North Carolina

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To get to zero by 2050, North Carolina must cut climate pollution by 5.1 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in North Carolina

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in North Carolina by Source
🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🏠 Buildings

    8% of emissions in North Carolina comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    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 4.7 million buildings in North Carolina and 60% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.9 million buildings in North Carolina. That's around 67,000 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.59.94% have been electrified, and the remaining 40.06% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 8% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🚗 Getting Around

    36% of emissions in North Carolina comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    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 3.4 million vehicles in North Carolina and 16,000 are already electric (0.5% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 3.4 million vehicles. That's around 122,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.5% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.5% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 36% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🔌 Power Generation

    33% of emissions in North Carolina comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    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 North Carolina we need to close and replace:

    8 coal plants

    Name: Roxboro County: Person Megawatt Capacity: 2,575 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Roxboro
    Person County
    2,575 MW

    Name: Cliffside County: Cleveland Megawatt Capacity: 2,541 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Cliffside
    Cleveland County
    2,541 MW

    Name: Belews Creek County: Stokes Megawatt Capacity: 2,491 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Belews Creek
    Stokes County
    2,491 MW

    Name: Marshall County: Catawba Megawatt Capacity: 2,119 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Marshall
    Catawba County
    2,119 MW

    Name: Asheville County: Buncombe Megawatt Capacity: 1,425 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Asheville
    Buncombe County
    1,425 MW

    Name: G G Allen County: Gaston Megawatt Capacity: 1,148 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    G G Allen
    Gaston County
    1,148 MW

    Name: Mayo County: Person Megawatt Capacity: 763 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Mayo
    Person County
    763 MW

    Name: University of NC Chapel Hill County: Orange Megawatt Capacity: 56 Utility: University of North Carolina

    University of NC Chapel Hill
    Orange County
    56 MW

    16 gas plants

    Name: H F Lee Steam Electric Plant County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 2,556 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    H F Lee Steam Electric Plant
    Wayne County
    2,556 MW

    Name: Richmond County Plant County: Richmond Megawatt Capacity: 2,245 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Richmond County Plant
    Richmond County
    2,245 MW

    Name: L V Sutton County: New Hanover Megawatt Capacity: 1,614 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    L V Sutton
    New Hanover County
    1,614 MW

    Name: Cleveland County Generating Facility County: Cleveland Megawatt Capacity: 1,472 Utility: Southern Power Co

    Cleveland County Generating Facility
    Cleveland County
    1,472 MW

    Name: Plant Rowan County County: Rowan Megawatt Capacity: 1,192 Utility: Southern Power Co

    Plant Rowan County
    Rowan County
    1,192 MW

    Name: Buck County: Rowan Megawatt Capacity: 1,172 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Buck
    Rowan County
    1,172 MW

    Name: Dan River County: Rockingham Megawatt Capacity: 1,086 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Dan River
    Rockingham County
    1,086 MW

    Name: Rockingham County Combustion Turbine County: Rockingham Megawatt Capacity: 978 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Rockingham County Combustion Turbine
    Rockingham County
    978 MW

    Name: Kings Mountain Energy Center County: Cleveland Megawatt Capacity: 544 Utility: NTE Carolinas, LLC

    Kings Mountain Energy Center
    Cleveland County
    544 MW

    Name: NCEMC Anson Plant County: Anson Megawatt Capacity: 344 Utility: North Carolina El Member Corp

    NCEMC Anson Plant
    Anson County
    344 MW

    ...and 6 more

    43 oil plants

    Name: Lincoln Combustion Turbine County: Lincoln Megawatt Capacity: 2,290 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    Lincoln Combustion Turbine
    Lincoln County
    2,290 MW

    Name: W H Weatherspoon County: Robeson Megawatt Capacity: 329 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    W H Weatherspoon
    Robeson County
    329 MW

    Name: Rosemary Power Station County: Halifax Megawatt Capacity: 180 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Rosemary Power Station
    Halifax County
    180 MW

    Name: Blewett County: Anson Megawatt Capacity: 95 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Blewett
    Anson County
    95 MW

    Name: Smithfield Farmland Corp Bladen County: Bladen Megawatt Capacity: 29 Utility: Smithfield Fresh Meats Corp.

    Smithfield Farmland Corp Bladen
    Bladen County
    29 MW

    Name: Buxton County: Dare Megawatt Capacity: 15 Utility: North Carolina El Member Corp

    Buxton
    Dare County
    15 MW

    Name: Gastonia Prime Power Park County: Gaston Megawatt Capacity: 12 Utility: North Carolina Mun Power Agny #1

    Gastonia Prime Power Park
    Gaston County
    12 MW

    Name: Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp. County: Lenoir Megawatt Capacity: 9 Utility: Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp

    Smithfield Packaged Meats Corp.
    Lenoir County
    9 MW

    Name: Gastonia, Tulip Drive County: Gaston Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: North Carolina Mun Power Agny #1

    Gastonia, Tulip Drive
    Gaston County
    5 MW

    Name: Eastside WWTP County: Guilford Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: City Of High Point

    Eastside WWTP
    Guilford County
    5 MW

    ...and 33 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 9,000 MWs of wind and 10,000 MWs of solar.

    Since North Carolina already has 1,000 megawatts of solar power generation and 58 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 334 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 327 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 11.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 33% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 23% of emissions in North Carolina comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 23%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 36%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    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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