To get to zero by 2050, Alabama must cut climate pollution by 4.9 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Alabama

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.


CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Alabama by Source
🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏠 Buildings

    3% of emissions in Alabama comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    Mostly from different types of heating.

    Gas furnace, gas water heater, gas stove

    80% of the pollution of your typical home comes from heating your space, water, and food.

    To stop this pollution, we need to replace our furnaces with electric heat pumps, electrify our water heaters, and cook with induction and electricity instead of gas.

    Electric heat pump, electric water heater, induction stove

    There are 2.5 million buildings in Alabama and 61% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 968,000 buildings in Alabama. That's around 35,000 per year.

    Percent of Building Systems electrifiedA chart showing the share of Building Systems that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.60.58% have been electrified, and the remaining 39.42% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 3% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🚗 Getting Around

    24% of emissions in Alabama comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    Mostly from our cars.

    To cut this pollution, if you have a car, your next one needs to be an electric vehicle (EV).

    Or try going car-free with public transit, bikes/e-bikes, or walking if it works for you.

    Gas emitting car being converted to electric car

    There are 2.0 million vehicles in Alabama and 3,000 are already electric (0.1% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 2.0 million 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.0.1% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.9% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 24% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🔌 Power Generation

    38% of emissions in Alabama comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    Specifically from coal, gas, and oil plants.

    To cut this pollution, we need to replace all dirty power plants with clean ones (mostly wind and solar).

    We need to replace dirty power plants with clean ones (mostly wind and solar)

    In Alabama we need to close and replace:

    5 coal plants

    Name: Barry
County: Mobile
Megawatt Capacity: 2,842
Utility: Alabama Power Co

    Barry
    Mobile County
    2,842 MW

    Name: James H Miller Jr
County: Jefferson
Megawatt Capacity: 2,822
Utility: Alabama Power Co

    James H Miller Jr
    Jefferson County
    2,822 MW

    Name: E C Gaston
County: Shelby
Megawatt Capacity: 2,034
Utility: Alabama Power Co

    E C Gaston
    Shelby County
    2,034 MW

    Name: Gorgas
County: Walker
Megawatt Capacity: 1,417
Utility: Alabama Power Co

    Gorgas
    Walker County
    1,417 MW

    Name: Charles R Lowman
County: Washington
Megawatt Capacity: 1,265
Utility: PowerSouth Energy Cooperative

    Charles R Lowman
    Washington County
    1,265 MW

    25 gas plants

    Name: Plant H. Allen Franklin
County: Lee
Megawatt Capacity: 2,684
Utility: Southern Power Co

    Plant H. Allen Franklin
    Lee County
    2,684 MW

    Name: E B Harris Generating Plant
County: Autauga
Megawatt Capacity: 2,534
Utility: Southern Power Co

    E B Harris Generating Plant
    Autauga County
    2,534 MW

    Name: Colbert
County: Colbert
Megawatt Capacity: 1,826
Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Colbert
    Colbert County
    1,826 MW

    Name: Greene County
County: Greene
Megawatt Capacity: 1,288
Utility: Alabama Power Co

    Greene County
    Greene County
    1,288 MW

    Name: Tenaska Lindsay Hill Generating Station
County: Autauga
Megawatt Capacity: 939
Utility: Tenaska Alabama Partners LP

    Tenaska Lindsay Hill Generating Station
    Autauga County
    939 MW

    Name: Central Alabama Gen Station
County: Autauga
Megawatt Capacity: 927
Utility: Tenaska Alabama B LP

    Central Alabama Gen Station
    Autauga County
    927 MW

    Name: Decatur Energy Center
County: Morgan
Megawatt Capacity: 902
Utility: Decatur Energy Center LLC

    Decatur Energy Center
    Morgan County
    902 MW

    Name: Morgan Energy Center
County: Morgan
Megawatt Capacity: 900
Utility: Morgan Energy Center LLC

    Morgan Energy Center
    Morgan County
    900 MW

    Name: Hillabee Energy Center
County: Tallapoosa
Megawatt Capacity: 823
Utility: CER Generation LLC

    Hillabee Energy Center
    Tallapoosa County
    823 MW

    Name: Calhoun Energy Center
County: Calhoun
Megawatt Capacity: 748
Utility: Calhoun Power Co LLC

    Calhoun Energy Center
    Calhoun County
    748 MW

    ...and 15 more

    1 oil plant

    Name: Crestwood Dothan
County: Houston
Megawatt Capacity: 14
Utility: Crestwood Corp

    Crestwood Dothan
    Houston County
    14 MW

    ...and help those workers find good jobs.

    But wait! Remember how we electrified all cars and buildings?

    Our machines don't pollute now, because they run on electricity!

    But that means we need to make more power for those new electric machines - twice as much power as we make now!

    And all of it needs to be clean power!

    So to cut the climate pollution from our power, cars, and buildings we need to INSTALL 7,000 MWs of wind and 8,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Alabama already has 58 megawatts of solar power generation and 0 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 237 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 287 Megawatts of solar capacity a year we need to build.

    Percent to Needed ElectrificationA chart showing the share of Solar and Wind capacity that has already been installed and rest to be installed. We are 1% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 38% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 34% of emissions in Alabama comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 38%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    This includes industry, landfills, and farming.

    There's no one solution to solve these problems, but there are a lot of great ideas!

    These include:

    • Regenerative agriculture to sequester carbon in soil
    • Composting to reduce landfill methane emissions
    • New techniques for manufacturing CO2 emitting materials, like concrete


Ready to do your part?

Learn how to electrify your own machines and pass local policy to electrify the rest

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