The Carbon-Free City Handbook

The Carbon-Free City Handbook outlines a strategic framework for cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through immediate, economically viable actions. It categorizes recommendations into buildings, transportation and mobility, electricity, industry, and biological resources, emphasizing the importance of setting bold 100% targets to drive transformational change rather than incremental progress.

• Cities are significant contributors to global warming, accounting for up to 75% of all greenhouse gas emissions.
• The handbook advocates for the setting of bold, aspirational 100% targets—such as 100% renewable energy or net-zero energy buildings—to serve as a driving force for near-term actions and long-term vision.
• The transition to carbon-free cities relies on a three-part strategy: reducing energy consumption, electrifying systems to replace the burning of fossil fuels, and replacing electrified generation sources with carbon-free renewables.
• In large global cities, buildings typically represent the largest source of emissions, averaging 48% to 50% of the total.
• Transportation and mobility account for approximately 36% of emissions in an average large city, with heavy-duty vehicles expected to be the highest CO2 emitters in transport by 2035.
• Electricity generation contributes an average of 25% of emissions across all sectors in a typical large city.
• Industrial emissions can be significantly reduced through simple maintenance; insulating steam and condensate return lines and stopping steam leakage can reduce energy use by 20%.
• Biological resource management, specifically diverting organic waste from landfills, is critical because organic materials produce methane during anaerobic decomposition.
• Innovative financing is essential for implementation, including Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs), Green Banks, and Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) financing, the latter of which is primarily available in the USA and Australia.

APA

RMI (2017). The Carbon-Free City Handbook. https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-Carbon-Free-City-Handbook-1.0.pdf

Chicago

RMI. The Carbon-Free City Handbook. 2017. https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-Carbon-Free-City-Handbook-1.0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=The Carbon-Free City Handbook |date=November 2017 |url=https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-Carbon-Free-City-Handbook-1.0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2017carbonfree, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{The Carbon-Free City Handbook}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2017}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/the-Carbon-Free-City-Handbook-1.0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }