The U.S. is on pace to slash greenhouse gas emissions as much as 56 percent by 2035 compared with 2005, but the reductions will depend in part on how the power sector responds to forecasts for soaring demand, the Rhodium Group said Tuesday.
Demand for electricity could jump between 24 and 29 percent from now by 2035, according to the report, driven by both electrification of buildings and transportation as well as data centers and manufacturing.
Researchers behind the new report studied the effects that existing laws and incentives could have on emissions over the next decade, saying current policies “have never been stronger for achieving even deeper cuts to emissions.” Still, the Rhodium Group put the greenhouse gas emissions reductions from 2005 to 2035 as low as 38 percent if major policy pieces like the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act and some EPA pollution rules remain intact.
The report from the research firm did not study scenarios that include changes to policies in legislation such as the Inflation Reduction Act and the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. The next president — likely Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump — and the nation’s highest court could help shift emissions trends starting next year.
