What Will It Take to Make Additional GHG Reductions?

There really isn't one definitive answer to this question. That’s because addressing GHGs requires an aggressive and sustained commitment to a full suite of "climate-friendly" technologies.

Making additional GHG emissions reductions will require:

• An intensified national commitment to energy efficiency in our homes, offices, and industries
• The accelerated development and deployment of renewable energy resources
• Advanced clean coal technologies
• Carbon capture and storage (CCS)
• Increased nuclear capacity and advanced nuclear designs
• Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs)

Some of these technologies are currently available—although at a higher cost than conventional generation sources. Others are not.

All have different time horizons for development and deployment. But all are critical to the electric power industry’s goals of addressing GHG emissions and maintaining a reliable, affordable electricity supply in a carbon-constrained world.

Because of the global nature of the climate change problem, solutions also will require the participation of the entire world economy, including developing nations like China, which surpassed the United States in CO₂ emissions in 2007, according to the International Energy Agency.

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