CNBC
Feb 25, 2022
The city of Ithaca, NY has recently taken a commendable decision to begin operations on a 100% de-carbonization plan.
The Paris agreement, an international treaty on climate change was adopted by 196 parties and was enforced in November 2016. Its primary goal is to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels and attain carbon neutrality. With many countries now actively working towards this goal, rapid decarbonization has emerged as a prime factor in alleviating climate change.
Many organizations including Apple Inc. have pledged to be entirely carbon neutral by 2030. Put simply, de-carbonization is the process of reducing all man-made carbon emissions, with the ultimate goal of eliminating them. The city of Ithaca, NY has recently taken a commendable decision to begin operations on a 100% de-carbonization plan. The city already boasts an impressive 80% of power generation from clean, renewable sources. The city’s sustainability director has zeroed in on residential and commercial buildings as the first area to tackle, buildings being the most carbon-intensive segment at 40%.
By 2022, the city is also planning to introduce a program to supply affordable EVs for its citizens. One of the largest initiatives of its kind to be undertaken in the US, the project has the backing of a sizable amount of private funding in addition to government support. Ithaca’s weather is primarily extreme, with cold winters and warm summers. So, this city may prove to be an important test case to determine the various challenges that could emerge in a decarbonization plan developed for other cities.
We at ENPOSS applaud the city of Ithaca for beginning the journey of effecting sweeping change and emerging as a frontrunner in the de-carbonization revolution. This could pave the way for many other cities around the world to successfully emulate a de-carbonization model.