The goal of the U.S. government is to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, per the Paris agreement. A three-step analysis establishes this as an impossible goal.

Three possible alternatives — wind, nuclear power, and utility photovoltaic solar (PV) — are analyzed separately in a three-step process to determine the amount of new capacity needed for any of them to meet net-zero carbon by 2050. The same process then is used to determine whether any combination of the three can achieve the goal.