Zeroing In: Lessons from the European Climate Foundation's Roadmap 2050 Project

When European Union (EU) leaders committed, in October 2009, to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 80%, they essentially set up a long-term vision of the European economy?s moving toward a low-carbon society and a zero-carbon power sector by 2050. It remained unclear, however, whether that was at all possible from a technical and economic point of view, and if so, how the transition could be managed in a secure and cost-effective way.