South Carolina

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

Emissions in South Carolina

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

South Carolina's climate pollution, by source
🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

Source: WRI, Mar 2021

    Decarbonize Our Buildings

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    5% of South Carolina'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 South Carolina's 2.3 million buildings.

    In fact, 66.1% of appliances in buildings in South Carolina are already fossil fuel free!

    That means we only need to electrify the remaining 779,000 dirty buildings in South Carolina. That's around 29,000 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.66.13% have been electrified, and the remaining 33.87% are fossil fuel based.Appliances Electrified: 66.1%Needed This Year: 1.3%Not Yet: 32.6%Source: Microsoft, Mar 2021; NREL, Dec 2021

    Electrifying all buildings cuts 5% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    Decarbonize Our Transport

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    40% of South Carolina'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 1.8 million vehicles in South Carolina and 4,000 are already electric (0.2% of the total).

    We need to electrify (or replace) the remaining 1.8 million gas-powered vehicles. That's around 65,000 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.0.2% have been electrified, and the remaining 99.8% are fossil fuel based.Vehicles Electrified: 0.2%Needed This Year: 3.7%Not Yet: 96.1%Source: DOT, Feb 2021

    Electrifying all transportation cuts 40% of the pollution.

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    Decarbonize Our Power

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    33% of South Carolina's pollution comes from burning coal, gas, and oil to make power.

    Dirty power plant

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

    Power Generation in the State of South Carolina (2020)

    But there's already 62% carbon-free electricity generation in South Carolina!

    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 South Carolina

    7 coal plants

    Name: Cross County: Berkeley Megawatt Capacity: 2,390 Utility: South Carolina Public Service Authority

    Cross
    Berkeley County
    2,390 MW

    Name: Winyah County: Georgetown Megawatt Capacity: 1,260 Utility: South Carolina Public Service Authority

    Winyah
    Georgetown County
    1,260 MW

    Name: Wateree County: Richland Megawatt Capacity: 772 Utility: Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc

    Wateree
    Richland County
    772 MW

    Name: Williams County: Berkeley Megawatt Capacity: 714 Utility: South Carolina Genertg Co, Inc

    Williams
    Berkeley County
    714 MW

    Name: Cope Station County: Orangeburg Megawatt Capacity: 417 Utility: Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc

    Cope Station
    Orangeburg County
    417 MW

    Name: WestRock CP, LLC Florence Mill County: Florence Megawatt Capacity: 104 Utility: WestRock-Florence

    WestRock CP, LLC Florence Mill
    Florence County
    104 MW

    Name: KapStone Charleston Kraft, LLC County: Charleston Megawatt Capacity: 99 Utility: WestRock North Charleston

    KapStone Charleston Kraft, LLC
    Charleston County
    99 MW

    19 gas plants

    Name: John S. Rainey Generating Station County: Anderson Megawatt Capacity: 1,632 Utility: South Carolina Public Service Authority

    John S. Rainey Generating Station
    Anderson County
    1,632 MW

    Name: W S Lee County: Anderson Megawatt Capacity: 1,403 Utility: Duke Energy Carolinas, LLC

    W S Lee
    Anderson County
    1,403 MW

    Name: Darlington County County: Darlington Megawatt Capacity: 1,046 Utility: Duke Energy Progress - (NC)

    Darlington County
    Darlington County
    1,046 MW

    Name: Jasper County Generating Facility County: Jasper Megawatt Capacity: 1,002 Utility: Dominion Energy South Carolina, Inc

    Jasper County Generating Facility
    Jasper County
    1,002 MW

    ...and 15 more

    11 oil plants

    Name: Sediver County: York Megawatt Capacity: 523 Utility: Central Electric Power

    Sediver
    York County
    523 MW

    Name: Hilton Head Gas Turbine Site County: Beaufort Megawatt Capacity: 118 Utility: South Carolina Public Service Authority

    Hilton Head Gas Turbine Site
    Beaufort County
    118 MW

    Name: Myrtle Beach Gas Turbine Site County: Horry Megawatt Capacity: 112 Utility: South Carolina Public Service Authority

    Myrtle Beach Gas Turbine Site
    Horry County
    112 MW

    Name: North Road Peak County: Orangeburg Megawatt Capacity: 14 Utility: City of Orangeburg - (SC)

    North Road Peak
    Orangeburg County
    14 MW

    Name: Seneca City of County: Oconee Megawatt Capacity: 10 Utility: City of Seneca - (SC)

    Seneca City of
    Oconee County
    10 MW

    Name: City West Diesel Plant County: Union Megawatt Capacity: 7 Utility: Lockhart Power Co

    City West Diesel Plant
    Union County
    7 MW

    Name: Webb Forging County: Union Megawatt Capacity: 6 Utility: Central Electric Power

    Webb Forging
    Union County
    6 MW

    Name: Pacolet Diesel Generation Facility County: Spartanburg Megawatt Capacity: 5 Utility: Lockhart Power Co

    Pacolet Diesel Generation Facility
    Spartanburg County
    5 MW

    Name: Thermal Kem County: York Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Central Electric Power

    Thermal Kem
    York County
    3 MW

    Name: Valenite County: Oconee Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Central Electric Power

    Valenite
    Oconee County
    3 MW

    Name: Honea Path County: Abbeville Megawatt Capacity: 3 Utility: Central Electric Power

    Honea Path
    Abbeville County
    3 MW

    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 5,000 megawatt (MW)  of wind power and 5,000 MW of solar power.

    Since the average wind turbine provides 2.75 MW of peak capacity, South Carolina would need to install about 2,000 turbines.

    Since South Carolina already has 0 MW of wind and 309 MW of solar, that's 5,000 MW of wind power we need to build and 5,000 MW of solar power. That's around 167 MW of wind power and 185 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.6% have been electrified, and the remaining 94% are fossil fuel based.MWs of Wind and Solar Built: 6.0%Needed This Year: 3.5%Not Yet: 90.5%

    Source: EIA, Apr 2022

    Decarbonizing all dirty power cuts 33% of the pollution.

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

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    Other Emissions

    🏭 Other: 22%🔌 Power: 33%🚗 Transport: 40%🏠 Buildings: 5%

    The last 22% of South Carolina'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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