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

Emissions in Montana

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


Montana's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    7% of Montana'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 Montana's 773,000 buildings.

    In fact, 31% of appliances in buildings in Montana are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 533,000 dirty buildings in Montana. That's around 20,000 per year.

    Percent of Buildings electrifiedA chart showing the share of Buildings that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.31.13% have been electrified, and the remaining 68.87% are fossil fuel based.Buildings ElectrifiedNot yetSource: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 7% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    17% of Montana'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 459,000 vehicles in Montana and 940 are already electric (0.2% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 458,000 gas-powered vehicles. That's around 17,000 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 17% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    31% of Montana'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 Montana

    5 coal plants

    Name: Colstrip
County: Rosebud
Megawatt Capacity: 2,363
Utility: Talen Montana LLC

    Colstrip
    Rosebud County
    2,363 MW

    Name: Hardin Generating Station
County: Big Horn
Megawatt Capacity: 116
Utility: Heorot Power Management

    Hardin Generating Station
    Big Horn County
    116 MW

    Name: Lewis & Clark
County: Richland
Megawatt Capacity: 69
Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    Lewis & Clark
    Richland County
    69 MW

    Name: Colstrip Energy LP
County: Rosebud
Megawatt Capacity: 46
Utility: Colstrip Energy LP

    Colstrip Energy LP
    Rosebud County
    46 MW

    Name: Western Sugar Cooperative - Billings
County: Yellowstone
Megawatt Capacity: 2
Utility: Western Sugar Cooperative  - Billings

    Western Sugar Cooperative - Billings
    Yellowstone County
    2 MW

    6 gas plants

    Name: Dave Gates Generating Station
County: Deer Lodge
Megawatt Capacity: 203
Utility: NorthWestern Energy DGGS

    Dave Gates Generating Station
    Deer Lodge County
    203 MW

    Name: Culbertson Station
County: Roosevelt
Megawatt Capacity: 91
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Culbertson Station
    Roosevelt County
    91 MW

    Name: Glendive Generating Station
County: Dawson
Megawatt Capacity: 84
Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    Glendive Generating Station
    Dawson County
    84 MW

    Name: Basin Creek Plant
County: Silver Bow
Megawatt Capacity: 55
Utility: Basin Creek Power Services LLC

    Basin Creek Plant
    Silver Bow County
    55 MW

    Name: Miles City GT
County: Custer
Megawatt Capacity: 23
Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    Miles City GT
    Custer County
    23 MW

    Name: Sidney MT Plant
County: Richland
Megawatt Capacity: 4
Utility: Sidney Sugars Incorporated

    Sidney MT Plant
    Richland County
    4 MW

    1 oil plant

    Name: Yellowstone Energy LP
County: Yellowstone
Megawatt Capacity: 68
Utility: Yellowstone Energy LP

    Yellowstone Energy LP
    Yellowstone County
    68 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 2,000 megawatt (MW) [?] of wind power and 1,000 MW of solar power.

    Since the average wind turbine provides 2.75 MW of peak capacity, Montana would need to install about 565 turbines.

    Since Montana already has 322 MW of wind and 9 MW of solar, that's 1,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 1,000 MW of solar power. That's around 46 MW of wind power and 54 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 11.5% 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 31% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 45%🔌 Power: 31%🚗 Transport: 17%🏠 Buildings: 7%

    The last 45% of Montana'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

Take Action