GoldenSan
Francisco
OatmanGreensburgGoldenLubbockPageDes
MoinesTucumcariILL.MISS.LOUISIANAARKANSASMISSOURIIOWAMINNESOTANORTH DAKOTASOUTH DAKOTANEBRASKAKANSASTEXASNEW MEXICOCOLORADOWYOMINGUTAHARIZONAIDAHOMONTANAWASHINGTONOREGONCALIFORNIA NEVADAWIS.OOKKLLAAHHOOMMAAILL.ILL.ILL.MISS.MIMISS.SS.LOUISIANALLOUISIANAOUISIANAARKANSASARKANARKANSASSASMISSOURIMIMISSOURISSOURIIOWAIOIOWAWAMINNESOTAMMINNESOTAINNESOTANORTH DAKOTANNORTH DAKOTAORTH DAKOTASOUTH DAKOTASOUSOUTH DAKOTATH DAKOTANEBRASKANNEBRASKAEBRASKAKANSAS KKANSASANSASTEXASTEXATEXASSNEW MEXICONEW MEXINEW MEXICOCOCOLORADOCOCOLORADOLORADOWYOMING WWYOMINGYOMINGUTAHUTUTAHAHARIZONA AARIZONARIZONAIDAHOIIDAHODAHOMONTANAMOMONTANANTANAWASHINGTONWASHINGTONWASHINGTONOREGONOOREGONREGONCALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA CALIFORNIA NEVADANENEVADAVADAWIS.WIWIS.S.Permian
Basin
extentSanta MonicaSTARTCASOTRESPPNEIA Electricity
Market RegionWind turbines
tower over solar
installations in the
Mojave DesertCoal plant shuts
down on Navajo
Reservation near
Page, ArizonaExxonMobil plans
to use wind energy
to extract fossil
fuels in the
Permian BasinGreensburg, Kansas
flattened by 2007
tornado, rebuilds to
be carbon neutralRally by Greta
Thunberg and
visit to a wind
shuttles workers to the Driverless electric bus farm in Iowa
National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in
Golden, ColoradoRECHARGING THE ROAD TRIP
A reporter and a photographer for National Geographic drove across
the contiguous United States in a series of electric cars to explore our
energy future—and the future of the American road trip. They made
the journey with no gasoline, myriad adventures, and fresh answers
to an urgent question: How close are we to ditching fossil fuels?CONVERSION TO CLEANER ENERGY
The U.S. government projects that the renewable
contribution to U.S. electricity will rise from
19 percent to 38 percent by 2050—a big increase,
but nowhere near enough to meet climate targets.
The West leads other regions thanks in part to
abundant hydropower. But future increases will
be driven by expansion in wind and solar.2019
PORTION OF
ELECTRICITY
GENERATED BY
RENEWABLE
ENERGY SOURCES,
BY EIA REGION*Potential in the plains
The plains could see wind-
generated electricity jump
from 22 percent to 38 percent
of the region’s total by 2050.Transforming Texas
When people think Texas,
they think oil. But the state
produces one-fourth of all
U.S. wind energy.Leading in the West
Los Angeles is one of more
than 100 U.S. cities to com-
mit to 100 percent renewable
energy—in its case, by 2045.204060 80%60 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC