The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) State Energy Office (SEO) released the NC Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP), which identifies resilience and carbon reduction measures to meet Executive Order 246’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent below 2005 levels by 2030.
“The Comprehensive Climate Action Plan lays out a path for how North Carolina can successfully achieve its greenhouse gas reduction goals,” said DEQ Secretary Reid Wilson. “Investing in clean energy and energy efficiency will ensure that electricity supplies are reliable and affordable for families and businesses while driving down greenhouse gas pollution.”
“Implementing projects to achieve the measures in this plan will result in significant energy savings in all sectors of the economy: electricity, industry, buildings, waste and more, which will help North Carolina keep energy costs down, reduce strain on the grid and help us meet our quickly growing energy demands,” said SEO Director Julie Woosley.
The plan addresses six core sectors: electricity generation, industry, transportation, buildings, waste management and natural and working lands. Reaching this carbon reduction goal is driven by specific strategies such as increasing options for renewable electricity, improving energy efficiency in buildings, and expanding the use of electric vehicles and land-based carbon sequestration.
The majority of the measures identified in the plan are already funded or anticipate funding. However, long-term success depends on continued and increasing investments that strengthen resilience and reduce climate pollution, support economic development and workforce readiness, and deliver cleaner air and healthier communities.
The CCAP builds on the Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP), which DEQ published in 2024 after receiving $3 million in Climate Pollution Reduction Grant planning funds. The PCAP identified the state’s highest priority greenhouse gas reduction measures. The CCAP updates and expands greenhouse gas emission strategies using new data, modeling and stakeholder input, and identified strategies that can be implemented and are feasible and measurable.
North Carolina’s 2024 Greenhouse Gas Inventory forms the analytical foundation for the six key sectors. The analyses establish a statewide baseline for past emissions and future emissions projections and allow the state to evaluate the potential impact of future greenhouse gas reduction measures.
Key Takeaways
Transportation: $214 million to replace medium- and heavy-duty diesel vehicles with electric vehicles, expand the electric vehicle charging network and improve freight efficiency at ports and transportation corridors. The investment will result in more than 64,000 metric tons of CO₂-equivalent (MTCO2e) reductions by 2030 and more than 1.16 million MTCO2e by 2050.
Electricity: $389.8 million to increase the amount of electricity generated and distributed by renewable resources such as solar, geothermal and onshore wind and the deployment of microgrids for community resilience. The investment will reduce emissions by more than 1.47 million MTCO2e by 2030 and more than 7.37 million MTCO2e by 2050.
Buildings: $242 million to retrofit homes with insulation, HVAC upgrades and whole-home energy efficiency strategies and to improve energy efficiency in state-owned buildings. The investment will reduce emissions by more than 668,000 MTCO2e by 2030 and more than 5.2 million MTCO2e by 2050.
Industry: Industrial stakeholders in NC have emphasized that capital investments in electrification, low-carbon fuels and process improvements are unlikely to occur unless they result in near-term cost savings or are offset by financial incentives. DEQ identified this sector as needing future attention and analysis.
Waste: Diverting food waste can result in more than 1.27 million MTCO2e emission reductions by 2030. Installing gas collection systems and landfill covers could reduce landfill gas emissions by more than 36,000 MTCO2e by 2030 and more than 781 MTCO2e by 2025. However, DEQ identified this sector as needing funding to implement these potential reduction measures.
Natural and working lands: The Atlantic Conservation Coalition’s investment of $421 million to restore coastal habitats and peatlands, promote sustainable forestry and restore agricultural lands will offset emissions by more than 3.36 million MTCO2e by 2030 and more than 28 million MTCO2e by 2050.
The analyses and measures presented reflect the most current information available on greenhouse gas reduction programs, incentives and regulatory frameworks at the time the CCAP was developed. Several measures in this plan are dependent on federal funding availability and alignment with administration priorities.
As energy costs and demand rise, measures in this plan support both carbon reduction and affordability goals. Last month, the NC Energy Policy Task Force, co-chaired by Secretary Wilson, identified potential solutions to ensure that future energy supplies are affordable, reliable and clean. The energy efficiency measures in the CCAP support the state’s commitment to energy affordability.