To get to zero by 2050, Wyoming must cut climate pollution by 3.2 million metric tons of C02 equivalent a year.

Emissions in Wyoming

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2e) emissions

We can do it. Here's how.


CO2 Equivalent Emissions in Wyoming by Source
🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    🏠 Buildings

    2% of emissions in Wyoming comes from buildings.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    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 387,000 buildings in Wyoming and 30% of building systems are already electrified.

    We need to electrify the remaining 271,000 buildings in Wyoming. That's around 10,000 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.29.91% have been electrified, and the remaining 70.09% are fossil fuel based.Building Systems ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve 2% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    🚗 Getting Around

    9% of emissions in Wyoming comes from cars, trucks, and planes.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    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 191,000 vehicles in Wyoming and 330 are already electric (0.2% of the total).

    We need to electrify the remaining 191,000 vehicles. That's around 7,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.0.2% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.8% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles ElectrifiedNot yet

    That will solve another 9% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    🔌 Power Generation

    45% of emissions in Wyoming comes from making power.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    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 Wyoming we need to close and replace:

    12 coal plants

    Name: Jim Bridger
County: Sweetwater
Megawatt Capacity: 2,442
Utility: PacifiCorp

    Jim Bridger
    Sweetwater County
    2,442 MW

    Name: Laramie River
County: Platte
Megawatt Capacity: 1,710
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Laramie River
    Platte County
    1,710 MW

    Name: Dave Johnston
County: Converse
Megawatt Capacity: 922
Utility: PacifiCorp

    Dave Johnston
    Converse County
    922 MW

    Name: Naughton
County: Lincoln
Megawatt Capacity: 832
Utility: PacifiCorp

    Naughton
    Lincoln County
    832 MW

    Name: Dry Fork Station
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 484
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Dry Fork Station
    Campbell County
    484 MW

    Name: Wyodak
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 402
Utility: PacifiCorp

    Wyodak
    Campbell County
    402 MW

    Name: Neil Simpson II
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 130
Utility: Black Hills Power, Inc. d/b/a

    Neil Simpson II
    Campbell County
    130 MW

    Name: Wygen III
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 116
Utility: Black Hills Power, Inc. d/b/a

    Wygen III
    Campbell County
    116 MW

    Name: Wygen II
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 95
Utility: Black Hills Power, Inc. d/b/a

    Wygen II
    Campbell County
    95 MW

    Name: Wygen I
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 90
Utility: Black Hills Power, Inc. d/b/a

    Wygen I
    Campbell County
    90 MW

    Name: Genesis Alkali
County: Sweetwater
Megawatt Capacity: 41
Utility: Genesis Alkali, LLC

    Genesis Alkali
    Sweetwater County
    41 MW

    Name: General Chemical
County: Sweetwater
Megawatt Capacity: 30
Utility: Tata Chemicals Partners

    General Chemical
    Sweetwater County
    30 MW

    7 gas plants

    Name: Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station
County: Laramie
Megawatt Capacity: 220
Utility: Black Hills Service Company LLC

    Cheyenne Prairie Generating Station
    Laramie County
    220 MW

    Name: Neil Simpson II (CT2)
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 40
Utility: Black Hills Power, Inc. d/b/a

    Neil Simpson II (CT2)
    Campbell County
    40 MW

    Name: Hartzog
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 23
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Hartzog
    Campbell County
    23 MW

    Name: Arvada
County: Sheridan
Megawatt Capacity: 23
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Arvada
    Sheridan County
    23 MW

    Name: Barber Creek
County: Campbell
Megawatt Capacity: 23
Utility: Basin Electric Power Coop

    Barber Creek
    Campbell County
    23 MW

    Name: Big Sand Draw Plant
County: Fremont
Megawatt Capacity: 8
Utility: Devon Energy Production Co

    Big Sand Draw Plant
    Fremont County
    8 MW

    Name: Beaver Creek Gas Plant
County: Fremont
Megawatt Capacity: 6
Utility: Devon Energy Production Co

    Beaver Creek Gas Plant
    Fremont County
    6 MW

    2 oil plants

    Name: Lake (WY)
County: Teton
Megawatt Capacity: 3
Utility: NorthWestern Energy

    Lake (WY)
    Teton County
    3 MW

    Name: Old Faithful
County: Teton
Megawatt Capacity: 2
Utility: NorthWestern Energy

    Old Faithful
    Teton County
    2 MW

    ...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 3,000 MWs of solar.

    Since Wyoming already has 22 megawatts of solar power generation and 964 megawatts of wind power generation, that's 43 Megawatts of wind capacity AND 95 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 23.5% of the way to what we need to be carbon neutral by 2050.Solar & Wind MWs InstalledRemaining to Install

    That will solve another 45% of the problem.

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    🏭 Other Emissions

    The last 44% of emissions in Wyoming comes other sources

    🏭 Other: 44%🔌 Power: 45%🚗 Transport: 9%🏠 Buildings: 2%

    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


Ready to do your part?

Learn how to electrify your own machines and pass local policy to electrify the rest

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