Carbon Free Prosperity 2025
The following is an excerpt from Carbon Free Propsperity 2025. To read the full report, please download the PDF file by clicking on the link to the left.
We stand at a unique crossroads in history: the transition from polluting, resource constrained, fossil-based energy systems to those built on sustainable, renewable, resource-efficient systems. This historic and unprecedented shift, which is occurring within the electric utility market, the transportation sector, and the built environment, offers the promise of greatly reducing the Pacific Northwest’s collective impact on the planet while helping to ensure the livelihoods and well-being of future generations. In a time of deep national economic uncertainty, it also offers one of the greatest opportunities for wealth- and job-creation in more than a generation.
In Carbon-Free Prosperity 2025 we highlight how Oregon and Washington can create green jobs, deliver energy security, and thrive in the global clean-tech marketplace. In a fiercely competitive environment, the Northwest is already leading in a number of critical and emerging clean-energy segments. The region is home to one of the largest planned wind farms in the world; the largest planned U.S. solar crystalline photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing facility; the world’s first silicon feedstock production facility completely dedicated to solar; and the largest global manufacturer of advanced meter reading (AMR) devices.
In this report, we outline:
- The region’s key assets (strengths)and barriers (weaknesses)
- The top five clean-tech opportunities for the region, according to our interview and research findings
- A 10-point action plan for reaching carbon-free prosperity in Oregon and Washington
- How the region can be the first in the nation to achieve approximately 75 percent of its electricity supply from carbon-free sources (hydropower + renewables) by 2025
- How the region can create between 41,000 and 63,000 direct jobs by 2025 in just five clean-tech sectors
The study is based on interviews with more than 50 industry, financial, and policy experts in the Northwest, and leverages proprietary Clean Edge data on market sizing, employment figures, and other key market factors.