Drawdown Georgia Research Portal

Drawdown Georgia aims to accelerate progress toward net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Georgia. Our team of university researchers (from Georgia Tech, UGA, Emory, and Georgia State), and community partners (Southface Institute, Greenlink Analytics, Partnership for Southern Equity, and others) is providing a science-based approach to achieving the Drawdown Georgia goal.

Georgia Tech hosts this Drawdown Georgia Research Portal (with funding by the Ray C. Anderson Foundation). Visit the Drawdown Georgia website

Geospatial Tracking, Business Engagement, and Solution Activation

Track the GHG Footprint of GA Counties and Metro Areas

In the second phase of Drawdown Georgia, we are going to develop a geospatial system to track county- and metro-level, monthly greenhouse gas (GHG) estimates for Georgia. This system will focus on Georgia’s 159 counties and its energy-intensive sectors, e.g., electricity, transportation, buildings, and industry. On top of that, we would also estimate the amount of carbon emissions that are absorbed by Georgia’s forests and agricultural soils. These data will be visualized as an interactive map in a “Georgia Emissions Dashboard” where users can explore county-level data. By increasing GHG monitoring transparency, we can identify counties and sectors that are leading the state to carbon neutrality, those with large carbon footprints, and peers who can share winning strategies.

 Drawdown Georgia Emissions Dashboard 

Engage Business on Drawdown Georgia

The Drawdown Georgia project has demonstrated that there is a path to significant carbon emission reductions in Georgia by 2030 across a set of high-impact solutions. To achieve these emission reductions, it is imperative to actively engage the business community. Lessons can be shared by gathering businesses together in a state-wide “climate club” where companies and NGOs can participate in collective GHG reduction commitments. These actors would have access to workshops and products that translate the technical Drawdown Georgia work into the language of business. In parallel, “beyond carbon” considerations would be integrated into the workshops to provide companies with a clearer vision of how adopting high-impact solutions can lead to job creation, social performance, and ecosystem sustainability.

Drawdown Georgia Business Compact 

Research to Activate and Track Climate Solutions

Supported by geospatial tracking of climate solutions, supporting infrastructure, business commitments, policy actions, and public opinions, our research is identifying key activation levers. Data from multiple sources are being used to identify public attitudes and stakeholder views, pathways to solutions adoption, barriers that inhibit progress, and the power of enabling infrastructure. These data are being visualized in dynamic, interactive maps linked to Drawdown Georgia’s emissions dashboard. Promising policies are being profiled, and climate solution action plans are being developed.

Drawdown Georgia Research to Activate and Track Solutions

Recent Highlights: 

May 13 Track+Scale Workshop on the Climate Solutions Tracker

On May 13, Drawdown Georgia and the Georgia Tech School of Public Policy hosted a workshop on tracking and scaling Georgia’s Climate Solution at the The Kendeda Building for Innovative Sustainable Design, with more than one hundred experts and stakeholders who divided into groups to learn about and “test drive” the beta version of our new Climate Solutions Tracker. Dr. Marilyn Brown gave an overview of the Solutions Tracker, and Bill Drummond gave an update on the Emissions Tracker. DeAnna Oser and Crystal Jackson, LEED Green Associate also referred to how Drawdown Georgia's work contributed to the climate action plans recently released by Georgia's Environmental Protection Division and the Atlanta Regional Commission. Marshall Shepard and John Lanier closed out the workshop with motivational talks about climate resilience and the importance of climate solutions. You can access all the slide decks shown during the workshop here.

The Academic Research team presented the findings of the carbon sinks and Mt CO₂ reductions that are technically feasible to reach achieve a net zero GHG footprint and sell excess credits into carbon offset markets.

The Drawdown Georgia project was spotlighted in a half-day of activities at the August 6, 2020, Southface Institute’s Greenprints Conference. The project was introduced by John Lanier (Ray C. Anderson Foundation) and Daniel Rochberg (Emory University), then described in some detail by Marilyn Brown (Georgia Tech). Five high-profile Drawdown Georgia solutions were then introduced: Rooftop Solar (Marilyn Brown), Demand Response (Matt Cox), Composting (Sudhagar Mani), Retrofitting (Shane Totten), and Electric Vehicles (Rich Simmons). Before breaking into discussion sessions, Michael Oxman (Georgia Tech) described the Beyond Carbon considerations. The break-out discussions were synthesized in Miro Boards – characterizing Accelerators, Barriers, Beyond Carbon, and Promising Approaches. The participants offered lots of ideas and insights, which was a key goal of the event.

Read the Working Paper and Appendix

This working paper (on left) describes the first phase of our research, involving a fact-based assessment of Project Drawdown's solutions, to identify those that could significantly reduce Georgia’s carbon footprint by 2030.  The Appendix (on right) includes logic diagrams, info sheets, and references describing 75 individual solutions. Below is a quick reference of the 20 high impact solutions, organized by sector, which are retained for further research into costs and benefits required for carbon drawdown.

20 Tech Briefs and Powerpoint Presentations 

Electricity

• Cogeneration   
  16 additional 25 MW cogen plants using waste heat to generate electricity
• Demand Response   
  187,000 households participate in a demand-response program, reducing 10% of their peak demand
• Rooftop Solar  
  295,000 new 5 KW home solar systems
• Large-Scale Solar 
  10 additional 100 MW solar farms and 36 additional 5 MW community solar systems 
• Landfill Methane 
  4 typical landfill facilities with 5 MW gas-to-energy systems

Transportation

• Alternative Mobility  
  Eliminate 2.5% of car trips
• Electric Vehicles  
  Replace 250,000 gasoline-powered vehicles with EVs 
• Energy-Efficient Cars  
  Improve fleetwide fuel economy for light duty vehicles 3% 
• Energy-Efficient Trucks 
  Reduce diesel fuel use in medium and heavy duty trucks 10% 
• Mass Transit 
  320,000 additional households in Transit Oriented Developments 

Buildings & Materials

• Retrofitting  
  Retrofit 20% of Georgia’s homes to save 20% of energy 
• Recycling /Waste Management  
  Recycle at least 20% of current paper waste 
• Refrigerant Management  
  Retrofit refrigeration systems in all Georgia grocery stores to refrigerant leakage rate of 8%

Food & Agriculture

• Composting  
  Divert ~2 million tons of organic wastes including food waste from landfilling to composting by 2030
• Conservation Agriculture  
  Adapt additional 1.6 million acres of croplands into conservation agriculture practices in Georgia
• Plant-Rich Diet 
  25% of Georgia population shifts to plant-rich or low-carbon diets 
• Reduced Food Waste 
  Reduce about 12% of current food waste 

Land Sinks

• Temperate Forests 
  Increase forest cover by 3.4% with mixed tree species 
• Afforestation & Silvopasture Plant 7% of current pastures with mixed hardwood & loblolly tree species using staggered planting times
• Coastal Wetlands 
  Increase Georgia’s coastal wetland area by 71%

Six sector workgroups are comprised of faculty, researchers, and graduate students at four universities: Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Emory University, and Georgia State.

Activities:

1. Hosted a Workshop at the Kendeda Living Building, Georgia Tech, November 6th, 2019 

2. Presented workplans and preliminary results at the 2019 Georgia Climate Conference, Emory University

• Overview Presentation - Dr. Marilyn Brown
• Workgroups 1, 2, & 3 Progress - Dr. Rich Simmons
• Workgroups 4 & 5 Progress - Dr. Puneet Dwivedi
• Workgroup 6 Progress - Dr. David Iwaniac

• Rooftop Solar
• Utility-Scale Solar
• Electric Vehicles
• Retrofitting Buildings
• Reduced Food Waste
• Afforestation and Silvopasture