Zero Carbon Action Plan

America's Zero Carbon Action Plan

America's Zero Carbon Action Plan

Project Overview

The SDSN USA Network was launched in December 2018 with the mission to implement the SDGs in the US by building and mobilizing a national network of academic institutions. The priority on energy and climate work originated during discussions at the SDSN USA launch, in response to a need for an actionable national strategy for a just transition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. 


This project builds on the SDSN Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project, which published its report in 2015 and then a 350 PPM Pathways for the United States report in 2019. The 2019 report describes the changes in the U.S. energy system required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to a level consistent with returning atmospheric concentrations to 350 parts per million (350 ppm) in 2100, achieving net negative CO2 emissions by mid-century, and limiting end-of-century global warming to 1°C above pre-industrial levels. This work inspired the Zero Carbon Action Plan (ZCAP) which launched in early 2020.This plan will serve as roadmap for the U.S. based on the latest modeling, research and understanding of decarbonizing six key sectors (power, transport, industry, buildings, food and land use, and materials) supported by technical pathways to zero carbon by 2050, as well as supporting policy recommendations. 


The ZCAP was designed by a cohort of nearly 100 researchers and 19 Chairs who make up the Zero Carbon Consortium , who are experts in their fields of climate change policy across six key sectors: electricity (power) generation; transportation; industry; buildings; sustainable land-use; and sustainable materials management. The report is anchored in the modeling results from Evolved Energy Research (EER) and makes policy recommendations to support the transition of energy infrastructure throughout the country in line with carbon neutrality by mid-century. 


This report is available for download and seeks to provide an action plan for comprehensive climate change mitigation to inform federal policy makers, business leaders, and civil society more broadly across jurisdictions. 


If you would like to learn more or work with us through a partnership, please get in touch with one of the project managers.

Project Managers
Cross-Cutting Groups
Elena Crete

Sector Groups
Cheyenne Maddox

Download the Report Download the Executive Summary

In the days following the ZCAP launch, the Zero Carbon Consortium hosted a series of webinars focused on key chapters and strategic recommendations from the report related to: federal policy recommendations, elements of a just transition, power generation, transportation, food and land-use, materials, buildings, and industry. The full playlist of webinar recordings are available below. You can find individual links to each recording and presentations from the webinars below the playlist.

Cross-Cutting Working Groups

Chapter 1. Overall Policy Framework
Chapter 2. Technology Pathways to Net-Zero
Chapter 3. Industrial Policy, Employment, and Just Transition
Chapter 4.1 Federal Legislative and Administrative Framework
Chapter 4.2 States and Cities for Climate Action

Sector Working Groups

5.1 Accelerating Deep Decarbonization in the U.S. Power Sector
  • Overview

    The single most important transformation occurs through the decarbonization of power generation, which accounts for around 32 percent of total COâ‚‚ emissions from energy and industry in 2019. The ZCAP analysis anticipates a major shift to wind and solar energy -- with continued production from other zero-carbon sources, notably nuclear and hydropower. For purposes of maintaining electricity system reliability, a substantial fleet of gas-fired power generators needs to remain in place in 2050, roughly comparable to today’s level of capacity. However, these generators will run much less often than they do at present, comprising only a few percent of total electricity generation. 

5.2 Accelerating Deep Decarbonization in the U.S. Transportation Sector
  • Overview

    The transportation sector includes light-duty vehicles, heavy-duty vehicles (trucks), off-road vehicles, buses, rail, shipping, and aviation. Transportation emissions accounted for 37 percent of total COâ‚‚ emissions from energy and industry in 2019. The principal strategy for decarbonizing transportation is electrification (including battery, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen fuel cells) of all light-duty vehicles, urban-based trucks and buses, rail, much of long-haul trucking, and some short-haul shipping and aviation. For long-haul aviation and long-haul ocean shipping, advanced low-carbon biofuels and synthetic liquids or gases produced with renewable energy are the leading energy contenders. The second strategy builds on initiatives to reduce vehicle use and miles traveled while enhancing accessibility to health, education, jobs, and other services for the mobility disadvantaged. This transition will require a variety of actions by federal, state, and local governments as spelled out in detail in the report that follows.

5.3 Accelerating Net-Zero Emissions Industry in the U.S.
  • Overview

    Industry accounts for 20 percent of COâ‚‚ emissions from energy. A relatively large share of industry emissions from light industries such as manufacturing of durable goods, food and textile processing, and even mining and non-ferrous metal production may be avoided by coordinated efficiency improvements, electrification, and decarbonization of electricity generation. Other industries – such as iron and steel, cement, and feedstock chemicals – are of particular interest in a decarbonization context precisely because their conventional production processes entail emissions that are difficult to avoid and their capital infrastructure tends to be long-lived. Fortunately, even for these sectors, there are technical solutions available such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) at industrial facilities, hydrogen, supplementary materials and fillers, and other synthetic fuel replacements and substitutions. 

5.4 Accelerating Deep Decarbonization in the U.S. Buildings Sector
  • Overview

    Buildings, both residential and commercial, account for 12 percent of direct COâ‚‚ emissions. Buildings built between now and 2050 will comprise 30 percent of the building stock in 2050, making low-carbon buildings an essential element of any deep decarbonization strategy. In this regard, the ZCAP proposes a new National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) to ensure that new buildings constructed after 2025 will not burn fossil fuels onsite, will be highly energy efficient, and will be constructed using low-carbon techniques and materials. The NECB and federal appliance standards should also ensure that replacement equipment and appliances in existing buildings will be energy efficient and largely electrified. 

5.5 Accelerating Sustainable Land Use Practices in the U.S.
  • Overview

    Land use policies impact every aspect of the transition to zero greenhouse emissions, including: siting of renewable energy, next generation biofuels, reforestation, soil carbon, and emissions from agriculture and livestock. The complexity of policy choices in this area will require new efforts at RDD&D, new inter-agency planning, and enhanced cooperation of all levels of government with each other and with impacted communities. 

5.6 Accelerating Sustainable Materials Management in the U.S.
  • Overview

    The ZCAP calls for a new national framework for Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) and a Circular Economy (CE) based on the pillars of “reduce, reuse, recycle.” Much of the negative climate impact in the United States comes from the materials and food consumed. This includes the entire materials supply chain, from manufacturing, transportation and usage, to final disposition of materials. An integrated SMM and CE approach would help to reduce pollution, drive job creation, spur energy efficiency, and lower GHG emissions. SMM and CE objectives should thus be incorporated into a range of federal policies as well as free-trade agreements and the work of international organizations. 

Supplemental Reading

Use of spatial information in national climate strategies

September 14, 2020

As biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation continue largely unabated, it is becoming critical to strengthen nature-based solutions in national climate strategies, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Low-Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Spatial data is necessary to identify priority areas for conservation and restoration that underpin nature-based solutions. In this working paper we determine to what extent governments incorporate maps and other spatial information in their climate strategies. 
Low-Carbon Transition Strategies for the Southeast United States

March 12, 2020

This report explores unique opportunities and challenges for the Southeast region (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee) in the broader context of the transformative changes to the U.S. energy system that are required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net-zero emissions in 2050. The scale and rate of physical changes to the U.S. energy system will be significant, and the Southeast will play a critical role in enabling a national transition. The implications of these changes for the region will be far-reaching, offering opportunities to grow new industries and jobs, as well as the chance to deploy climate mitigation and adaption policies that help to ensure an equitable energy transition.
Low-Carbon Transition Strategies for the Midwest United States

January 24, 2020

This report explores unique opportunities and challenges for the Midwest region in the broader context of the transformative changes to the U.S. energy system that are required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to net-zero emissions in 2050. The scale and rate of physical changes to the U.S. energy system will be significant, and the Midwest will play a critical role in enabling a national transition. The implications of these changes to the region will be far-reaching, offering opportunities to grow new industries and jobs, as well as the chance to deploy climate mitigation and adaption policies that focus on ensuring an equitable energy transition.
Pathways Project: Transitioning to Carbon Neutrality in the U.S.

January 23, 2020

This presentation was prepared as part of the U.S. Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project by Jim Williams of the University of San Francisco; Ryan Jones, Ben Haley, and Jamil Farbes of Evolved Energy Research; Grace Wu of NCEAS; Erin Mayfield of Princeton University; and Margaret S. Torn of Berkeley Lab.
350 PPM Pathways for the United States

May 8, 2019

This report describes the changes in the U.S. energy system required to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to a level consistent with returning atmospheric concentrations to 350 parts per million (350 ppm) in 2100, achieving net negative CO2 emissions by mid-century, and limiting end-of-century global warming to 1°C above pre-industrial levels. The main finding is that 350 ppm pathways that meet all current and forecast U.S. energy needs are technically feasible using existing technology, and that multiple alternative pathways can meet these objectives in the case of limits on some key decarbonization strategies. These pathways are economically viable, with a net increase in the cost of supplying and using energy equivalent to about 2% of GDP, up to a maximum of 3% of GDP, relative to the cost of a business-as-usual baseline.
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