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Meeting 2030 Primary Energy And Economic Growth Goals Mission Impossible, Matthew K. Heun, Paul E. Brockway
Meeting 2030 Primary Energy And Economic Growth Goals Mission Impossible, Matthew K. Heun, Paul E. Brockway
University Faculty Publications and Creative Works
To meet climate change mitigation objectives, international institutions have adopted targets aimed at reducing or ending growth of primary energy consumption. Simultaneously, continued economic growth is forecasted to meet human development goals. Together, declining energy consumption and rising gross domestic product (GDP)is called “absolute decoupling.” However, absolute decoupling is unprecedented for the world economy as a whole (since at least 1971). Is absolute decoupling “Mission impossible?” Given the high stakes, we need a clearer understanding of the extent of future energy–GDP decoupling. To gain that understanding, we perform societal exergy analyses using a novel Physical Supply Use Table framework to …