The Tennessee Valley Authority is going over the findings from a landmark Valley Pathways Study and presented the results at the quarterly Board of Directors meeting Wednesday.
According to a news release, the study is the first of its kind for the region which includes parts of seven Southeast states and quantifies carbon emission sources by economic sectors and evaluates actionable strategies for the region to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Dr. Charles Sims says the data shows that there is no one solution to achieving net-zero emissions and agencies across all economic sectors will need to work together to achieve that goal.
He goes on to say, “Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is not just a case of electrifying everything and pushing the electricity sector to phase out all fossil fuels. Electricity still needs to strive toward net zero, but shifting all the responsibility to TVA, will not achieve economy-wide net-zero and may make achieving those goals more costly than it needs to be.”
The study shows that electrifying light-duty vehicles is a large carbon reduction opportunity, as is making homes and businesses more energy efficient. Also, developing low-carbon fuels and education and innovation across all sectors.
TVA CEO and President Jeff Lyash says the study will help identify what approach should be taken to help the TVA, and others in the region, meet their goal of carbon reduction.
He says they’ll be glad to see more from this study moving forward.
The Tennessee Valley region emits 200 million tonnes of carbon each year – about three percent of U.S. carbon emissions. As of 2019, the region’s carbon emissions have fallen by 78 million tonnes or 30 percent since 2005. Much of that is attributable to a 50 percent reduction in emissions from TVA’s electricity generation and 39 percent reduction from agriculture due to the adoption of no-till farming