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Decarbonization is a goal shared by industry, policy makers and advocacy groups, but efforts to reduce carbon often fall short of stated objectives because of challenges posed by incomplete solutions and conflicting regulatory and policy regimes. Members of the panel shared insights on successful decarbonization strategies and how to better address challenges. President of the Alliance to Save Energy (Alliance), Paula Glover described the Alliance’s decarbonization strategy, the “Energy 2040” initiative, which focuses on demand as well as supply. Glover went on to say this strategy aims to correct the over-use of supply side solutions with the reduce demand through efficiency, an equally valuable tool to reduce carbon.

It is difficult to look at decarbonization without considering its human implications. Disadvantaged households are at greatest risk to the negative effects of too much carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, such as extreme weather and high energy bills. Greg Kats, CEO at Smart Surfaces Coalition noted that in Baltimore, poorer areas are 14 degrees hotter in the summer than wealthier parts of the city. The Smart Surfaces Coalition has advanced construction technologies and related policy changes in Baltimore have empowered the city to reduce heat at 10 times the rate of global warming.

An additional takeaway from the discussion is that money alone is not the answer to decarbonization. Capital Power’s Director of Government Relations (US) Jon Sohn shared how Capital Power is drawing on a combination of carbon capture technologies, clear milestones and investment to reach its net zero carbon goals by 2045. Black & Veatch Senior Vice President and Sustainability Leader Deepa Poduvol discussed Black & Veatch’s emphasis of taking a life cycle perspective and investing in sustainable, effective and efficient practices, which has allowed it to innovate and scale up the more than 7,000 projects in which it is engaged globally.

To listen to the complete discussion, a recording of the webinar is available here:

Welcome and Moderator

Clint Vince, Chair of the US Energy practice, Co-chair of the Global Energy sector for the US Region, and Co-chair of the Global Smart Cities & Connected Communities Think Tank, Dentons

Opening remarks

Panelists:

• Paula Glover, President, Alliance to Save Energy
• Greg Kats, CEO, Smart Surfaces Coalition
• Jon Sohn, Director, Government Relations (US), Capital Power
• Deepa Poduval, Senior Vice President, Sustainability Leader, Black & Veatch

View speaker bios here.

Questions

For more information or if you have any questions regarding this series, please contact smart.cities@dentons.com.