Virginia

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

Emissions in Virginia

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Virginia by Source
🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🏠 Buildings

    10% of emissions in Virginia comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 3.1 million buildings in Virginia and 55% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.4 million buildings in Virginia. That's around 50,000 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.55.23% have been electrified, and the remaining 44.77% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 10% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🚗 Getting Around

    39% of emissions in Virginia comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 3.1 million vehicles in Virginia and 21,000 are already electric (0.7% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 3.0 million vehicles. That's around 109,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.7% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.3% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 39% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🔌 Power Generation

    24% of emissions in Virginia comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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 Virginia we need to close and replace:

    6 coal plants

    Name: Clover Power Station County: Halifax Megawatt Capacity: 848 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Clover Power Station
    Halifax County
    848 MW

    Name: Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center County: Wise Megawatt Capacity: 668 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center
    Wise County
    668 MW

    Name: Birchwood Power Facility County: King George Megawatt Capacity: 258 Utility: Birchwood Power Partners LP

    Birchwood Power Facility
    King George County
    258 MW

    Name: Spruance Genco, LLC County: Richmond City Megawatt Capacity: 230 Utility: Veolia Energy Operating Service

    Spruance Genco, LLC
    Richmond City County
    230 MW

    Name: City Point Energy Center County: Hopewell City Megawatt Capacity: 115 Utility: City Point Energy Center

    City Point Energy Center
    Hopewell City County
    115 MW

    Name: RockTenn West Point Mill County: King William Megawatt Capacity: 101 Utility: WestRock-West Point Mill

    RockTenn West Point Mill
    King William County
    101 MW

    28 gas plants

    Name: Possum Point Power Station County: Prince William Megawatt Capacity: 2,082 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Possum Point Power Station
    Prince William County
    2,082 MW

    Name: Chesterfield Power Station County: Chesterfield Megawatt Capacity: 1,800 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Chesterfield Power Station
    Chesterfield County
    1,800 MW

    Name: Greensville County Power Station County: Greensville Megawatt Capacity: 1,773 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Greensville County Power Station
    Greensville County
    1,773 MW

    Name: Warren County Power Station County: Warren Megawatt Capacity: 1,472 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Warren County Power Station
    Warren County
    1,472 MW

    Name: Brunswick County Power Station County: Brunswick Megawatt Capacity: 1,472 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Brunswick County Power Station
    Brunswick County
    1,472 MW

    Name: Doswell Limited Partnership County: Hanover Megawatt Capacity: 1,313 Utility: Doswell Ltd Partnership

    Doswell Limited Partnership
    Hanover County
    1,313 MW

    Name: Tenaska Virginia Generating Station County: Fluvanna Megawatt Capacity: 1,011 Utility: Tenaska Virginia Partners LP

    Tenaska Virginia Generating Station
    Fluvanna County
    1,011 MW

    Name: Ladysmith Combustion Turbine Sta County: Caroline Megawatt Capacity: 893 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Ladysmith Combustion Turbine Sta
    Caroline County
    893 MW

    Name: Panda Stonewall Power Project County: Loudoun Megawatt Capacity: 812 Utility: Green Energy Partners LLC

    Panda Stonewall Power Project
    Loudoun County
    812 MW

    Name: Clinch River County: Russell Megawatt Capacity: 713 Utility: Appalachian Power Co

    Clinch River
    Russell County
    713 MW

    ...and 18 more

    33 oil plants

    Name: Yorktown Power Station County: York Megawatt Capacity: 1,257 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Yorktown Power Station
    York County
    1,257 MW

    Name: Chesapeake County: Chesapeake City Megawatt Capacity: 812 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Chesapeake
    Chesapeake City County
    812 MW

    Name: Commonwealth Chesapeake County: Accomack Megawatt Capacity: 403 Utility: Commonwealth Chesapeake Co LLC

    Commonwealth Chesapeake
    Accomack County
    403 MW

    Name: Low Moor County: Alleghany Megawatt Capacity: 83 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Low Moor
    Alleghany County
    83 MW

    Name: Northern Neck County: Richmond Megawatt Capacity: 83 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Northern Neck
    Richmond County
    83 MW

    Name: Tasley Energy Center County: Accomack Megawatt Capacity: 27 Utility: Calpine Mid-Atlantic Generation LLC

    Tasley Energy Center
    Accomack County
    27 MW

    Name: Dominion/Lo Mar County: Prince William Megawatt Capacity: 25 Utility: City of Manassas - (VA)

    Dominion/Lo Mar
    Prince William County
    25 MW

    Name: Mount Clinton County: Rockingham Megawatt Capacity: 24 Utility: City of Harrisonburg - (VA)

    Mount Clinton
    Rockingham County
    24 MW

    Name: Pleasant Valley (VA) County: Rockingham Megawatt Capacity: 21 Utility: City of Harrisonburg - (VA)

    Pleasant Valley (VA)
    Rockingham County
    21 MW

    Name: VMEA 1 Credit Gen County: Prince William Megawatt Capacity: 15 Utility: City of Manassas - (VA)

    VMEA 1 Credit Gen
    Prince William County
    15 MW

    ...and 23 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 8,000 MWs of wind and 9,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Virginia already has 420 megawatts of solar power generation and 6 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 298 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 292 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 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: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 27% of emissions in Virginia comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 27%🔌 Power: 24%🚗 Transport: 39%🏠 Buildings: 10%

    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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