① According to a report released on Wednesday, US investment in wind and solar power plants reached a record level last year, but even at such an astonishing rate of expansion, it failed to reach the level needed to meet US climate goals; ② US President Joe Biden signed the “Inflation Reduction Act” in August 2022, which requires a 40% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030.
Financial Services, Feb. 21 (Editor Xia Junxiong) -- US investment in wind and solar power plants reached a record level last year, but even at such an astonishing rate of expansion, it has failed to reach the level needed to meet America's climate goals, according to a report released on Wednesday.
Researchers from Princeton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rhodium Group (Rhodium), and the non-profit organization Energy Innovation have published a joint report analyzing the progress of the US in making the investments needed to meet the 2030 emissions reduction targets.
US President Joe Biden signed the “Inflation Reduction Act” in August 2022. The bill is the largest climate bill in US history. It will invest 369 billion US dollars in energy security and climate investments, with the goal of reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2030.
According to the report, US utility companies' large-scale clean energy facilities have been blocked due to licensing, grid interconnection delays, and procurement challenges, yet sales of electric vehicles have met researchers' predictions.
According to the data, zero-emission vehicles accounted for 9.2% of light vehicle sales last year, and were at the high end of the expected range of 8.1% to 9.4%. The organizations said in the report that the increase in electric vehicle sales this year may not be as high as the 50% increase last year, but if kept within the 30% to 40% range, there is still hope that the US climate target will be met.
Last year, zero-emission generation and energy storage in the US grew by 32% to 32.3 gigawatts, and the research organization's model shows that to meet emission reduction targets, an increase of 46 to 79 gigawatts per year is required.
According to the report, the US will have to increase its installed capacity by 60 to 127 gigawatts this year, but the installed capacity may fall below this range; starting in 2025, the installed capacity of clean energy should be further increased, reaching 70 to 126 gigawatts per year.