New Mexico

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To get to zero by 2050, New Mexico must cut climate pollution by 2.7 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in New Mexico

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in New Mexico by Source
🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    🏠 Buildings

    5% of emissions in New Mexico comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    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 1.0 million buildings in New Mexico and 23% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 795,000 buildings in New Mexico. That's around 29,000 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.23.32% have been electrified, and the remaining 76.68% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 5% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    🚗 Getting Around

    21% of emissions in New Mexico comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    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 624,000 vehicles in New Mexico and 3,000 are already electric (0.4% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 621,000 vehicles. That's around 22,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.4% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.6% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 21% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    🔌 Power Generation

    24% of emissions in New Mexico comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    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 New Mexico we need to close and replace:

    3 coal plants

    Name: Four Corners Steam Elec Station County: San Juan Megawatt Capacity: 2,270 Utility: Arizona Public Service Co

    Four Corners Steam Elec Station
    San Juan County
    2,270 MW

    Name: San Juan County: San Juan Megawatt Capacity: 1,848 Utility: Public Service Co of NM

    San Juan
    San Juan County
    1,848 MW

    Name: Escalante County: McKinley Megawatt Capacity: 257 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    Escalante
    McKinley County
    257 MW

    19 gas plants

    Name: Hobbs Generating Station County: Lea Megawatt Capacity: 666 Utility: Lea Power Partners LLC

    Hobbs Generating Station
    Lea County
    666 MW

    Name: Valencia Power Plant County: Valencia Megawatt Capacity: 656 Utility: Valencia Power LLC

    Valencia Power Plant
    Valencia County
    656 MW

    Name: Luna Energy Facility County: Luna Megawatt Capacity: 650 Utility: Public Service Co of NM

    Luna Energy Facility
    Luna County
    650 MW

    Name: Cunningham County: Lea Megawatt Capacity: 519 Utility: Southwestern Public Service Co

    Cunningham
    Lea County
    519 MW

    Name: Afton Generating Station County: Dona Ana Megawatt Capacity: 464 Utility: Public Service Co of NM

    Afton Generating Station
    Dona Ana County
    464 MW

    Name: Rio Grande County: Dona Ana Megawatt Capacity: 398 Utility: El Paso Electric Co

    Rio Grande
    Dona Ana County
    398 MW

    Name: Maddox County: Lea Megawatt Capacity: 212 Utility: Southwestern Public Service Co

    Maddox
    Lea County
    212 MW

    Name: Pyramid Generating Station County: Hidalgo Megawatt Capacity: 186 Utility: Tri-State G & T Assn, Inc

    Pyramid Generating Station
    Hidalgo County
    186 MW

    Name: Reeves Generating Station County: Bernalillo Megawatt Capacity: 154 Utility: Public Service Co of NM

    Reeves Generating Station
    Bernalillo County
    154 MW

    Name: Rio Bravo Generating Station County: Bernalillo Megawatt Capacity: 150 Utility: Public Service Co of NM

    Rio Bravo Generating Station
    Bernalillo County
    150 MW

    ...and 9 more

    1 oil plant

    Name: Quay County County: Quay Megawatt Capacity: 27 Utility: Southwestern Public Service Co

    Quay County
    Quay County
    27 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 3,000 MWs of wind and 3,000 MWs of solar.

    Since New Mexico already has 254 megawatts of solar power generation and 1,000 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 49 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 92 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 32.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 24% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 49% of emissions in New Mexico comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 49%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 21%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    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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