The Carbon-Free City Handbook

The Carbon-Free City Handbook, published by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) in November 2017, provides a guide for city governments to implement 22 "no-regrets" actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The handbook focuses on five key sectors: buildings, transportation and mobility, electricity, industry, and biological resources, offering a framework for cities to transition toward 100% renewable energy and carbon-free operations through immediate, actionable, and economically viable policies.

• The handbook identifies 22 specific recommendations for cities to become carbon-free, categorized by their impact: "Lead by Example" (direct political control), "Structural Citywide Change" (within city powers), and "Enabling Mechanisms" (creating opportunities for others).
• Cities are identified as critical actors in climate mitigation because they are responsible for up to 75% of all global greenhouse gas emissions.
• The guide advocates for the setting of bold, aspirational 100% targets (e.g., 100% renewable energy or net-zero energy buildings) to provide visionary leadership and momentum, rather than relying on slow, incremental change.
• In the buildings sector, the handbook recommends deep energy retrofits for city-owned properties, phasing in net-zero energy requirements for new construction, and implementing energy-use benchmarking and transparency policies.
• Transportation strategies focus on the electrification of municipal fleets, the phasing out of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in city centers, and the rapid deployment of public transit solutions like Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).
• To transition electricity generation, the handbook suggests installing solar PV on all available municipal sites and securing renewable energy supplies through mechanisms such as power purchase agreements (PPAs) or green tariffs.
• Industrial emissions can be reduced by converting process heat loads to low-carbon fuels, replacing inefficient motors with variable-speed models, and establishing energy management training for plant operators.
• Biological resource management recommendations include diverting all organic waste from landfills to reduce methane, investing in urban forestry to create carbon sinks, and promoting plant-based diets.
• The handbook outlines various financing mechanisms to enable these projects, including Energy Performance Contracts (EPCs), Green Banks, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) in the USA and Australia, and Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs).

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} }