The aggressive development and implementation of a full portfolio of advanced electricity technologies could reduce the economic cost of cutting future U.S. CO2 emissions by more than 50 percent while meeting the continuing growth in demand for electricity according to research from the Electric Power Research Institute.
EPRI says that previous research has shown that absent investments in advanced technologies, significant reductions in future emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases will result in higher prices for electricity and natural gas, and reduced economic growth.
However, by developing and deploying advanced electricity technologies, such as a “smart” electricity grid, plug-in hybrid vehicles, new advanced nuclear reactors, and clean coal technologies with carbon capture and storage, this EPRI study,The Power to Reduce CO2 Emissions -? The Full Portfolio (PDF), says that the same cuts in future U.S. CO2 emissions could be accomplished at much lower cost -? saving as much as $1 trillion in future U.S. economic growth under some scenarios analyzed.
