New homes in California required to have all-electric appliances by 2026

California intends to reach ‘carbon neutrality’ by 2045

New homes in California are required to have all electric appliances by 2026, according to new government rules, to help reduce the state’s carbon footprint and improve air quality.

The draft framework, published by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) on Tuesday, lays out how California intends to reach “carbon neutrality” by 2045.

That means no more gas-powered furnaces, ovens or other appliances. The same rules will apply to new commercial buildings by 2029.

For existing homes, the state agency calls for 80 per cent of new appliances to be electric by 2030 – once the life cycle of a current appliance ends – with that increasing to 100 per cent by 2035.

The board says it has identified a “technologically feasible, cost-effective and equity-focused path” to drawn down California’s emissions over the next two decades, with the aim of being at least 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2030.

Richard Corey, CARB’s executive officer, described it as an “ambitious vision” with “concrete steps”.

“When final, it will serve as the actionable plan for a more sustainable California for our children and a model for other industrialized economies around the world as they consider how to make their transition to a clean energy economy that provides health benefits and economic opportunity,” he said in a statement.

The state of California is the world’s fifth largest economy and the plan, which makes sweeping changes across every sector, will have a significant impact in slashing US emissions when finalized.

The transition from fossil fuels includes not only moving away from fossil gas used to heat homes and buildings, but ramping up zero-emission transportation, and giving communities more options for biking and walking so they don’t have to rely so heavily on cars.