North Dakota

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To get to zero by 2050, North Dakota must cut climate pollution by 3.4 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in North Dakota

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in North Dakota by Source
🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏠 Buildings

    3% of emissions in North Dakota comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 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

    There are 568,000 buildings in North Dakota and 43% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 327,000 buildings in North Dakota. That's around 12,000 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.42.51% have been electrified, and the remaining 57.49% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 3% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🚗 Getting Around

    10% of emissions in North Dakota comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 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 216,000 vehicles in North Dakota and 220 are already electric (0.1% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 215,000 vehicles. That's around 8,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.1% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.9% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 10% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🔌 Power Generation

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

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 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 North Dakota we need to close and replace:

    7 coal plants

    Name: Coal Creek County: McLean Megawatt Capacity: 1,218 Utility: Great River Energy

    Coal Creek
    McLean County
    1,218 MW

    Name: Antelope Valley County: Mercer Megawatt Capacity: 954 Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Antelope Valley
    Mercer County
    954 MW

    Name: Milton R Young County: Oliver Megawatt Capacity: 734 Utility: Minnkota Power Coop, Inc

    Milton R Young
    Oliver County
    734 MW

    Name: Leland Olds County: Mercer Megawatt Capacity: 656 Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Leland Olds
    Mercer County
    656 MW

    Name: Coyote County: Mercer Megawatt Capacity: 450 Utility: Otter Tail Power Co

    Coyote
    Mercer County
    450 MW

    Name: R M Heskett County: Morton Megawatt Capacity: 291 Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    R M Heskett
    Morton County
    291 MW

    Name: Spiritwood Station County: Stutsman Megawatt Capacity: 106 Utility: Great River Energy

    Spiritwood Station
    Stutsman County
    106 MW

    2 gas plants

    Name: Lonesome Creek Station County: McKenzie Megawatt Capacity: 303 Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Lonesome Creek Station
    McKenzie County
    303 MW

    Name: Pioneer Generating Station County: Williams Megawatt Capacity: 293 Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Pioneer Generating Station
    Williams County
    293 MW

    5 oil plants

    Name: Jamestown County: Stutsman Megawatt Capacity: 48 Utility: Otter Tail Power Co

    Jamestown
    Stutsman County
    48 MW

    Name: Hillsboro County: Traill Megawatt Capacity: 4 Utility: City of Hillsboro - (ND)

    Hillsboro
    Traill County
    4 MW

    Name: Kindred School County: Cass Megawatt Capacity: 2 Utility: Kindred Public School

    Kindred School
    Cass County
    2 MW

    Name: Portable Generator 2 County: Williams Megawatt Capacity: 2 Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    Portable Generator 2
    Williams County
    2 MW

    Name: Portable Generator 3 County: Williams Megawatt Capacity: 2 Utility: Montana-Dakota Utilities Co

    Portable Generator 3
    Williams County
    2 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 2,000 MWs of wind and 2,000 MWs of solar.

    Since North Dakota already has 0 megawatts of solar power generation and 2,000 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 11 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 78 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 42% 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: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 54% of emissions in North Dakota comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 54%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 10%🏠 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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