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

Emissions in Massachusetts

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


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

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    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...

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

    ...in all of Massachusetts's 2.1 million buildings.

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

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 1.6 million dirty buildings in Massachusetts. That's around 60,000 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 yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings 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!

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

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 2.0 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 73,000 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 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
    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 5,000 MW of solar power.

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

    Since Massachusetts already has 25 MW of wind and 491 MW of solar, that's 6,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 4,000 MW of solar power. That's around 213 MW of wind power and 156 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 10% 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 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

    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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