100% Wind, Water, Sunlight (WWS) All-Sector Energy Plans for the 50 United States

This study presents roadmaps for each of the 50 United States to reduce demand and convert their all-purpose energy infrastructures (for electricity, transportation, heating/cooling, and industry) to ones derived entirely from wind, water, and sunlight (WWS) generating electricity and electrolytic hydrogen while maintaining jobs and low energy prices. The numbers of devices, footprint and spacing areas, energy costs, numbers of jobs, air pollution and climate benefits, and policies needed for the conversions are provided for each state. The plans contemplate all new energy powered with WWS by 2020, about 80-85% of existing energy replaced by 2030, and 100% replaced by 2050. Electrification plus modest efficiency measures would reduce each state’s end-use power demand by a mean of 37.6% with ~85% of this due to electrification and ~15% due to end-use energy efficiency improvements. Remaining 2050 all-purpose end-use U.S. power demand would be met with ~31% onshore wind, ~19% offshore wind, ~29.6% utility-scale photovoltaics (PV), ~8.6% rooftop PV, ~7.5% concentrated solar power (CSP), ~1.3% geothermal power, ~0.37% wave power, ~0.13% tidal power, and ~2.5% hydroelectric power. Over the U.S. as a whole, converting would provide ~5 million 40-year construction jobs and ~2.4 million 40-year operation jobs for the energy facilities alone, the combination of which would outweigh the ~3.9 million jobs lost. Converting would also eliminate ~62,000 (19,000-116,000) of today’s U.S. air pollution premature mortalities/year and avoid ~$510 (158-1,155) billion/year in today’s U.S. health costs, equivalent to ~3.15 (0.98-7.13) percent of the 2012 U.S. gross domestic product. Converting would further eliminate ~$730 billion/year in 2050 global warming costs due to U.S. emissions. The health cost savings to the U.S. plus the climate cost savings to the world due to U.S. emission reductions would equal the cost of installing a 100% WWS U.S. system within ~11.0 (7.3-15.4) years. The conversion to WWS should stabilize energy prices since fuel costs would be zero. On the other hand, because the fuel costs of fossil fuels rise over time, a WWS infrastructure in 2050 would save the average U.S. consumer $4,500/person/year compared with the 2050 energy cost of fossil fuels to perform the same work. Health and climate cost savings due to WWS would be another $3,100/person/year benefit, giving a total cost savings in 2050 of $7,600/person/year due to WWS. The new footprint over land required for converting the