Wisconsin

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To get to zero by 2050, Wisconsin must cut climate pollution by 4.6 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Wisconsin

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.

CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Wisconsin by Source
🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    🏠 Buildings

    13% of emissions in Wisconsin comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    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 Wisconsin and 23% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 2.5 million buildings in Wisconsin. That's around 88,000 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.22.66% have been electrified, and the remaining 77.34% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 13% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    🚗 Getting Around

    24% of emissions in Wisconsin comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    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 1.9 million vehicles in Wisconsin and 6,000 are already electric (0.3% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 1.9 million vehicles. That's around 68,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.3% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.7% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 24% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    🔌 Power Generation

    30% of emissions in Wisconsin comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    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 Wisconsin we need to close and replace:

    9 coal plants

    Name: Elm Road Generating Station County: Milwaukee Megawatt Capacity: 1,403 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Elm Road Generating Station
    Milwaukee County
    1,403 MW

    Name: South Oak Creek County: Milwaukee Megawatt Capacity: 1,260 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    South Oak Creek
    Milwaukee County
    1,260 MW

    Name: Weston County: Marathon Megawatt Capacity: 1,163 Utility: Wisconsin Public Service Corp

    Weston
    Marathon County
    1,163 MW

    Name: Columbia County: Columbia Megawatt Capacity: 1,112 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    Columbia
    Columbia County
    1,112 MW

    Name: Edgewater (4050) County: Sheboygan Megawatt Capacity: 834 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    Edgewater (4050)
    Sheboygan County
    834 MW

    Name: J P Madgett County: Buffalo Megawatt Capacity: 387 Utility: Dairyland Power Coop

    J P Madgett
    Buffalo County
    387 MW

    Name: Genoa County: Vernon Megawatt Capacity: 346 Utility: Dairyland Power Coop

    Genoa
    Vernon County
    346 MW

    Name: Biron Mill County: Wood Megawatt Capacity: 62 Utility: ND Paper, Inc.

    Biron Mill
    Wood County
    62 MW

    Name: Kaukauna Paper Mill County: Outagamie Megawatt Capacity: 45 Utility: Thilmany LLC

    Kaukauna Paper Mill
    Outagamie County
    45 MW

    35 gas plants

    Name: Port Washington Generating Station County: Ozaukee Megawatt Capacity: 1,548 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Port Washington Generating Station
    Ozaukee County
    1,548 MW

    Name: Riverside Energy Center County: Rock Megawatt Capacity: 1,402 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    Riverside Energy Center
    Rock County
    1,402 MW

    Name: Pulliam County: Brown Megawatt Capacity: 671 Utility: Wisconsin Public Service Corp

    Pulliam
    Brown County
    671 MW

    Name: Fox Energy Center County: Outagamie Megawatt Capacity: 619 Utility: Wisconsin Public Service Corp

    Fox Energy Center
    Outagamie County
    619 MW

    Name: Rockgen Energy Center County: Dane Megawatt Capacity: 561 Utility: Rockgen Energy LLC

    Rockgen Energy Center
    Dane County
    561 MW

    Name: Concord County: Jefferson Megawatt Capacity: 382 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Concord
    Jefferson County
    382 MW

    Name: South Fond Du Lac County: Fond Du Lac Megawatt Capacity: 382 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    South Fond Du Lac
    Fond Du Lac County
    382 MW

    Name: Paris County: Kenosha Megawatt Capacity: 382 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Paris
    Kenosha County
    382 MW

    Name: Neenah Energy Facility County: Winnebago Megawatt Capacity: 371 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    Neenah Energy Facility
    Winnebago County
    371 MW

    Name: Sheboygan Falls Energy Facility County: Sheboygan Megawatt Capacity: 347 Utility: Wisconsin Power & Light Co

    Sheboygan Falls Energy Facility
    Sheboygan County
    347 MW

    ...and 25 more

    12 oil plants

    Name: Manitowoc County: Manitowoc Megawatt Capacity: 213 Utility: Manitowoc Public Utilities

    Manitowoc
    Manitowoc County
    213 MW

    Name: Diesel Generators County: Dane Megawatt Capacity: 54 Utility: Madison Gas & Electric Co

    Diesel Generators
    Dane County
    54 MW

    Name: Cumberland (WI) County: Barron Megawatt Capacity: 22 Utility: City of Cumberland - (WI)

    Cumberland (WI)
    Barron County
    22 MW

    Name: New Lisbon County: Juneau Megawatt Capacity: 9 Utility: City of New Lisbon

    New Lisbon
    Juneau County
    9 MW

    Name: Fennimore County: Grant Megawatt Capacity: 7 Utility: City of Fennimore - (WI)

    Fennimore
    Grant County
    7 MW

    Name: Elroy County: Juneau Megawatt Capacity: 7 Utility: City of Elroy - (WI)

    Elroy
    Juneau County
    7 MW

    Name: Grantsburg Diesel County: Burnett Megawatt Capacity: 6 Utility: Northwestern Wisconsin Elec Co

    Grantsburg Diesel
    Burnett County
    6 MW

    Name: Winter County: Sawyer Megawatt Capacity: 6 Utility: North Central Power Co Inc

    Winter
    Sawyer County
    6 MW

    Name: Washington Island County: Door Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: Washington Island El Coop, Inc

    Washington Island
    Door County
    5 MW

    Name: Argyle County: Lafayette Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: City of Argyle - (WI)

    Argyle
    Lafayette County
    5 MW

    Name: Marathon Electric County: Marathon Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Marathon Electric Mfg Corp

    Marathon Electric
    Marathon County
    3 MW

    Name: WPPI Hartford DG County: Washington Megawatt Capacity: 1 Utility: WPPI Energy

    WPPI Hartford DG
    Washington County
    1 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 8,000 MWs of wind and 7,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Wisconsin already has 66 megawatts of solar power generation and 184 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 269 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 254 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% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 30% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 32% of emissions in Wisconsin comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 32%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 24%🏠 Buildings: 13%

    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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