Kentucky

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

Emissions in Kentucky

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

Kentucky's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    4% of Kentucky'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 Kentucky's 2.4 million buildings.

    In fact, 51% of appliances in buildings in Kentucky are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 1.2 million dirty buildings in Kentucky. That's around 45,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.50.79% have been electrified, and the remaining 49.21% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 4% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    24% of Kentucky'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 1.6 million vehicles in Kentucky and 3,000 are already electric (0.2% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 1.6 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 61,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.2% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.8% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yetSource: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 24% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    44% of Kentucky'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 Kentucky

    13 coal plants

    Name: Paradise County: Muhlenberg Megawatt Capacity: 3,718 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Paradise
    Muhlenberg County
    3,718 MW

    Name: Trimble County County: Trimble Megawatt Capacity: 2,594 Utility: Louisville Gas & Electric Co

    Trimble County
    Trimble County
    2,594 MW

    Name: Ghent County: Carroll Megawatt Capacity: 2,226 Utility: Kentucky Utilities Co

    Ghent
    Carroll County
    2,226 MW

    Name: Shawnee County: McCracken Megawatt Capacity: 1,750 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Shawnee
    McCracken County
    1,750 MW

    Name: E W Brown County: Mercer Megawatt Capacity: 1,748 Utility: Kentucky Utilities Co

    E W Brown
    Mercer County
    1,748 MW

    Name: Mill Creek County: Jefferson Megawatt Capacity: 1,717 Utility: Louisville Gas & Electric Co

    Mill Creek
    Jefferson County
    1,717 MW

    Name: H L Spurlock County: Mason Megawatt Capacity: 1,609 Utility: East Kentucky Power Coop, Inc

    H L Spurlock
    Mason County
    1,609 MW

    Name: East Bend County: Boone Megawatt Capacity: 772 Utility: Duke Energy Kentucky Inc

    East Bend
    Boone County
    772 MW

    Name: R D Green County: Webster Megawatt Capacity: 586 Utility: Big Rivers Electric Corp

    R D Green
    Webster County
    586 MW

    Name: D B Wilson County: Ohio Megawatt Capacity: 509 Utility: Big Rivers Electric Corp

    D B Wilson
    Ohio County
    509 MW

    Name: Elmer Smith County: Daviess Megawatt Capacity: 445 Utility: City of Owensboro - (KY)

    Elmer Smith
    Daviess County
    445 MW

    Name: HMP and L Station 2 County: Henderson Megawatt Capacity: 405 Utility: Big Rivers Electric Corp

    HMP and L Station 2
    Henderson County
    405 MW

    Name: John S. Cooper County: Pulaski Megawatt Capacity: 344 Utility: East Kentucky Power Coop, Inc

    John S. Cooper
    Pulaski County
    344 MW

    11 gas plants

    Name: Smith Generating Facility County: Clark Megawatt Capacity: 1,663 Utility: East Kentucky Power Coop, Inc

    Smith Generating Facility
    Clark County
    1,663 MW

    Name: Cane Run County: Jefferson Megawatt Capacity: 1,468 Utility: Louisville Gas & Electric Co

    Cane Run
    Jefferson County
    1,468 MW

    Name: Riverside Generating Company County: Lawrence Megawatt Capacity: 1,150 Utility: Riverside Generating Co LLC

    Riverside Generating Company
    Lawrence County
    1,150 MW

    Name: Big Sandy County: Lawrence Megawatt Capacity: 1,097 Utility: Kentucky Power Co

    Big Sandy
    Lawrence County
    1,097 MW

    Name: Marshall County County: Marshall Megawatt Capacity: 688 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Marshall County
    Marshall County
    688 MW

    Name: Bluegrass Generating Station County: Oldham Megawatt Capacity: 624 Utility: East Kentucky Power Coop, Inc

    Bluegrass Generating Station
    Oldham County
    624 MW

    Name: Paddy's Run County: Jefferson Megawatt Capacity: 227 Utility: Louisville Gas & Electric Co

    Paddy's Run
    Jefferson County
    227 MW

    Name: Paducah Power Systems Plant 1 County: McCracken Megawatt Capacity: 120 Utility: Paducah Power System

    Paducah Power Systems Plant 1
    McCracken County
    120 MW

    Name: Haefling County: Fayette Megawatt Capacity: 62 Utility: Kentucky Utilities Co

    Haefling
    Fayette County
    62 MW

    Name: DTE Calvert City, LLC County: Marshall Megawatt Capacity: 27 Utility: DTE Calvert City LLC

    DTE Calvert City, LLC
    Marshall County
    27 MW

    Name: Zorn County: Jefferson Megawatt Capacity: 18 Utility: Louisville Gas & Electric Co

    Zorn
    Jefferson County
    18 MW

    1 oil plant

    Name: Paris (KY) County: Bourbon Megawatt Capacity: 12 Utility: City of Paris - (KY)

    Paris (KY)
    Bourbon County
    12 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 6,000 megawatt (MW) [?] of wind power and 7,000 MW of solar power.

    Since the average wind turbine provides 2.75 MW of peak capacity, Kentucky would need to install about 2,000 turbines.

    Since Kentucky already has 0 MW of wind and 12 MW of solar, that's 6,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 7,000 MW of solar power. That's around 227 MW of wind power and 257 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 0% 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 44% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 28%🔌 Power: 44%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 4%

    The last 28% of Kentucky'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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