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In 2050, Reinventing Fire’s only material fossil-carbon emissions come from the 18 quadrillion BTU of remaining natural gas consumption (which would be expected to phase out over the following few decades). Total carbon emissions in 2050 represent an 82–86% reduction from emissions in 2000. This reduction meets and surpasses the suggested reduction target established by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to avoid catastrophic climate change.

Greater carbon reductions are possible by further substitution of renewable sources of electricity or heat for natural gas, or by capturing greater levels of efficiency via integrative design principles, especially in industrial process design, which our integrative-design analysis conservatively excluded (it counted only drivesystems and fluid-handling systems, not the underlying processes they support).