Georgia

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To get to zero by 2050, Georgia must cut emissions by 3.7% a year

Emissions in Georgia

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) [?] equivalent (MTCO2e [?]) emissions

Note: Grey area indicates missing data due to processing delays.
Source: WRI, Mar 2021

This is how we're going to do it

Georgia's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    8% of Georgia'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...

    • Boilers and furnaces with heat pumps [?]
    • Gas stoves with electric induction stoves [?]

    ...in all of Georgia's 4.0 million buildings.

    In fact, 52% of appliances in buildings in Georgia are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 1.9 million dirty buildings in Georgia. That's around 71,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.51.53% have been electrified, and the remaining 48.47% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 8% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    37% of Georgia'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!

    There are 3.5 million vehicles in Georgia and 24,000 are already electric (0.7% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 3.5 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 128,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.7% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.3% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yetSource: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 37% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    34% of Georgia'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 Georgia

    5 coal plants

    Name: Scherer County: Monroe Megawatt Capacity: 3,564 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Scherer
    Monroe County
    3,564 MW

    Name: Bowen County: Bartow Megawatt Capacity: 3,540 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Bowen
    Bartow County
    3,540 MW

    Name: Wansley (6052) County: Heard Megawatt Capacity: 1,957 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Wansley (6052)
    Heard County
    1,957 MW

    Name: McIntosh (6124) County: Effingham Megawatt Capacity: 988 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    McIntosh (6124)
    Effingham County
    988 MW

    Name: Hammond County: Floyd Megawatt Capacity: 953 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Hammond
    Floyd County
    953 MW

    27 gas plants

    Name: Jack McDonough County: Cobb Megawatt Capacity: 3,447 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Jack McDonough
    Cobb County
    3,447 MW

    Name: Yates County: Coweta Megawatt Capacity: 1,487 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Yates
    Coweta County
    1,487 MW

    Name: McIntosh Combined Cycle Facility County: Effingham Megawatt Capacity: 1,377 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    McIntosh Combined Cycle Facility
    Effingham County
    1,377 MW

    Name: Wansley CC (55965) County: Heard Megawatt Capacity: 1,239 Utility: Southern Power Co

    Wansley CC (55965)
    Heard County
    1,239 MW

    ...and 23 more

    11 oil plants

    Name: McManus County: Glynn Megawatt Capacity: 704 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    McManus
    Glynn County
    704 MW

    Name: Allen B Wilson Combustion Turbine Plant County: Burke Megawatt Capacity: 318 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Allen B Wilson Combustion Turbine Plant
    Burke County
    318 MW

    Name: Savannah River Mill County: Effingham Megawatt Capacity: 140 Utility: Georgia-Pacific Consr Prods LP-Savannah

    Savannah River Mill
    Effingham County
    140 MW

    Name: Walton Bainbridge Power Facility County: Decatur Megawatt Capacity: 80 Utility: Walton Bainbridge LLC

    Walton Bainbridge Power Facility
    Decatur County
    80 MW

    Name: Boulevard County: Chatham Megawatt Capacity: 47 Utility: Georgia Power Co

    Boulevard
    Chatham County
    47 MW

    Name: Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay County: Camden Megawatt Capacity: 30 Utility: Kings Bay Naval Base

    Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay
    Camden County
    30 MW

    Name: CNN Center County: Fulton Megawatt Capacity: 13 Utility: Turner Properties Inc

    CNN Center
    Fulton County
    13 MW

    Name: State Farm Support Center East County: Fulton Megawatt Capacity: 11 Utility: State Farm Mutual Auto Ins Co

    State Farm Support Center East
    Fulton County
    11 MW

    Name: Emory Decatur Hospital County: DeKalb Megawatt Capacity: 4 Utility: DeKalb Regional Health System

    Emory Decatur Hospital
    DeKalb County
    4 MW

    Name: Emory Hillandale Hospital County: DeKalb Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: DeKalb Regional Health System

    Emory Hillandale Hospital
    DeKalb County
    3 MW

    Name: Sun Trust Plaza County: Fulton Megawatt Capacity: 2 Utility: Sun Trust Plaza Associates LLC

    Sun Trust Plaza
    Fulton County
    2 MW

    Find the dirty plants near you

    Source: EPA, Jan 2021

    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 two times the electricity we have today.

    In all, we'll need to build 10,000 megawatt (MW) [?] of wind power and 12,000 MW of solar power.

    Since the average wind turbine provides 2.75 MW of peak capacity, Georgia would need to install about 4,000 turbines.

    Since Georgia already has 0 MW of wind and 591 MW of solar, that's 10,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 11,000 MW of solar power. That's around 368 MW of wind power and 405 MW of solar power a year.

    Percent of needed Wind & Solar builtA chart showing the share of Solar and Wind capacity that has already been installed and rest to be installed. We are 5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.MWs of Wind & Solar Built

    Source: EIA, Apr 2022

    Decarbonizing all dirty power cuts 34% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 21%🔌 Power: 34%🚗 Transport: 37%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    The last 21% of Georgia'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

    That doesn't mean there's no solution, it just means that clean electrification [?] doesn't help with these problems, and you could fill a whole book with covering all of them. We need to encourage our politicians to invest in researching new solutions and implementing existing solutions to these problems!

Ready to do your part?

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

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