Infrastructure for a Low-carbon Planet

各国政府和国际机构正在制定基础设施计划，以实现到本世纪中叶大幅减少与能源有关的温室气体排放。政府间气候变化专门委员会确定的深度脱碳的关键技术战略是：电力供应脱碳；提高能源效率；用电力取代发动机、熔炉和其他设备中使用的化石燃料。越来越多的文献已经开始探讨为如此低碳的未来提供国家或全球能源供应的基础设施要求。然而，这对其他基础设施系统的规划、开发或再利用产生了更深层次的重大影响，这些系统几乎没有受到重视。简而言之，如果到本世纪中叶，世界不再需要燃烧化石燃料，那么它也不再需要运输它们，也不再需要为此建设新的基础设施。这项研究计划的总体目标是了解向低碳世界的演变将如何影响化石燃料运输基础设施的发展，特别是铁路、海运港口以及其他如管道和炼油厂等其他设施的发展。次目标是：1.确定对化石燃料的需求与对铁路、海运港口和其他化石燃料基础设施的需求之间的耦合程度。估计到2050年，在深度脱碳的情况下，铁路、海洋和化石燃料基础设施每年节省的成本。估计与基础设施需求减少相关的环境影响变化。评估化石燃料基础设施的替代用途。

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.