Mitigating climate and air pollution from the electricity and transportation sectors in the United States - Rescheduled

In this talk, I will cover a few recent papers and projects that focus on the measurement of emissions and the costs, benefits, and opportunities associated with a transition to sustainable, deeply decarbonized, and equitable energy systems is needed in the United States. For example, in [1], we show that with an increasing interconnected system that encompasses variable energy sources and complex markets, the emissions embedded in electricity generation and consumption are becoming more difficult to estimate. Using flow tracing and consumption-based accounting, we have characterized the health damages from exposure to PM2.5 from electricity imports and find that that 8% of our estimated premature deaths from electricity consumption in the United States are due to electricity imports. In [2] we assess the consequences of vehicle electrification across the country as a function of where vehicles are charged, and which types of plants are meeting that electricity demand, and in [3] we present a data-driven, realistic model of charging demand that captures the diverse charging behaviors of future adopters in the US Western Interconnection. We find that peak net electricity demand increases by up to 25% with forecast adoption and by 50% in a stress test with full electrification. In ongoing work, we develop tools and analysis that identify the most cost-effective strategies for retirement and replacements of existing electricity generation capacity, which can help guide state and federal decision-makers deep decarbonization plans.

Speaker: Inês M.L. Azevedo, Stanford University

Attend in person or via Zoom (see weblink)

Editor's Note: This event will now be held on October 23, 2023