As of $2016$. California has wind farms capable of generating a total of $6.1$ gigawatts of power (roughly $5 %$ of the state's total electricity).
a. Assuming wind farms typically generate $30 %$ of their capacity, how much energy, in kilowatt-hours, can the California wind farms generate in $1$ year? Given that the average household uses about $10,000$ kilowatt-hours of energy each year, how many households can be powered by these wind farms?
b. One of the great advantages of wind power is that it does not produce the carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming. On average; energy produced from fossil fuels generates about $1.5$ pounds of carbon dioxide for every kilowatt-hour of energy. Suppose California did not have its wind farms and their energy output was instead produced from fossil fuels. How much more carbon dioxide would be entering the atmosphere each year?