Massachusetts

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To get to zero by 2050, Massachusetts must cut climate pollution by
2.6 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Massachusetts

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

This is how we're going to do it.

Massachusetts's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    30% of Massachusetts'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 Massachusetts's 2.1 million buildings.

    In fact, 24% of buildings in Massachusetts are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 1.6 million buildings in Massachusetts. That's around 58,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.23.61% have been electrified, and the remaining 76.39% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yet

    That cuts 30% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    43% of Massachusetts'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 2.0 million cars and trucks in Massachusetts!

    There are 2.0 million vehicles in Massachusetts and 21,000 are already electric (1% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 2.0 million vehicles. That's around 71,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.1% have been electrified, and the remaining 99% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That cuts 43% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    11% of Massachusetts's pollution comes from burning coal, gas, and oil to make power.

    Dirty power plant

    To cut this pollution...

    Put solar panels on your roof!

    Then, we'll replace all fossil fuel power plants with solar and wind farms.

    We need to replace dirty power plants with clean ones (mostly wind and solar)

    ...and find good jobs for those workers.

    Current Fossil Fuel Power Plants in Massachusetts

    38 gas plants

    Name: Mystic County: Middlesex Megawatt Capacity: 2,844 Utility: Constellation Mystic Power LLC

    Mystic
    Middlesex County
    2,844 MW

    Name: Fore River Energy Center County: Norfolk Megawatt Capacity: 872 Utility: Calpine Fore River Energy Center, LLC

    Fore River Energy Center
    Norfolk County
    872 MW

    Name: Salem Harbor Station NGCC County: Essex Megawatt Capacity: 798 Utility: Footprint Salem Harbor Development LP

    Salem Harbor Station NGCC
    Essex County
    798 MW

    Name: ANP Bellingham Energy Company, LLC County: Norfolk Megawatt Capacity: 578 Utility: ANP Bellingham Energy Company LLC

    ANP Bellingham Energy Company, LLC
    Norfolk County
    578 MW

    ...and 34 more

    16 oil plants

    Name: Canal Station County: Barnstable Megawatt Capacity: 1,825 Utility: NRG Canal 3 Development LLC

    Canal Station
    Barnstable County
    1,825 MW

    Name: Stony Brook Energy Center County: Hampden Megawatt Capacity: 957 Utility: Massachusetts Mun Wholes Electric Co

    Stony Brook Energy Center
    Hampden County
    957 MW

    Name: Medway Station County: Norfolk Megawatt Capacity: 135 Utility: Exelon Power

    Medway Station
    Norfolk County
    135 MW

    Name: MBTA South Boston Power Facility County: Suffolk Megawatt Capacity: 69 Utility: Massachusetts Bay Trans Auth

    MBTA South Boston Power Facility
    Suffolk County
    69 MW

    ...and 12 more

    Find the dirty plants near you

    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 6,000 MWs of wind and 5,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Massachusetts already has 491 megawatts of solar power generation and 25 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 205 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 151 Megawatts of solar capacity a year we need to build.

    Percent of needed targetGeneration builtA chart showing the share of Solar and Wind capacity that has already been installed and rest to be installed. We are 10% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.MWs of targetGeneration Built

    That cuts 11% of the pollution.

    And gives us zero-emissions power we need to eliminate pollution from buildings and cars!

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 16%🔌 Power: 11%🚗 Transport: 43%🏠 Buildings: 30%

    The last 16% of Massachusetts'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:

    • 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

Ready to do your part?

Learn how to electrify your own machines and pass local policy to electrify the rest

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