United States Mid-Century Strategy FOR DEEP DECARBONIZATION

The United States Mid-Century Strategy (MCS) provides a roadmap for deep decarbonization by 2050, focusing on three primary pillars: transitioning to a low-carbon energy system, enhancing the land carbon sink, and reducing non-CO2 emissions. The strategy emphasizes a combination of aggressive energy efficiency, near-complete decarbonization of the electricity grid, and the deployment of carbon removal technologies like BECCS. It argues that these goals are compatible with robust economic growth and suggests that a carbon price starting at $20 per metric ton in 2017 could put energy CO2 emissions on a consistent pathway. The report also highlights the critical role of U.S. forests and soils in sequestering carbon and the necessity of international cooperation to drive down technology costs and prevent emissions leakage.

• The United States aims for economy-wide net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions of 80 percent or more below 2005 levels by 2050.
• The energy system is responsible for approximately 80 percent of U.S. GHG emissions, and the MCS targets reductions in energy system CO2 emissions of 74 to 86 percent across its scenarios.
• By 2050, the MCS envisions an electricity system where nearly all fossil fuel production is replaced by low-carbon technologies, with the Benchmark scenario projecting a mix of 55 percent renewables, 17 percent nuclear, and 20 percent fossil fuels with CCUS.
• To achieve the MCS Benchmark scenario, the U.S. would need to expand its forests by 40-50 million acres over the next 20-35 years, which would recover one-third of the forestland lost since 1850.
• The land sector and CO2 removal technologies are estimated to potentially sequester between 30 and 50 percent of economy-wide GHG emissions by 2050.
• Non-CO2 emissions, including methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, currently account for 20 percent of total U.S. GHG emissions on a CO2 equivalent basis.
• An effective carbon price starting at $20 per metric ton in 2017 and increasing steadily would be sufficient to put energy CO2 emissions on a pathway consistent with the MCS vision.
• The 'Beyond 80' scenario demonstrates that deeper emissions reductions are possible if global clean energy innovation and deployment create a virtuous cycle that further reduces technology costs.
• Between 2008 and 2015, the U.S. demonstrated that economic growth and emissions reductions can coexist, with the economy growing by 10 percent while energy CO2 emissions fell by 9 percent.
• The strategy identifies carbon-beneficial bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) as the most mature CO2 removal technology for providing negative emissions.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (2016). United States Mid-Century Strategy FOR DEEP DECARBONIZATION. https://www.eesi.org/files/us_mid_century_strategy.pdf

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. United States Mid-Century Strategy FOR DEEP DECARBONIZATION. 2016. https://www.eesi.org/files/us_mid_century_strategy.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=United States Mid-Century Strategy FOR DEEP DECARBONIZATION |date=November 2016 |url=https://www.eesi.org/files/us_mid_century_strategy.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitute2016united, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{United States Mid-Century Strategy FOR DEEP DECARBONIZATION}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, year = {2016}, month = nov, url = {https://www.eesi.org/files/us_mid_century_strategy.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }