California Succeeding with Clean Energy Goals, Report Shows
California becomes ground zero in the battle of combating climate change with leaders descending on Northern California for the Global Climate Action Summit in mid-September. The goal: articulating near-term climate change research accomplishments while identifying future actions needed to meet climate goals.
A key report that will be highlighted during the summit is the California Energy Commission's Toward A Clean Energy Future, which discuss how the states continues to lead in increasing renewable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG).
The report details California’s progress in setting innovative energy policy, promoting a clean energy economy, assuring energy resiliency, and supporting disadvantaged and low-income communities.
In some cases, California is ahead of its ambitious renewable energy goals, such as sourcing 32 percent of its electric energy from renewable energy in 2017. This puts California on track to surpass its goal of sourcing 33 percent of its electric energy from renewable energy by 2020, as set in its Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) - one of the most ambitious renewable energy policies in the nation.
California has succeeded in growing its economy into the fifth largest in the world while also taking steps to control GHG. California’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown 46 percent since 2000. GDP growth in the United States was 35 percent during that period, according to the report. Although the economy grew, California lowered its GHG by 9 percent.
A myriad of state efforts aimed at spurring a cleaner energy future for California are summarized in the report – including transitioning to zero-emission transportation and developing and adopting advanced clean fuel technologies.
California has a goal of having 5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the state’s roads by 2030. Already, the state is home to 50 percent of all ZEVs in the nation. The report says there are 420,000 ZEVs in California, with 15,000 public charging stations to power them.
The report is the first of a two-volume 2018 Integrated Energy Policy Report (IEPR) Update. The Energy Commission prepares the IEPR, which provides a comprehensive integrated policy approach to solving the state’s energy needs and issues, every two years and the IEPR Update in the intervening year.
Volume II of the report is scheduled for adoption in February 2019. That report will provide more detail on several key energy issues and will encompass new analyses, as well as significant opportunities for public participation.
To read the report click here.
