whether there is a critical set of technologies required to
achieve the long-term stabilization goal.
2. What are the physical requirements of the transitions
described in questions 1? For example, what are the land
requirements; howmany power plants need to be built; and
what is the rate of capacity expansion? Are such transformations
constrained by resource limits and how do they
compare to historical technology deployment rates?
3. How do specific IAM characteristics affect the above questions?
We will attempt to explain the results by identifying
specific technologies on which different IAMs rely for
mitigation and the abilities of the IAMs to do large
technology upscaling or early retirement.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 provides a
brief background on the study design and scenario set-up.
Section 3 explores long-term CO2 emission pathways toward
the 450 ppm CO2e target after the period of optimal or
delayed mitigation actions under various technology availability
scenarios. Section 4 then examines the transformation of
the energy system with a particular emphasis on the characteristics
of technology deployment. Section 4.1 then discusses
the physical implications of such technology deployment, and
Section 4.2 offers conclusions.