Infrastructure for a Low-carbon Planet

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National governments and international institutions are developing infrastructure plans that will achieve deep reductions in energy-related greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. The key technological strategies for deep decarbonization identified by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are: decarbonizing power supply; increasing energy efficiency; and substituting electricity for fossil fuel use in engines, furnaces, and other devices. A growing literature has begun to wrestle with the infrastructure requirements for providing national or global energy supply for such a low carbon future. There are, however, deeper, substantial implications for the planning, development or reuse of other infrastructure systems, which have received little attention. In short, if by mid-century, the world no longer needs to burn fossil fuels, then it no longer needs to transport them either, nor construct new infrastructure for doing so.*******The overarching objective of this research program is to understand how evolution to a low-carbon world will impact the development of fossil fuel conveying infrastructure – in particular railways, marine ports and others such as pipelines and refineries.*******Sub-objectives are to:****1. Determine the degree of coupling between demands for fossil fuels and demands for railways, marine ports and other fossil fuel infrastructure.****2. Estimate the annual cost savings to 2050 for rail, marine and fossil fuel infrastructure under deep decarbonization.****3. Estimate changes in environmental impacts associated with the reduced infrastructure requirements.****4. Assess alternative uses of fossil fuel infrastructure.***