Hawaii

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To get to zero by 2050, Hawaii must cut climate pollution by 0.8 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Hawaii

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Hawaii by Source
🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏠 Buildings

    3% of emissions in Hawaii comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 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

    We need to electrify the remaining 253,000 buildings in Hawaii. That's around 9,000 per year.

    That will solve 3% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🚗 Getting Around

    51% of emissions in Hawaii comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 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 484,000 vehicles in Hawaii and 11,000 are already electric (2.2% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 473,000 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.2.2% have been electrified, and the remaining 97.8% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 51% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🔌 Power Generation

    28% of emissions in Hawaii comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 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 Hawaii we need to close and replace:

    1 coal plant

    Name: AES Hawaii County: Honolulu Megawatt Capacity: 203 Utility: AES Hawaii LLC

    AES Hawaii
    Honolulu County
    203 MW

    18 oil plants

    Name: Kahe County: Honolulu Megawatt Capacity: 610 Utility: Hawaiian Electric Co Inc

    Kahe
    Honolulu County
    610 MW

    Name: Waiau County: Honolulu Megawatt Capacity: 475 Utility: Hawaiian Electric Co Inc

    Waiau
    Honolulu County
    475 MW

    Name: Kalaeloa Cogen Plant County: Honolulu Megawatt Capacity: 299 Utility: Kalaeloa Partners LP

    Kalaeloa Cogen Plant
    Honolulu County
    299 MW

    Name: Maalaea County: Maui Megawatt Capacity: 230 Utility: Maui Electric Co Ltd

    Maalaea
    Maui County
    230 MW

    Name: Campbell Industrial Park County: Honolulu Megawatt Capacity: 113 Utility: Hawaiian Electric Co Inc

    Campbell Industrial Park
    Honolulu County
    113 MW

    Name: Port Allen (HI) County: Kauai Megawatt Capacity: 100 Utility: Kauai Island Utility Cooperative

    Port Allen (HI)
    Kauai County
    100 MW

    Name: Keahole County: Hawaii Megawatt Capacity: 97 Utility: Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc

    Keahole
    Hawaii County
    97 MW

    Name: Hamakua Energy Plant County: Hawaii Megawatt Capacity: 66 Utility: Hamakua Energy, LLC

    Hamakua Energy Plant
    Hawaii County
    66 MW

    Name: Puna County: Hawaii Megawatt Capacity: 39 Utility: Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc

    Puna
    Hawaii County
    39 MW

    Name: W H Hill County: Hawaii Megawatt Capacity: 37 Utility: Hawaii Electric Light Co Inc

    W H Hill
    Hawaii County
    37 MW

    ...and 8 more

    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 324 MWs of wind and 445 MWs of solar.

    Since Hawaii already has 205 megawatts of solar power generation and 77 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 9 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 9 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 58% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 28% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 19% of emissions in Hawaii comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 19%🔌 Power: 28%🚗 Transport: 51%🏠 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
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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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