The Best Route to Net-Zero Emissions (Jesse Jenkins, Harvard Kennedy School of Government and Harvard University Center for the Environment)

“What we found was that, across a huge range of future scenarios, the least cost path to zero emissions always included a substantial role for firm low-carbon resources (like natural gas with CCS or nuclear power).”

“Prices increase under every zero-emission scenario, but much more, and more sharply, in the absence of firm low carbon resources.” 

Jesse Jenkins uses optimization methods and empirical data to study two important trends: the transition to zero-carbon power systems and the proliferation of distributed energy resources. Jesse will earn his PhD in engineering systems at MIT’s Institute for Data Systems and Society this summer, and is currently an Environmental Fellow with the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.