Quantifying Carbon Mitigation Wedges in U.S. Cities: Near-Term Strategy Analysis and Critical Review

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• 作者：Anu Ramaswami ; Meghan Bernard ; Abel Chavez ; Tim Hillman ; Michael Whitaker ; Gregg Thomas ; Matthew Marshall
• 刊名：Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T)
• 出版年：2012
• 出版时间：April 3, 2012
• 年：2012
• 卷：46
• 期：7
• 页码：3629-3642
• 全文大小：535K
• 年卷期：v.46,no.7(April 3, 2012)
• ISSN：1520-5851

文摘

A case study of Denver, Colorado explores the roles of three social actors鈥攊ndividual users, infrastructure designer-operators, and policy actors鈥攊n near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation in U.S. cities. Energy efficiency, renewable energy, urban design, price- and behavioral-feedback strategies are evaluated across buildings鈥揻acilities, transportation, and materials/waste sectors in cities, comparing voluntary versus regulatory action configurations. GHG mitigation impact depends upon strategy effectiveness per unit, as well as societal participation rates in various action-configurations. Greatest impact occurs with regulations addressing the vast existing buildings stock in cities, followed by voluntary behavior change in electricity use/purchases, technology shifts (e.g., to teleconferencing), and green-energy purchases among individual users. A portfolio mix of voluntary and regulatory actions can yield a best-case maximum of 1% GHG mitigation annually in buildings and transportation sectors, combined. Relying solely on voluntary actions reduces mitigation rates more than five-fold. A portfolio analysis of climate action plans in 55 U.S. cities reveals predominance of voluntary outreach programs that have low societal participation rates and hence low GHG impact, while innovative higher-impact behavioral, technological, and policy/regulatory strategies are under-utilized. Less than half the cities capitalize on cross-scale linkages with higher-impact state-scale policies. Interdisciplinary field research can help address the mis-match in plans, actions, and outcomes.