Minnesota

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

Emissions in Minnesota

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Minnesota by Source
🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    🏠 Buildings

    14% of emissions in Minnesota comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    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 2.9 million buildings in Minnesota and 25% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 2.2 million buildings in Minnesota. That's around 79,000 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.24.8% have been electrified, and the remaining 75.2% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 14% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    🚗 Getting Around

    25% of emissions in Minnesota comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    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 1.8 million vehicles in Minnesota and 10,000 are already electric (0.6% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.8 million vehicles. That's around 66,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.6% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.4% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 25% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    🔌 Power Generation

    21% of emissions in Minnesota comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    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 Minnesota we need to close and replace:

    8 coal plants

    Name: Sherburne County County: Sherburne Megawatt Capacity: 2,469 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Sherburne County
    Sherburne County
    2,469 MW

    Name: Boswell Energy Center County: Itasca Megawatt Capacity: 1,073 Utility: ALLETE, Inc.

    Boswell Energy Center
    Itasca County
    1,073 MW

    Name: Allen S King County: Washington Megawatt Capacity: 598 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Allen S King
    Washington County
    598 MW

    Name: Hoot Lake County: Otter Tail Megawatt Capacity: 138 Utility: Otter Tail Power Co

    Hoot Lake
    Otter Tail County
    138 MW

    Name: Northshore Mining Silver Bay Power County: Lake Megawatt Capacity: 132 Utility: Cleveland Cliffs Inc

    Northshore Mining Silver Bay Power
    Lake County
    132 MW

    Name: Hibbing County: St Louis Megawatt Capacity: 36 Utility: Hibbing Public Utilities Comm

    Hibbing
    St Louis County
    36 MW

    Name: Archer Daniels Midland Mankato County: Blue Earth Megawatt Capacity: 11 Utility: Archer Daniels Midland Co

    Archer Daniels Midland Mankato
    Blue Earth County
    11 MW

    Name: Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar County: Renville Megawatt Capacity: 8 Utility: Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar

    Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar
    Renville County
    8 MW

    32 gas plants

    Name: Black Dog County: Dakota Megawatt Capacity: 1,681 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Black Dog
    Dakota County
    1,681 MW

    Name: High Bridge County: Ramsey Megawatt Capacity: 921 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    High Bridge
    Ramsey County
    921 MW

    Name: Riverside (1927) County: Hennepin Megawatt Capacity: 825 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Riverside (1927)
    Hennepin County
    825 MW

    Name: Mankato Energy Center County: Blue Earth Megawatt Capacity: 719 Utility: Southern Power Co

    Mankato Energy Center
    Blue Earth County
    719 MW

    Name: Blue Lake Generating Plant County: Scott Megawatt Capacity: 559 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Blue Lake Generating Plant
    Scott County
    559 MW

    Name: Lakefield Junction Generating County: Martin Megawatt Capacity: 538 Utility: Great River Energy

    Lakefield Junction Generating
    Martin County
    538 MW

    Name: Pleasant Valley Station County: Mower Megawatt Capacity: 468 Utility: Great River Energy

    Pleasant Valley Station
    Mower County
    468 MW

    Name: Cannon Falls Energy Center County: Goodhue Megawatt Capacity: 347 Utility: Invenergy Services LLC

    Cannon Falls Energy Center
    Goodhue County
    347 MW

    Name: Faribault Energy Park County: Rice Megawatt Capacity: 335 Utility: Minnesota Municipal Power Agny

    Faribault Energy Park
    Rice County
    335 MW

    Name: Inver Hills County: Dakota Megawatt Capacity: 284 Utility: Northern States Power Co - Minnesota

    Inver Hills
    Dakota County
    284 MW

    ...and 22 more

    51 oil plants

    Name: New Ulm County: Brown Megawatt Capacity: 79 Utility: New Ulm Public Utilities Comm

    New Ulm
    Brown County
    79 MW

    Name: St. Bonifacius Station County: Carver Megawatt Capacity: 61 Utility: Great River Energy

    St. Bonifacius Station
    Carver County
    61 MW

    Name: Glencoe County: McLeod Megawatt Capacity: 41 Utility: Glencoe Light & Power Comm

    Glencoe
    McLeod County
    41 MW

    Name: Maple Lake Station County: Wright Megawatt Capacity: 25 Utility: Great River Energy

    Maple Lake Station
    Wright County
    25 MW

    Name: Rock Lake Station County: Pine Megawatt Capacity: 25 Utility: Great River Energy

    Rock Lake Station
    Pine County
    25 MW

    Name: Delano County: Wright Megawatt Capacity: 24 Utility: Delano Municipal Utilities

    Delano
    Wright County
    24 MW

    Name: Marshall (MN) County: Lyon Megawatt Capacity: 18 Utility: City of Marshall - (MN)

    Marshall (MN)
    Lyon County
    18 MW

    Name: Litchfield County: Meeker Megawatt Capacity: 16 Utility: Litchfield Public Utilities

    Litchfield
    Meeker County
    16 MW

    Name: Thomson Reuters Campus Bldg A-D County: Dakota Megawatt Capacity: 14 Utility: Thomson Corp

    Thomson Reuters Campus Bldg A-D
    Dakota County
    14 MW

    Name: Mora County: Kanabec Megawatt Capacity: 14 Utility: City of Mora - (MN)

    Mora
    Kanabec County
    14 MW

    ...and 41 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 7,000 MWs of wind and 6,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Minnesota already has 240 megawatts of solar power generation and 1,000 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 191 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 200 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 15% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 21% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 41% of emissions in Minnesota comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 41%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 25%🏠 Buildings: 14%

    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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