New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection released its Scientific Report on Climate Change which estimated that sea-levels could rise by as much as 5.1 feet by the year 2100 and 8.3 feet by the year 2150, eroding large land areas of the state, risking near total loss of the State’s barrier islands, and devastating tourism and larger economy. Meeting the 80×50 goal will require a “seismic shift” over the next 30 years. Three strategies are proposed and explored:
- replacing internal combustion vehicles with electric vehicles
- converting space and water heating in the residential and commercial buildings to electric heat
- replacing fossil fuels in the electric generation sector with renewable energy sources
Elaborating on each of these.
Transportation:
- Ensure adoption rates of at least 111,000 new electric vehicles annually through 2025 with continued increasing adoption rates until all new sales of light-duty cars, SUVs, and trucks are electric by 2035.
- Construct a statewide electric vehicle charging network.
- Transition to complete electrification of government vehicle fleets
- Identify regulatory, funding and financing mechanisms to convert medium- and heavy-duty vehicles to electric, renewable biodiesel and hydrogen fuel sources.
Residential and commercial buildings
- Develop a Buildings Electrification Roadmap
- Prioritize near-term conversion of buildings relying on propane and heating oil
- Legislate that all new construction and upgrades to facilitate the transition to a decarbonized building sector.
- Mandate energy audits in all government buildings
- Adopt new construction net zero carbon goals for commercial and residential buildings.
Electric Generation
- Pursue the rapid development of renewable electric generation.
- Implement regulatory limitations on CO2 emissions.
- Limit reliance upon and development of new fossil fuel-powered electric generating units and transition existing natural gas infrastructure for deployment of alternative low-carbon or carbon neutral fuels.
- Adapt the electric grid to accommodate distributed energy resources such as solar PV and battery storage
- Manage loads and improve efficiency to reduce demand and optimize energy use.
- Retain existing carbon-free resources, including the state’s three nuclear power plants.
[NB: One of a variety of roadvmapping efforts underway to achieve massive GHG emission reductions and to reorient energy generation and use in a fundamental fashion by 2050.]
