Colorado

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To get to zero by 2050, Colorado must cut climate pollution by 4.5 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Colorado

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Colorado by Source
🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🏠 Buildings

    10% of emissions in Colorado comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 2.2 million buildings in Colorado and 28% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.6 million buildings in Colorado. That's around 57,000 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.27.93% have been electrified, and the remaining 72.07% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 10% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🚗 Getting Around

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

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 1.6 million vehicles in Colorado and 25,000 are already electric (1.5% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.6 million vehicles. That's around 58,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.1.5% have been electrified, and the remaining 98.5% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 24% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🔌 Power Generation

    27% of emissions in Colorado comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 Colorado we need to close and replace:

    9 coal plants

    Name: Comanche (470) County: Pueblo Megawatt Capacity: 1,635 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Comanche (470)
    Pueblo County
    1,635 MW

    Name: Craig County: Moffat Megawatt Capacity: 1,428 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    Craig
    Moffat County
    1,428 MW

    Name: Rawhide Energy Station County: Larimer Megawatt Capacity: 800 Utility: Platte River Power Authority

    Rawhide Energy Station
    Larimer County
    800 MW

    Name: Pawnee County: Morgan Megawatt Capacity: 552 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Pawnee
    Morgan County
    552 MW

    Name: Hayden County: Routt Megawatt Capacity: 465 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Hayden
    Routt County
    465 MW

    Name: Ray D Nixon County: El Paso Megawatt Capacity: 283 Utility: City of Colorado Springs - (CO)

    Ray D Nixon
    El Paso County
    283 MW

    Name: Martin Drake County: El Paso Megawatt Capacity: 257 Utility: City of Colorado Springs - (CO)

    Martin Drake
    El Paso County
    257 MW

    Name: Nucla County: Montrose Megawatt Capacity: 114 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    Nucla
    Montrose County
    114 MW

    Name: Western Sugar Coop- Ft Morgan County: Morgan Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Western Sugar Cooperative

    Western Sugar Coop- Ft Morgan
    Morgan County
    3 MW

    26 gas plants

    Name: Cherokee County: Adams Megawatt Capacity: 1,427 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Cherokee
    Adams County
    1,427 MW

    Name: Fort St. Vrain County: Weld Megawatt Capacity: 1,149 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Fort St. Vrain
    Weld County
    1,149 MW

    Name: Rocky Mountain Energy Center County: Weld Megawatt Capacity: 685 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Rocky Mountain Energy Center
    Weld County
    685 MW

    Name: Front Range Power Plant County: El Paso Megawatt Capacity: 554 Utility: City of Colorado Springs - (CO)

    Front Range Power Plant
    El Paso County
    554 MW

    Name: Pueblo Airport Generating Station County: Pueblo Megawatt Capacity: 540 Utility: Black Hills Service Company LLC

    Pueblo Airport Generating Station
    Pueblo County
    540 MW

    Name: Spindle Hill Energy Center County: Weld Megawatt Capacity: 420 Utility: Invenergy Services LLC

    Spindle Hill Energy Center
    Weld County
    420 MW

    Name: Blue Spruce Energy Center County: Adams Megawatt Capacity: 398 Utility: Public Service Co of Colorado

    Blue Spruce Energy Center
    Adams County
    398 MW

    Name: J M Shafer County: Weld Megawatt Capacity: 397 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    J M Shafer
    Weld County
    397 MW

    Name: Manchief Generating Station County: Morgan Megawatt Capacity: 300 Utility: Manchief Power Co LLC

    Manchief Generating Station
    Morgan County
    300 MW

    Name: Brush Power Projects County: Morgan Megawatt Capacity: 297 Utility: Colorado Energy Management

    Brush Power Projects
    Morgan County
    297 MW

    ...and 16 more

    6 oil plants

    Name: Burlington (CO) County: Kit Carson Megawatt Capacity: 129 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    Burlington (CO)
    Kit Carson County
    129 MW

    Name: Pueblo County: Pueblo Megawatt Capacity: 31 Utility: Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC

    Pueblo
    Pueblo County
    31 MW

    Name: La Junta County: Otero Megawatt Capacity: 19 Utility: City of La Junta - (CO)

    La Junta
    Otero County
    19 MW

    Name: Rocky Ford County: Otero Megawatt Capacity: 12 Utility: Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC

    Rocky Ford
    Otero County
    12 MW

    Name: Airport Industrial County: Pueblo Megawatt Capacity: 10 Utility: Black Hills Colorado Electric, LLC

    Airport Industrial
    Pueblo County
    10 MW

    Name: Holly County: Prowers Megawatt Capacity: 6 Utility: Town of Holly - (CO)

    Holly
    Prowers County
    6 MW

    See a map of dirty power plants in the US

    ...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 6,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Colorado already has 318 megawatts of solar power generation and 2,000 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 179 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 206 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 17.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 27% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 39% of emissions in Colorado comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 39%🔌 Power: 27%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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
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Ready to do your part?

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

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