The Center for Rural Affairs, a policy analysis and advocacy organization based in Lyons, Neb., has released an analysis on the economic potential of wind energy development entitled ‘Renewable Energy and Economic Potential in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.’ The report examines economic impact, job creation and wind resources in Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Expanding production of renewable electricity to 20% of the nation's electrical generation has the potential to create a large number of new jobs in the rural Midwest and Great Plains, according to unpublished analyses from the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
The analysis projects that Kansas would gain nearly 3,100 long-term jobs in operations and maintenance of wind farms, more than 3,500 jobs in Nebraska, more than 3,900 jobs in South Dakota and more than 9,000 jobs in Iowa. An even higher number of medium-term jobs, averaging one year in duration, would be created – jobs related to manufacturing, site preparation and wind turbine construction.
Nationally, the analysis projects that reaching 20% of electrical generation from wind would result in 1.75 million full-time jobs during wind turbine construction and 1.6 million new, permanent operational (post-construction) jobs created.
The state-by-state projections were prepared in conjunction with the NREL's report ‘20% Wind by 2030,’ but were never formally published. Those projections form the basis for the state facts sheets included in the Center for Rural Affairs' report.
According to the Center For Rural Affairs, whether or not the potential for wind energy to revitalize the rural areas of these four states is realized depends, in large part, on the fate of federal renewable energy legislation.
SOURCE: The Center for Rural Affairs
