Tennessee

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To get to zero by 2050, Tennessee must cut climate pollution by 4.2 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Tennessee

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Tennessee by Source
🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🏠 Buildings

    8% of emissions in Tennessee comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 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 3.2 million buildings in Tennessee and 58% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.4 million buildings in Tennessee. That's around 49,000 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.57.62% have been electrified, and the remaining 42.38% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 8% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🚗 Getting Around

    38% of emissions in Tennessee comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 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 2.1 million vehicles in Tennessee and 8,000 are already electric (0.4% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 2.1 million vehicles. That's around 76,000 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 38% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🔌 Power Generation

    21% of emissions in Tennessee comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 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 Tennessee we need to close and replace:

    5 coal plants

    Name: Cumberland County: Stewart Megawatt Capacity: 2,600 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Cumberland
    Stewart County
    2,600 MW

    Name: Gallatin County: Sumner Megawatt Capacity: 1,918 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Gallatin
    Sumner County
    1,918 MW

    Name: Kingston County: Roane Megawatt Capacity: 1,700 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Kingston
    Roane County
    1,700 MW

    Name: Bull Run County: Anderson Megawatt Capacity: 950 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Bull Run
    Anderson County
    950 MW

    Name: Eastman Chemical Company County: Sullivan Megawatt Capacity: 194 Utility: Eastman Chemical Co-TN Ops

    Eastman Chemical Company
    Sullivan County
    194 MW

    12 gas plants

    Name: Johnsonville County: Humphreys Megawatt Capacity: 2,911 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Johnsonville
    Humphreys County
    2,911 MW

    Name: Allen County: Shelby Megawatt Capacity: 2,782 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Allen
    Shelby County
    2,782 MW

    Name: John Sevier County: Hawkins Megawatt Capacity: 1,797 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    John Sevier
    Hawkins County
    1,797 MW

    Name: Lagoon Creek County: Haywood Megawatt Capacity: 1,625 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Lagoon Creek
    Haywood County
    1,625 MW

    Name: Gleason Combustion Turbine Plant County: Weakley Megawatt Capacity: 568 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Gleason Combustion Turbine Plant
    Weakley County
    568 MW

    Name: Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant County: Haywood Megawatt Capacity: 460 Utility: Tennessee Valley Authority

    Brownsville Combustion Turbine Plant
    Haywood County
    460 MW

    Name: Tate & Lyle Loudon Plant County: Loudon Megawatt Capacity: 61 Utility: Tate and Lyle Ingredients, LLC

    Tate & Lyle Loudon Plant
    Loudon County
    61 MW

    Name: Vanderbilt University Power Plant County: Davidson Megawatt Capacity: 35 Utility: Vanderbilt University

    Vanderbilt University Power Plant
    Davidson County
    35 MW

    Name: MTSU Power Co-Gen Plant County: Rutherford Megawatt Capacity: 15 Utility: Middle Tennessee State University

    MTSU Power Co-Gen Plant
    Rutherford County
    15 MW

    Name: Mountain Home Energy Center County: Washington Megawatt Capacity: 7 Utility: Energy Systems Group LLC

    Mountain Home Energy Center
    Washington County
    7 MW

    Name: University of Tennessee Steam Plant County: Knox Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: University of Tennessee

    University of Tennessee Steam Plant
    Knox County
    5 MW

    Name: Opryland USA County: Davidson Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: Gaylord Entertainment Co

    Opryland USA
    Davidson County
    5 MW

    2 oil plants

    Name: McMinnville County: Warren Megawatt Capacity: 24 Utility: McMinnville Electric System

    McMinnville
    Warren County
    24 MW

    Name: Powell Valley County: Hancock Megawatt Capacity: 22 Utility: Powell Valley Electric Coop

    Powell Valley
    Hancock County
    22 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 6,000 MWs of wind and 6,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Tennessee already has 48 megawatts of solar power generation and 5 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 210 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 216 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 1% 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: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 Buildings: 8%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 33% of emissions in Tennessee comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 33%🔌 Power: 21%🚗 Transport: 38%🏠 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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