Michigan

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To get to zero by 2050, Michigan must cut emissions by 3.7% a year

Emissions in Michigan

Million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)  equivalent (MTCO2e ) emissions

Note: Grey area indicates missing data due to processing delays.
Source: WRI, Mar 2021

This is how we're going to do it

Michigan's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    17% of Michigan's climate pollution comes from buildings.

    We burn fossil fuels to heat our air, water, and food.

    To cut this pollution...

    Let's electrify our heat!

    We'll replace...

    • Boilers and furnaces with heat pumps 
    • Gas stoves with electric induction stoves 

    ...in all of Michigan's 5.0 million buildings.

    In fact, 17.2% of appliances in buildings in Michigan are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 4.1 million dirty buildings in Michigan. That's around 153,000 per year.

    Percent of Appliances Electrified electrifiedA chart showing the share of Appliances Electrified that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.17.24% have been electrified, and the remaining 82.76% are fossil fuel based.Appliances Electrified: 17.2%Needed This Year: 3.1%Not Yet: 79.7%Source: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 17% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    27% of Michigan's pollution comes from cars, trucks, trains, and planes.

    But mostly from cars.

    To cut this pollution,

    your next car must be electric.

    Or consider going car-free with public transit, bikes/e-bikes, car share, or other alternatives!

    There are 2.7 million vehicles in Michigan and 11,000 are already electric (0.4% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 2.7 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 99,000 a year.

    Percent of Vehicles Electrified electrifiedA chart showing the share of Vehicles Electrified 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 Electrified: 0.4%Needed This Year: 3.7%Not Yet: 95.9%Source: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 27% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    30% of Michigan's pollution comes from burning coal, gas, and oil to make power.

    Dirty power plant

    That's because of how power is generated in Michigan today.

    Power Generation in the State of Michigan (2020)

    But there's already 38% carbon-free electricity generation in Michigan!

    To clean up the emissions from the polluting power plants we need to replace all fossil fuel power plants with solar and wind farms.

    We need to replace dirty power plants with clean ones (mostly wind and solar)

    ...and find good jobs for those workers.

    Current Fossil Fuel Power Plants in Michigan

    14 coal plants

    Name: Monroe County: Monroe Megawatt Capacity: 3,293 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Monroe
    Monroe County
    3,293 MW

    Name: Dan E Karn County: Bay Megawatt Capacity: 1,946 Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    Dan E Karn
    Bay County
    1,946 MW

    Name: St. Clair County: St Clair Megawatt Capacity: 1,929 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    St. Clair
    St Clair County
    1,929 MW

    Name: Belle River County: St Clair Megawatt Capacity: 1,664 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Belle River
    St Clair County
    1,664 MW

    Name: J H Campbell County: Ottawa Megawatt Capacity: 1,579 Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    J H Campbell
    Ottawa County
    1,579 MW

    Name: River Rouge County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 944 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    River Rouge
    Wayne County
    944 MW

    Name: Trenton Channel County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 776 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Trenton Channel
    Wayne County
    776 MW

    Name: Presque Isle County: Marquette Megawatt Capacity: 625 Utility: Wisconsin Electric Power Co

    Presque Isle
    Marquette County
    625 MW

    Name: Eckert Station County: Ingham Megawatt Capacity: 375 Utility: Lansing Board of Water and Light

    Eckert Station
    Ingham County
    375 MW

    Name: TES Filer City Station County: Manistee Megawatt Capacity: 323 Utility: TES Filer City Station LP

    TES Filer City Station
    Manistee County
    323 MW

    Name: Erickson County: Eaton Megawatt Capacity: 155 Utility: Lansing Board of Water and Light

    Erickson
    Eaton County
    155 MW

    Name: J B Sims County: Ottawa Megawatt Capacity: 80 Utility: City of Grand Haven - (MI)

    J B Sims
    Ottawa County
    80 MW

    Name: Neenah Paper Munising Mill County: Alger Megawatt Capacity: 6 Utility: Neenah Paper Michigan Inc.

    Neenah Paper Munising Mill
    Alger County
    6 MW

    Name: MSC Sebewaing County: Huron Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Michigan Sugar Company

    MSC Sebewaing
    Huron County
    3 MW

    57 gas plants

    Name: Midland Cogeneration Venture County: Midland Megawatt Capacity: 1,854 Utility: Midland Cogeneration Venture

    Midland Cogeneration Venture
    Midland County
    1,854 MW

    Name: New Covert Generating Project County: Van Buren Megawatt Capacity: 1,176 Utility: New Covert Generating Company LLC

    New Covert Generating Project
    Van Buren County
    1,176 MW

    Name: Greenwood County: St Clair Megawatt Capacity: 1,071 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Greenwood
    St Clair County
    1,071 MW

    Name: Zeeland Generating Station County: Ottawa Megawatt Capacity: 968 Utility: Consumers Energy Co

    Zeeland Generating Station
    Ottawa County
    968 MW

    ...and 53 more

    24 oil plants

    Name: Greater Detroit Resource Recovery County: Wayne Megawatt Capacity: 68 Utility: Detroit Renewable Power

    Greater Detroit Resource Recovery
    Wayne County
    68 MW

    Name: Superior County: Washtenaw Megawatt Capacity: 64 Utility: DTE Electric Company

    Superior
    Washtenaw County
    64 MW

    Name: Alpena Cement Plant County: Alpena Megawatt Capacity: 47 Utility: Lafarge Corp

    Alpena Cement Plant
    Alpena County
    47 MW

    Name: Tower County: Cheboygan Megawatt Capacity: 25 Utility: Wolverine Power Supply Coop

    Tower
    Cheboygan County
    25 MW

    ...and 20 more

    Find the dirty plants near you

    Source: EPA, Jan 2021

    But wait!

    It's not enough to replace our power plants with wind and solar farms.

    To power our electric cars and buildings, we need two times the electricity we have today.

    In all, we'll need to build 12,000 megawatt (MW)  of wind power and 11,000 MW of solar power.

    Since the average wind turbine provides 2.75 MW of peak capacity, Michigan would need to install about 4,000 turbines.

    Since Michigan already has 891 MW of wind and 75 MW of solar, that's 11,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 11,000 MW of solar power. That's around 397 MW of wind power and 396 MW of solar power a year.

    Percent of MWs of Wind and Solar Built electrifiedA chart showing the share of MWs of Wind and Solar Built that have already been electrified and still based in fossil fuel.5% have been electrified, and the remaining 95% are fossil fuel based.MWs of Wind and Solar Built: 5.0%Needed This Year: 3.5%Not Yet: 91.5%

    Source: EIA, Apr 2022

    Decarbonizing all dirty power cuts 30% of the pollution.

    And gives us zero-emissions power we need to eliminate pollution from buildings and cars!

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 25%🔌 Power: 30%🚗 Transport: 27%🏠 Buildings: 17%

    The last 25% of Michigan's climate pollution comes from other sources...

    This includes farming, landfills, industry, and leaks from gas pipelines.

    There's no one solution to solve these problems, but there are lots of great ideas:

    • No-till farming to keep CO2 in the soil
    • Capturing methane leaks from landfills
    • Capturing CO2 to make emissions-free concrete
    • Burning green hydrogen to make emissions-free steel
    • Plugging methane leaks from gas pipelines

    That doesn't mean there's no solution, it just means that clean electrification  doesn't help with these problems, and you could fill a whole book with covering all of them. We need to encourage our politicians to invest in researching new solutions and implementing existing solutions to these problems!

Ready to do your part?

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

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