Decarbonizer - Carbon Solutions New England
Carbon Solutions New England’s Decarbonizer is an online modeling tool that you can use to calculate reductions in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from different greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The Decarbonizer comes in two different versions: 1) New Hampshire only and, 2) New England.
The NH version of the Decarbonizer modeling tool complements the New Hampshire Climate Action Plan and can be used to visualize the impacts of different action items considered in the Plan.
How to use the Decarbonizer
The solutions listed in the table of contents on the left side of the Decarbonizer model are separated into four categories (which correspond with the categories in the NH Climate Action Plan):
- AFW (Agriculture, Forestry and Waste),
- RCI (Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Buildings),
- TLU (Transportation and Land Use), and
- EGU (Electricity Generation and Use).
To view the impact of a particular solution, click to expand a solution category in the table of contents, select a solution name from the list, then click the ‘Re-plot’ button. A graph will appear on the right which shows a ‘business-as-usual’ projection of emissions, with the reductions in annual greenhouse gas emissions rates subtracted from the projection as a colored ‘wedge.’
To avoid double counting of emissions reductions, only one solution can be chosen per category, however the reductions associated with the combinations recommended by the New Hampshire Climate Chance Policy Task Force can be viewed by selecting the ‘Combination’ solution for each category. New combinations can be plotted at any time by selecting another set of solutions and clicking ‘Re-plot’ again. Below the plot of greenhouse gas emissions you will also find a plot which shows the carbon emissions reductions along with the net economic impact in the year 2025.
Additional Resources
- For more information on using the Decarbonizer, please refer to the Decarbonizer Help and Analysis Approach document. The codes used to refer to the solutions in the Decarbonizer are listed in the Decarbonizer Help and Analysis Approach document.
- For more information on the individual solutions and the recommended combination strategies, please refer to the New Hampshire Climate Action Plan and its appendices.
- For additional information on the ‘wedge’ approach to emissions reductions, readers are directed to the 2004 review paper in Science by Pacala and Sokolow (http://www.carbonsequestration.us/Papers-presentations/htm/Pacala-Socolow-ScienceMag-Aug2004.pdf).