California
Back to mapTo get to zero by 2050, California must cut climate pollution by
16.2 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year.
Emissions in California
Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions
This is how we're going to do it.
- Boilers and furnaces with heat pumps
- Gas stoves with induction ranges
- No-till farming to keep CO2 in the soil
- Capturing methane leaks from landfills
- Capturing CO2 to make emissions-free concrete
- Burning green hydrogen to make emissions-free steel
- Plugging methane leaks from gas pipelines
Decarbonize Our Buildings
10% of California's climate pollution comes from buildings.
We burn fossil fuels to heat our air, water, and food.
To cut this pollution...
Let's electrify our heat!
We'll replace...
...in all of California's 11.5 million buildings.
In fact, 28% of buildings in California are already fossil fuel free!
That means we only need to electrify the remaining 8.3 million buildings in California. That's around 297,000 per year.
That cuts 10% of the pollution.
Decarbonize Our Transport
49% of California's pollution comes from cars, trucks, trains, and planes.
But mostly from cars.
To cut this pollution,
your next car must be electric.
Or consider going car-free with public transit, bikes/e-bikes, car share, or other alternatives!
Then, we'll electrify all 14.2 million cars and trucks in California!
There are 14.2 million vehicles in California and 425,000 are already electric (3% of the total).
We need to electrify the remaining 13.8 million vehicles. That's around 496,000 a year.
That cuts 49% of the pollution.
Decarbonize Our Power
7% of California's pollution comes from burning coal, gas, and oil to make power.
To cut this pollution...
Put solar panels on your roof!
Then, we'll replace all fossil fuel power plants with solar and wind farms.
...and find good jobs for those workers.
Current Fossil Fuel Power Plants in California
1 coal plant
Argus Cogen Plant
San Bernardino County
63 MW
293 gas plants
Moss Landing
Monterey County
3,102 MW
Haynes Generating Station
Los Angeles County
2,885 MW
AES Alamitos
Los Angeles County
2,055 MW
Scattergood Generating Station
Los Angeles County
1,719 MW
7 oil plants
Dynegy Oakland Power Plant
Alameda County
260 MW
McClure
Stanislaus County
142 MW
SC 1 Data Center, Phase 2
Santa Clara County
93 MW
Kings Beach
Placer County
31 MW
Phillips 66 Carbon Plant
Contra Costa County
27 MW
Pebbly Beach Generating Station Hybrid
Los Angeles County
13 MW
Regional Wastewater Control Facility
San Joaquin County
5 MW
But wait!
It's not enough to replace our power plants with wind and solar farms.
To power our electric cars and buildings, we need 2x the electricity we have today!
In all, we'll need to build 23,000 MWs of wind and 24,000 MWs of solar.
Since California already has 6,000 megawatts of solar power generation and 2,000 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 746 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 647 Megawatts of solar capacity a year we need to build.
That cuts 7% of the pollution.
And gives us zero-emissions power we need to eliminate pollution from buildings and cars!
Other Emissions
The last 34% of California's climate pollution comes from other sources...
This includes farming, landfills, industry, and leaks from gas pipelines.
There's no one solution to solve these problems, but there are lots of great ideas:
Ready to do your part?
Learn how to electrify your own machines and pass local policy to electrify the rest
Take Action