Power Sector Opportunities Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Tennessee

WRI analysis indicates that Tennessee can reduce its CO2 emissions by 41 percent below 2011 levels by 2020 through a combination of infrastructure optimization and clean energy adoption. Key opportunities include increasing the utilization of combined cycle natural gas plants to reduce emissions by 11 percent and achieving 1 percent annual energy savings to reduce emissions by 10 percent. Other measures include expanding combined heat and power (CHP) systems, improving coal plant efficiency, and continuing the growth of renewable energy generation.

• Tennessee has the potential to reduce its CO2 emissions by 41 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, a target that would meet or exceed ambitious EPA power plant emissions standards.
• Optimizing existing infrastructure offers significant reduction potential: running combined cycle (NGCC) natural gas plants at 75 percent capacity could reduce CO2 emissions by 11 percent below 2011 levels by 2020, while increasing combined heat and power (CHP) use to 25 percent of additional technical potential by 2030 could yield a 4 percent reduction by 2020.
• Clean energy initiatives provide further opportunities, specifically a 10 percent reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020 if the state achieves 1 percent annual energy savings, and a 9 percent reduction if renewable energy continues to grow at its previous decade's average rate of 2.9 percent per year.
• Operational improvements to existing coal plants, specifically increasing efficiency by 2.5 percent, could reduce CO2 emissions by 2 percent below 2011 levels by 2020.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Power Sector Opportunities Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Tennessee. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-tennessee

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Power Sector Opportunities Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Tennessee. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-tennessee.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Power Sector Opportunities Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Tennessee |url=https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-tennessee |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendpower, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Power Sector Opportunities Reducing Carbon Dioxide Emissions Tennessee}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/power-sector-opportunities-reducing-carbon-dioxide-emissions-tennessee}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }