Clean Energy Blueprint

The Clean Energy Blueprint proposes a comprehensive set of policies to increase energy efficiency and renewable energy in the US. By 2020, the plan aims to have non-hydro renewables provide 20% of electricity, reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by two-thirds compared to business-as-usual, and save consumers $440 billion. The report argues that these measures would eliminate the need for 975 new power plants and significantly reduce reliance on coal and natural gas.

• The Clean Energy Blueprint could enable the United States to meet 20 percent of its electricity needs through renewable sources—including wind, biomass, geothermal, and solar—by 2020.
• Implementation of the Blueprint is projected to save consumers a total of $440 billion between 2002 and 2020, with annual savings reaching $105 billion per year by 2020.
• Compared to business-as-usual projections for 2020, the Blueprint would reduce the use of natural gas by 31 percent and coal by nearly 60 percent.
• The Blueprint would reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by two-thirds by 2020 relative to business-as-usual, while reducing sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions by more than 55 percent.
• The proposed policies would avoid the need for 975 new power plants (300 MW each), retire 180 old coal plants (500 MW each), and retire 14 existing nuclear plants (1,000 MW each).
• The Blueprint would save more oil over 18 years than is economically recoverable from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge over 60 years, specifically saving 410 million barrels of oil per year by 2020.
• Under the Blueprint, average natural gas prices in 2020 would be 27 percent lower than under the business-as-usual scenario.
• The Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Investment Act of 2001 (S. 1333), which includes a subset of Blueprint policies, would save consumers $70 billion between 2002 and 2020 and reduce coal use by 24 percent compared to business as usual by 2020.
• In a scenario with natural gas prices 20 percent higher than business-as-usual, the annual savings from the Blueprint would increase to nearly $132 billion per year by 2020.

APA

CLEMMER, S., DONOVAN, D., NOGEE, A., & DEYETTE, J. (2001). Clean Energy Blueprint. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/blueprint.pdf

Chicago

CLEMMER, STEVEN, DEBORAH DONOVAN, ALAN NOGEE, and JEFF DEYETTE. Clean Energy Blueprint. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2001. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/blueprint.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CLEMMER |first1=STEVEN |last2=DONOVAN |first2=DEBORAH |last3=NOGEE |first3=ALAN |last4=DEYETTE |first4=JEFF |title=Clean Energy Blueprint |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=October 2001 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/blueprint.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clemmer2001clean, author = {CLEMMER, STEVEN and DONOVAN, DEBORAH and NOGEE, ALAN and DEYETTE, JEFF}, title = {{Clean Energy Blueprint}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2001}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/blueprint.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }