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.