West Virginia

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To get to zero by 2050, West Virginia must cut climate pollution by 4.1 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in West Virginia

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in West Virginia by Source
🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏠 Buildings

    3% of emissions in West Virginia comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 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 1.1 million buildings in West Virginia and 46% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 565,000 buildings in West Virginia. That's around 20,000 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.46.46% have been electrified, and the remaining 53.54% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 3% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🚗 Getting Around

    11% of emissions in West Virginia comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 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 509,000 vehicles in West Virginia and 600 are already electric (0.1% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 508,000 vehicles. That's around 18,000 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 11% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🔌 Power Generation

    52% of emissions in West Virginia comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 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 West Virginia we need to close and replace:

    10 coal plants

    Name: John E Amos County: Putnam Megawatt Capacity: 2,933 Utility: Appalachian Power Co

    John E Amos
    Putnam County
    2,933 MW

    Name: Harrison Power Station County: Harrison Megawatt Capacity: 2,052 Utility: Monongahela Power Co

    Harrison Power Station
    Harrison County
    2,052 MW

    Name: Mount Storm Power Station County: Grant Megawatt Capacity: 1,681 Utility: Virginia Electric & Power Co

    Mount Storm Power Station
    Grant County
    1,681 MW

    Name: Mitchell (WV) County: Marshall Megawatt Capacity: 1,633 Utility: Kentucky Power Co

    Mitchell (WV)
    Marshall County
    1,633 MW

    Name: Pleasants Power Station County: Pleasants Megawatt Capacity: 1,368 Utility: Allegheny Energy Supply Co LLC

    Pleasants Power Station
    Pleasants County
    1,368 MW

    Name: Mountaineer (1301) County: Mason Megawatt Capacity: 1,300 Utility: Appalachian Power Co

    Mountaineer (1301)
    Mason County
    1,300 MW

    Name: Fort Martin Power Station County: Monongalia Megawatt Capacity: 1,152 Utility: Monongahela Power Co

    Fort Martin Power Station
    Monongalia County
    1,152 MW

    Name: Longview Power County: Monongalia Megawatt Capacity: 808 Utility: Longview Power, LLC

    Longview Power
    Monongalia County
    808 MW

    Name: Grant Town Power Plant County: Marion Megawatt Capacity: 96 Utility: American Bituminous Power LP

    Grant Town Power Plant
    Marion County
    96 MW

    Name: Morgantown Energy Facility County: Monongalia Megawatt Capacity: 69 Utility: Morgantown Energy Associates

    Morgantown Energy Facility
    Monongalia County
    69 MW

    4 gas plants

    Name: Ceredo Generating Station County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 519 Utility: Appalachian Power Co

    Ceredo Generating Station
    Wayne County
    519 MW

    Name: Big Sandy Peaker Plant County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 353 Utility: Middle River Power II, LLC

    Big Sandy Peaker Plant
    Wayne County
    353 MW

    Name: Pleasants Energy, LLC County: Pleasants Megawatt Capacity: 344 Utility: Pleasants Energy LLC

    Pleasants Energy, LLC
    Pleasants County
    344 MW

    Name: Axiall Corporation Natrium Plant County: Marshall Megawatt Capacity: 123 Utility: Westlake Chemical Natrium Plant

    Axiall Corporation Natrium Plant
    Marshall County
    123 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 4,000 MWs of wind and 5,000 MWs of solar.

    Since West Virginia already has 3 megawatts of solar power generation and 185 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 140 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 178 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 2.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 52% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 Buildings: 3%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 34% of emissions in West Virginia comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 34%🔌 Power: 52%🚗 Transport: 11%🏠 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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