Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

Boycott products from states with dirty energy

Consumer pressure could encourage regions to switch from fossil fuels to cleaner sources of electricity, argues Christopher Kennedy.
  1. Christopher Kennedy

    1. Christopher Kennedy is a professor of industrial ecology and chair of civil engineering at the University of Victoria, Canada.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

In 2014, electricity generation in the state of Kentucky was the most carbon-intensive in the United States, and ranked among the highest anywhere in the world. Fuelled 90% by coal, the state’s power plants emitted 945 tonnes of carbon dioxide (or the equivalent) for each unit of electricity they produced (in gigawatt hours) (see go.nature.com/2zaf6c2), and accounted for more than 60% of all Kentucky’s CO2 emissions (see go.nature.com/2hamatv). This carbon intensity was almost a hundred times greater than in hydropowered Vermont (10 tonnes). Kentucky also exceeded China’s average (680 tonnes in 2014) and was comparable to China’s worst province, Inner Mongolia (947 tonnes in 2013; see ‘Regional ranges’). By 2016, although coal-powered generation in Kentucky had declined by 20% since 2014, the state still had the third-highest share of coal in its electricity mix in the United States — after West Virginia and Wyoming (see go.nature.com/2zlijjm).

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 551, 294-295 (2017)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-017-05907-8

References

  1. Kennedy C. Nature Clim. Change 5, 179–181 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Bulkeley, H. et al. Transnational Climate Change Governance (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2014).

  3. Cullen, J. M. & Allwood, J. M. J. Ind. Ecol. 13, 27–37 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Fifth Assessment Report, Working Group 3, Ch. 7, 7.11.3 (IPCC, 2014).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Rogelj, J. et al. Nature Clim. Change 5, 519–527 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Williams, J. H. et al. Science 335, 53–59 (2012).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. International Energy Agency. CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion (IEA, 2016).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Scherer, A. G. & Palazzo, G. J. Manag. Studies 48, 899–931 (2011).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Sullivan, J. L., Burnham, A. & Wang, M. ‘Energy-consumption and carbon-emission analysis of vehicle and component manufacturing’ (No. ANL/ESD/10-6) (Argonne National Laboratory, 2010).

  10. Qu, S., Liang, S. & Xu, M. Environ. Sci. Technol. 51, 10893–10902 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Postdoctoral positions at University of Pennsylvania

    Postdoctoral positions funded by NIH are for study of meiosis and spermatogonial stem cells using mouse models. Generous stipend and benefits.

    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (US)

    University of Pennsylvania - Department of Biomedical Sciences

  • Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Communications (Materials Science)

    Associate or Senior Editor (Materials Science) Organization: Nature Communications Location(s): New York, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Beijing, Hong ...

    New York (US)

    Springer Nature Ltd

  • Associate or Senior Editor, Nature Medicine

    Associate or Senior, Nature Medicine: Infectious Diseases New York, Shanghai or Beijing - Hybrid Working Application Deadline: August 1, 2024   Nat...

    New York City, New York (US)

    Springer Nature Ltd

  • Post-doctoral Fellow

    Funded investigator has an immediate opening for a post-doctoral fellow to develop therapies for genetic diseases.

    Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, East Baltimore Campus

    Johns Hopkins University Department of Medicine

  • Postdoctoral Fellow PhD

    Houston, Texas (US)

    Baylor College of Medicine (BCM)

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links