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

Emissions in Michigan

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


Michigan's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    17% of Michigan'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 Michigan's 5.0 million buildings.

    In fact, 17% of appliances in buildings in Michigan are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 4.1 million dirty buildings in Michigan. That's around 153,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.17.24% have been electrified, and the remaining 82.76% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 17% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    27% of Michigan'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 2.7 million vehicles in Michigan and 11,000 are already electric (0.4% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 2.7 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 99,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.4% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.6% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yetSource: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 27% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    30% of Michigan'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 Michigan

    14 coal plants

    Name: Monroe
County: Monroe
Megawatt Capacity: 3,293
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Monroe
    Monroe County
    3,293 MW

    Name: Dan E Karn
County: Bay
Megawatt Capacity: 1,946
Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    Dan E Karn
    Bay County
    1,946 MW

    Name: St. Clair
County: St Clair
Megawatt Capacity: 1,929
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    St. Clair
    St Clair County
    1,929 MW

    Name: Belle River
County: St Clair
Megawatt Capacity: 1,664
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Belle River
    St Clair County
    1,664 MW

    Name: J H Campbell
County: Ottawa
Megawatt Capacity: 1,579
Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    J H Campbell
    Ottawa County
    1,579 MW

    Name: River Rouge
County: Wayne
Megawatt Capacity: 944
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    River Rouge
    Wayne County
    944 MW

    Name: Trenton Channel
County: Wayne
Megawatt Capacity: 776
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Trenton Channel
    Wayne County
    776 MW

    Name: Presque Isle
County: Marquette
Megawatt Capacity: 625
Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Presque Isle
    Marquette County
    625 MW

    Name: Eckert Station
County: Ingham
Megawatt Capacity: 375
Utility: Lansing Board of Water and Light

    Eckert Station
    Ingham County
    375 MW

    Name: TES Filer City Station
County: Manistee
Megawatt Capacity: 323
Utility: TES Filer City Station LP

    TES Filer City Station
    Manistee County
    323 MW

    Name: Erickson
County: Eaton
Megawatt Capacity: 155
Utility: Lansing Board of Water and Light

    Erickson
    Eaton County
    155 MW

    Name: J B Sims
County: Ottawa
Megawatt Capacity: 80
Utility: City of Grand Haven - (MI)

    J B Sims
    Ottawa County
    80 MW

    Name: Neenah Paper Munising Mill
County: Alger
Megawatt Capacity: 6
Utility: Neenah Paper Michigan Inc.

    Neenah Paper Munising Mill
    Alger County
    6 MW

    Name: MSC Sebewaing
County: Huron
Megawatt Capacity: 3
Utility: Michigan Sugar Company

    MSC Sebewaing
    Huron County
    3 MW

    57 gas plants

    Name: Midland Cogeneration Venture
County: Midland
Megawatt Capacity: 1,854
Utility: Midland Cogeneration Venture

    Midland Cogeneration Venture
    Midland County
    1,854 MW

    Name: New Covert Generating Project
County: Van Buren
Megawatt Capacity: 1,176
Utility: New Covert Generating Company LLC

    New Covert Generating Project
    Van Buren County
    1,176 MW

    Name: Greenwood
County: St Clair
Megawatt Capacity: 1,071
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Greenwood
    St Clair County
    1,071 MW

    Name: Zeeland Generating Station
County: Ottawa
Megawatt Capacity: 968
Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    Zeeland Generating Station
    Ottawa County
    968 MW

    ...and 53 more

    24 oil plants

    Name: Greater Detroit Resource Recovery
County: Wayne
Megawatt Capacity: 68
Utility: Detroit Renewable Power

    Greater Detroit Resource Recovery
    Wayne County
    68 MW

    Name: Superior
County: Washtenaw
Megawatt Capacity: 64
Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Superior
    Washtenaw County
    64 MW

    Name: Alpena Cement Plant
County: Alpena
Megawatt Capacity: 47
Utility: Lafarge Corp

    Alpena Cement Plant
    Alpena County
    47 MW

    Name: Tower
County: Cheboygan
Megawatt Capacity: 25
Utility: Wolverine Power Supply Coop

    Tower
    Cheboygan County
    25 MW

    ...and 20 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 12,000 megawatt (MW) [?] of wind power and 11,000 MW of solar power.

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

    Since Michigan already has 891 MW of wind and 75 MW of solar, that's 11,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 11,000 MW of solar power. That's around 397 MW of wind power and 396 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 30% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    The last 25% of Michigan'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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