Energy systems are inherently spatial entities, encompassing infrastructure and land requirements; diverse perspectives of energy system stakeholders tied to locations of supply and demand; and ultimately a spatial distribution of profits, environmental impacts, and societal changes. The spatial relationships between these social and physical components of the energy system drive its ongoing evolution in response to technological advancements, economic trends, and policy directives. A low carbon energy system transition undertaken in response to climate change will require rapid and substantial changes to all of these elements and more. To capture these relationships and inform the design of a low carbon future, we propose the use of energyshed planning. An energyshed is the geographic area that contains the land, infrastructure, people, profits, and environmental impacts connected to final energy consumption. Four distinct decarbonization scenarios are explored: each pathway strikes a different balance between centralized or decentralized energy systems and corporatized or democratized energy system governance. Finally, the energyshed lens is used to perform an initial assessment of the barriers and opportunities for U.S. states to implement a near-term low carbon transition.

能源系统本质上是空间实体，涵盖基础设施和土地需求；能源系统利益相关者对供需关系的不同看法；最终是利润，环境影响和社会变化的空间分布。能源系统的这些社会和物理组成部分之间的空间关系，随着技术的进步，经济趋势和政策指令的发展而不断发展。为应对气候变化而进行的低碳能源系统过渡将要求对所有这些要素以及更多要素进行迅速而实质性的改变。为了捕获这些关系并为低碳未来的设计提供信息，我们建议使用节能规划。能量散布区是指包含土地，基础设施，人员，利润，以及与最终能源消耗相关的环境影响。探索了四种不同的脱碳方案：每种途径在集中式或分散式能源系统与公司化或民主化的能源系统治理之间达到不同的平衡。最后，节能透镜用于对美国各州实施近期低碳转型的障碍和机遇进行初步评估。