Jürgen Weiss Authors Op-Ed on New England 2050 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals Report

Brattle Principal Jürgen Weiss has published an op-ed in CommonWealth Magazine on a report he coauthored with a team of Brattle economists on what is needed for New England to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 80% of 1990 levels by 2050.

The op-ed discusses the report’s finding that the New England region will only reach its GHG reduction goals by electrifying two of its biggest sectors: transportation and building. Even after factoring in energy aggressive efficiency gains, electricity demand in New England will essentially double by 2050 relative to today.

To meet this substantially higher demand with emissions free energy resources, New England will need to replace current coal- and gas-fired power plants with clean energy generation resources and add renewable capacity every year at a rate that is 4–8 times higher than currently projected for the next decade.

The report “Achieving 80% GHG Reduction in New England by 2050: Why the Region Needs to Keep Its Foot on the Clean Energy Accelerator,” is coauthored by Brattle Principal Jürgen Weiss, Senior Associate J. Michael Hagerty, Senior Research Analyst Maria Castañer, and Research Analyst John Higham.

The op-ed “Decarbonizing Economy Requires Lot More Electricity,” authored by Jürgen Weiss, can be found below.