Net Zero America

A ground-breaking study of decarbonisation pathways for the US – Net-Zero America: Potential Pathways, Infrastructure and Impacts - was released in mid-December by Princeton University. Australian Dr Chris Greig, the Theodora D. and William H. Walton Senior Research Scientist at Princeton’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, who co-led Net-Zero America will present the findings and contrast the challenge for the Australia and our trading partners. Net Zero America (NZA) stands apart from previous studies in examining various pathways to net zero that include different proportions of renewables, different degrees of electrification, roles for nuclear and fossil fuels (with CCUS) that vary from zero to significant, and use of carbon land sinks and bioenergy with CCS (to provide negative emissions). It analyses the implications of decarbonisation (e.g. for land-use, project development, employment and financing) in unprecedented detail and granularity. It shows that net zero by 2050 is affordable, though will encounter significant risks, including social licence challenges. The scale of energy-sector capital investment required is unprecedented, but the impact on the cost of energy services, as a share of economic output, is expected to be minimal. Net Zero America was funded by major energy companies and included national environmental organisations on its oversight committee. It has received widespread coverage by US and international media and has been well received at all levels of government and across the private sector, including this praise from John P. Holdren, former Presidential Science Advisor and Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in the study’s foreword: Net Zero America...sets an entirely new standard in this genre.... Everybody seriously interested in the crucial question of this country’s energy-climate future—not least the new Biden-Harris administration—needs to understand the findings of this extraordinary study. Speaker: Dr Chris Greig