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

Emissions in Maryland

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


Maryland's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    17% of Maryland'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 Maryland's 1.7 million buildings.

    In fact, 45% of appliances in buildings in Maryland are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 912,000 dirty buildings in Maryland. That's around 34,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.44.99% have been electrified, and the remaining 55.01% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 17% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    41% of Maryland'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 1.8 million vehicles in Maryland and 18,000 are already electric (1% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 1.8 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 67,000 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 yetSource: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 41% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    23% of Maryland'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 Maryland

    5 coal plants

    Name: Chalk Point
County: Prince Georges
Megawatt Capacity: 2,553
Utility: GenOn Chalk Point, LLC

    Chalk Point
    Prince Georges County
    2,553 MW

    Name: Morgantown
County: Charles
Megawatt Capacity: 1,548
Utility: GenOn Mid-Atlantic LLC

    Morgantown
    Charles County
    1,548 MW

    Name: Brandon Shores
County: Anne Arundel
Megawatt Capacity: 1,370
Utility: Brandon Shores LLC

    Brandon Shores
    Anne Arundel County
    1,370 MW

    Name: Herbert A Wagner
County: Anne Arundel
Megawatt Capacity: 1,059
Utility: H.A. Wagner LLC

    Herbert A Wagner
    Anne Arundel County
    1,059 MW

    Name: AES Warrior Run
County: Allegany
Megawatt Capacity: 229
Utility: AES WR Ltd Partnership

    AES Warrior Run
    Allegany County
    229 MW

    16 gas plants

    Name: Wildcat Point Generation Facility
County: Cecil
Megawatt Capacity: 1,114
Utility: Old Dominion Electric Coop

    Wildcat Point Generation Facility
    Cecil County
    1,114 MW

    Name: Dickerson
County: Montgomery
Megawatt Capacity: 933
Utility: GenOn Mid-Atlantic LLC

    Dickerson
    Montgomery County
    933 MW

    Name: Keys Energy Center
County: Prince Georges
Megawatt Capacity: 831
Utility: PSEG Keys Energy Center, LLC

    Keys Energy Center
    Prince Georges County
    831 MW

    Name: Rock Springs Generating Facility
County: Cecil
Megawatt Capacity: 774
Utility: Essential Power Rock Springs LLC

    Rock Springs Generating Facility
    Cecil County
    774 MW

    ...and 12 more

    8 oil plants

    Name: Riverside (MD)
County: Baltimore
Megawatt Capacity: 257
Utility: Constellation Power Source Gen

    Riverside (MD)
    Baltimore County
    257 MW

    Name: Vienna
County: Dorchester
Megawatt Capacity: 181
Utility: NRG Vienna Operations Inc

    Vienna
    Dorchester County
    181 MW

    Name: Philadelphia
County: Baltimore City
Megawatt Capacity: 83
Utility: Constellation Power Source Gen

    Philadelphia
    Baltimore City County
    83 MW

    Name: Easton 2
County: Talbot
Megawatt Capacity: 39
Utility: Easton Utilities Comm

    Easton 2
    Talbot County
    39 MW

    Name: Easton
County: Talbot
Megawatt Capacity: 34
Utility: Easton Utilities Comm

    Easton
    Talbot County
    34 MW

    Name: Berlin
County: Worcester
Megawatt Capacity: 22
Utility: Town of Berlin - (MD)

    Berlin
    Worcester County
    22 MW

    Name: Crisfield
County: Somerset
Megawatt Capacity: 12
Utility: Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC

    Crisfield
    Somerset County
    12 MW

    Name: Smith Island
County: Somerset
Megawatt Capacity: 2
Utility: A & N Electric Coop

    Smith Island
    Somerset County
    2 MW

    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 5,000 megawatt (MW) [?] of wind power and 5,000 MW of solar power.

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

    Since Maryland already has 59 MW of wind and 194 MW of solar, that's 5,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 4,000 MW of solar power. That's around 175 MW of wind power and 163 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 4.5% 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 23% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 23%🚗 Transport: 41%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    The last 19% of Maryland'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!


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