Study Outlines Economic Impact Of 80% Carbon-Dioxide Cut in the U.K. by 2050

The U.K.’s commitment to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 80% by 2050 is doable but will have a big impact on its building stock, infrastructure and economy, says a new report by Parsons Brinckerhoff, the New York City-based unit of U.K.-based contractor Balfour Beatty LLC. Based on two years of research, the report is one of the first independent studies of the “full implications” of the 2050 mandate on the U.K.’s power, transportation, industrial and building sectors, says PB. The report notes impacts such as the need to build extensive battery-charging infrastructure to meet the planned need for electric vehicles, develop and apply carbon-capture technology in industrial sectors without undermining their global competitiveness and develop a “holistic” approach to electricity production, transmission, distribution and control of demand to transition away from fossil fuels.