LAUSR

Abstract The transition to large-scale renewable energy in order to mitigate climate change is necessity. Much academic literature has begun to focus on the technical and economic plausibility of such a transition to renewable energy, but these studies often explore one to several potential energy systems and their costs and benefits as compared to the existing system. This paper summarizes the policy implications of a recent analysis that builds on the literature of the integration of renewable electricity, electric vehicles and electric heat by modeling and testing nearly 86 million different combinations of wind, solar, natural gas, vehicle-to-grid capable electric vehicles, and electric heat. After each system was modeled for four years of operation to ensure reliability, the costs of energy systems were then calculated both with and without externalities to better understand how this cost affects implementation. We present the results and policy implications of our analysis across the 86 million energy systems and conclude with the role of social science in future research.