Policy Evaluation
The Carbon Free Boston project will assess the effects of specific policies on greenhouse gas emissions in four sectors of the City of Boston: energy, transportation, waste, and buildings. The extent to which a policy is evaluated will vary, depending in part on the extent and and quality of data. This list of policies was developed from (i) a review of other city’s mitigation plans by the ISE, (i) C40’s Deadline 2020 report, (ii) a 2016 scoping report for the Green Ribbon Commission, (iii) recommendations by the City of Boston’s Environment Department, and this project’s advisory committees for energy, buildings, transportation, and waste.
POLICY, STRATEGY, SCENARIO | SECTOR | CATEGORY |
Transportation Sector | ||
Evaluate different market penetration scenarios for EV’s | Trans. | Vehicle Selection |
Incentivize adoption of alternative fuel vehicles:
|
Trans. | Vehicle Selection |
Change the cost of driving through various parameters:
|
Trans. | Trip Selection |
Car Bans
|
Transportation | Car Ban |
Impact of ride hailing on trip demand | Transportation | Trip Selection |
Promote carpooling, ride-sharing, car-sharing, and High Occupancy Vehicle lanes
|
Trans. | Smart Mobility |
Improve bikeability
|
Trans. | Active Transit |
Improve walkability | Trans. | Active Transit |
Improve Bus Efficiency | Trans. | Public Transit |
Implement projects in Go Boston 2030; assume passenger increase based on typical load factors and estimated service levels. | Transportation | Public Transit |
Convert public transit, government, commercial, and taxi fleets to no- to low-carbon energy (electric, hybrid, natural gas, hydrogen) | Transportation | Fleets |
Reduced transit fares/pass subsidies for workers. | Trans. | TDM |
TDM/trip reduction requirements for either new development or all workplaces > X employees. | Trans. | TDM |
TDM requirements for new residential (10+ units) modeled after San Francisco ordinance. | Trans. | TDM |
Electrify buses and commuter rail. | Trans. | Public Transit |
Electrify Class 5-7 trucks. | Trans. | Freight |
Autonomous Vehicle Impact on traffic efficiency | Trans. | Traffic Efficiency |
Energy Sector | ||
80% Renewables by 2050 for MA Retail Electricity Sales | Energy | Grid |
Renewable Gas Supply (H2, biogas) | Energy | Gas |
Leak mitigation policy | Energy | Gas |
In city solar generation Mandate/incentivize solar panels on roofs, Implement measures to ensure that PV owners can interconnect to the grid with standardized rules, minimized fees, and reasonable feed-in tariffs; |
Energy | In-city renewables |
Install distributed renewable energy generation (e.g. solar) on city facilities | Energy | In-city renewables |
Procure all municipal electricity from renewable sources | Energy | Procurement |
Develop a comprehensive procurement framework to attribute emissions reductions to alternative sourcing of electricity. Evaluate cost allocation strategies:
|
Energy | Procurement |
Offsets
|
Energy | Offsets |
Buildings | ||
Develop Low EUI & Electric New Building Archetypes | Buildings | New Builds |
Develop Existing Building Archetypes and retrofit & electrification strategies | Buildings | Existing Buildings |
Low – No Carbon New Builds
|
Buildings | New Builds |
Retrofitting
|
Buildings | Existing Buildings |
Establish minimum energy efficiency standards for rental housing | Buildings | All Buildings |
Require energy audits, rating, and disclosure, expanded BERDO, improved tracking | Buildings | All Buildings |
Aggressive retrofits of city buildings | Buildings | Existing Buildings |
Force the retirement or conversion of in-boundary and neighboring fossil-fuel district energy plants | Buildings & Energy Supply | Current District Energy |
District energy requirements for new developments above a certain size threshold | Buildings & Energy Supply | New District Energy & New Growth |
High density development | Trans. & Buildings | Land Use |
First mover groups achieve EUI targets by target dates | First Movers Buildings | Existing Buildings |
First mover groups achieve 100% Renewable at target dates | First Movers Energy | Procurement |
Boston Growth Scenario | Growth | Land Use |
Waste | ||
Increase rate of recycling for materials in MSW waste stream | Waste | |
Increase dviersion of organics in MSW stream to composting | Waste | |
Reduce GHG emissions from wastewater treatment | Waste |