United States: Technology, Policy, and Societal Dimensions report was quickly cheered by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), for its examination of policies, technologies and societal changes needed for decarbonization to work. The report also recommended research and policies best suited to support the transformation over the next five to 20 year span.
“The work is an outstanding contribution to the dialogue around the grid transformation,” Mark Lauby, NERC’s senior vice president and chief engineer and a member of the National Academy of Engineering, said. “The report supports our view that natural gas generation will remain essential through the transition, providing the necessary support required to buttress the electric energy infrastructure so it is ready to decarbonize the grid and further enable decarbonization of other sectors.”
Notably, the report underscored resource dispatchability as a key component for more than the next decade, which means continued reliance on natural gas and other fossil fuel-fired generation. With equity in mind, the report also pointed to expansion needs for the high-voltage interstate transmission grid, lest areas deficient in energy fall further behind as increased energy needs to be charted across long distances. Ideally, this would be paired with modernization of local electricity distribution systems, deployment of additional resources such as solar and storage closer to customers, along with a heavier push for energy efficiency programs.
The report noted that while recent legislation has aimed the nation toward a goal of net zero by 2050 in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change, even if implemented as designed, current policy will get the United States only partway to its net-zero goal.
In pursuing this report, the nonprofit National Academies sought to provide a host of recommendations for the electricity, transportation, industrial, fossil fuels and land use sectors, among others.
