This February 2021 report presents modeling results on energy infrastructure needs for a net-zero economy. These modeling results address four questions:
- What types of clean energy infrastructure are we likely to build—and where—to achieve net-zero by 2050?
- How will this infrastructure differ from today’s energy systems?
- How much clean energy infrastructure needs to be deployed, and how quickly?
- What are the challenges for achieving rapid deployment on a large scale?
Overall, the report underscores the magnitude of the net-zero challenge: decarbonizing the U.S. economy by mid-century will require new clean energy infrastructure to be developed, financed, sited, and constructed at unprecedented rates. These results also highlight the economic benefits that a major national investment in infrastructure modernization can create: All regions of the country have an opportunity to develop new clean energy industries, and the energy-producing states of today can continue to lead domestic energy production in a net-zero future.